Overview
A marketing and advertising company requires a certain set of organizational and management skills from almost all its employees. Being good at both these is quite beneficial generally as well. If you know how to organize your work schedule and manage priorities you’re golden at every place. These are the basic skills that are required in almost every field and the same goes for creative advertising agencies. In fact, it is even more important there because every individual has multiple tasks with different deadlines for each that they need to meet, and having these two skills turns out to be fruitful.
Setting realistic timelines
Now meeting deadlines is not an easy task, especially at a printing and advertising company. As we have already mentioned, everyone has multiple tasks to complete, and devising a proper calendar is very important. This way it becomes easier for the team leads to set proper, and realistic deadlines and also lets the team members set their own deadlines based on the work at hand.
Several other factors are also at play that can interfere with the deliverance of tasks which is why the person who sets the deadlines needs to be careful and keep the expected delays in mind so that the deadline is realistic.
Factors affecting deadlines
When the work starts on a certain project, there are many things that need to be kept in mind in order to meet the deadlines. For example, one needs to make sure that they are given a proper brief of the account and also the specific task which is required. Once there is clarity on the brief, the rest of the work can continue.
Almost every task at an advertising agency goes through multiple departments and each one of them takes their time to work on it. Once the initial work is complete, it goes into internal review, if there are any mistakes in the design or content, they are addressed, and if there is room for improvement, it is communicated to the relevant individuals.
Changes
After the internal review, the product is sent to the client for their review and feedback. At this stage, the team takes care of the rest of the tasks, and once the client gets back to them with changes or suggestions the team gets on it immediately. Changes, once done, are shared with the client and if all goes well, it gets approved and is sent to the concerned people for final checks on quality and then to the people who make it live, either on social media or in print.
Real-time working
In theory, this process might look smooth but trust me when I say this, it is almost chaotic in real life. As there are many things going on at the same time, it becomes difficult to manage the changes. The nature of changes required also affects the deliverance of tasks within the deadline. So, all of this needs to be carefully managed at the macro and micro levels so that the unexpected delays can be covered and no client suffers.
Additional factors
There are other factors that can affect the timely deliverance of assigned tasks, like employees being late to work due to any reason, or some members falling sick, or any such unexpected events. In that case, everyone acts as a team to cover their co-worker’s tasks so that the delays can be minimized. And this can only be achieved if the team is well-coordinated and comfortable with each other.
If they are not comfortable with each other, they will not take interest in each other’s work and hence will not know what the other person does. And in case of emergency, if they are to work in someone else’s place, they might need more time to recreate something that is suitable.
Time Management
Time management is a must skill/quality to have in an advertising agency. It lets you function in your roles properly and possibly finish your tasks in due time. And all the team members need to be apt in their time management skills for the whole team to perform well because all the work in an advertising agency is done in teams. And if one member is lacking in their role or performance. It affects the whole team and the work is delayed beyond the ideal timelines.
Division of tasks
The team leader plays a critical role in this regard too. He/she is the one who maintains an environment where everyone feels responsible. And once everyone knows what their responsibilities are. They can manage their time properly and organize their tasks according to the deadlines set by the team lead. But if the team lead is not efficient in their job. Like dividing the work amongst the team members. It can become a problem for the whole team.
If one person is overburdened, the whole team suffers because of the delays in deliverance. And this can only be avoided if there is a fair distribution of work. Then, everyone would have enough on their plate to set proper deadlines and actually meet them in real-time.
Encouragement and keeping up morale
Encouraging the employees who perform well is also very important to keep up morale at the workplace. This way everyone stays focused on their work and tries to give their best every time. All of these little details and gestures are important to keep a team intact. It also keeps them motivated to perform well in their respective roles.
Conclusion
Deadlines are a must. But it is also important to keep them realistic so that there is no undue pressure on the team. Because in the end, it is them who are actually doing the work. It is important that their comfort and ease be considered. If they are frustrated or over-burdened, they might not be able to do their job properly.
And eventually redoing the tasks would push the deadlines, and no one wants that. Especially not the clients!. Hopefully, this article proved itself helpful and you got information about the management of your team. This will allow you to meet the deadlines and sustain every client that entered your company.
