I am currently going through a deal with a prospective client.  They are a Canadian based company who wanted to reduce costs on shipments coming into the United States.  For the past four months, I have been working with them and another customs broker to consolidate their shipments when they cross the border and ship them throughout the country from a single point in Detroit.  This project has been a prime example of why it is so important to have an implementation plan with hard timeline and go live date.

The first steps of the project went very smoothly.  In a series of conference calls, we identified company’s shipping goals, were able to introduce the prospect to our in-house shipping software, and develop a plan to accomplish their goals.  From there, it has been an exercise in frustration.  Everything is tied up on our end, and we have been ready to go for two months.  All that is left is for the client to push the last 5% across the finish line, but constant delays on the client’s end have pushed back the go live date.  I understand that my contact is a one-woman shipping department, and she spends most of her days just trying to keep her head above water.  The ironic part is once she switches over her shipping and we begin to take it over for her, most of what consumes her day like dealing with multiple carriers will no longer be an issue.  My company and its many different divisions will handle it all for her.

The real shame is cost savings that the company is missing out on by not implementing the plan sooner.  The company has lost thousands of dollars in revenue in border fees alone, much less in the reduced shipping costs by using my company’s general tariff’s that are contracted with our shippers.  In addition, the amount of day to day shipping nonsense that she deals with will no longer be her issue.

I would love to say we are close to finally closing and putting the plan in place, but  based on a conversation from today, the client is going on vacation next week and she does not want to start for one day and then leave a brand new process to her backups.  My guess is once she is back, she’ll be so flooded it will take at least a week for her to catch up.   It has been a frustrating process to say the least.

When thinking of project management, often times it elicits visions of more serious and “business-y” tasks and projects that are being planned and managed.  I decided to research and try to find teaching and best practices when managing the creative process, such as at an ad agency.  Anyone who has spent time around creative people knows that sometimes getting everyone on a single task is like herding cats.

 

This article, “Managing the Creative Process and Integrated Project Management”, is by the creative director of an ad agency and I will post the link to the full article below.  He says he has worked at agencies of all sizes, and that while smaller agencies tend to have less formal project management practices, larger agencies tend to need them to keep everyone on mission.  Here are some of the highlights for me from the article:

 

• “Resource management is more than just watching hours”
  • In this bullet point, the author describes the process of bringing together all the different people you will need to accomplish the mission.  In both the business and creative process (and especially when the two combine), different people have different skill sets and personalities.  It is important for the project manager to take this all into account when assembling the team.  Also, constantly analyzing what skills the team is lacking and what skills can be let go is important too.
• “Keep the end goal in mind”
  • It is important that everyone in the project focus on the final goal, not just their immediate task at hand.  The creative process cannot be broken down like an assembly line.  This keeps everyone’s minds free to improvise and explore new and interesting ways to complete their tasks that benefit the end goal.  Giving your employees freedom within the framework of the project can be extremely rewarding.  Project managers must have the big picture in mind at all times, in order to make sure every task is flowing toward the end goal.
• “Support the three P’s: people, process, philosophy (culture)”
  • Stress and anger are incredibly counter productive to the creative process.  It is contingent on the project manager, and on the organization as a whole, to create an environment that is as stress-free as possible to keep creative juices flowing.  Now while no project will go 100% as planned, and there are bound to be challenges, processes need to be in place to deal with the challenges as easily as possible.  Having strong processes and a strong company culture in place will alleviate stress brought on by problems.

 

 

Article: http://adsubculture.com/articles/2013/9/30/managing-the-creative-process-and-integrated-project-management