by Daniel Crask, Brand Strategist at Brand Shepherd 

The meme below is one that gets shared a few hundred-thousand times among creative professionals every year:

I’m not kidding. I see this posted on social media, sent in email, shared in groups, etc. more than any other shareable graphic.

It is perhaps the best visual of how not being prepared to manage a creative team can lead to less-than-great work is with timing expectations.

It’s worth mentioning that timing is one of the top relationship killers between creative teams and those they serve.

Some clients have a tendency to drop big projects on their team without asking how much time it will take while assuming they know how long something will take to create.

Similarly, creative teams often operate out of a position of fear of losing the account and do not establish firm timing expectations at the start and throughout the relationship. If the creative team is too afraid to lead the timing expectations, and push back when they are challenged, it leaves plenty of room for the client to make unrealistic assumptions.

Solution: As part of an on-boarding process for new relationships and ongoing projects, make timing its own talking point. This is a top-level priority, folks, so give it the space to be sorted out by the client and creative team alike.

Example: “Let’s talk about timing for this project: Ideally we need it by [date], but I don’t work in this space – what is realistic to produce the best possible work?”

By taking this approach, you show that you respect the time needed to create greatness for your product, and this show of respect will make your creative team think of you/your brand as their favorite to work with.