From the course: Project Management for Creative Projects
How do you manage creative projects?
From the course: Project Management for Creative Projects
How do you manage creative projects?
- Hi, my name's Rich Harrington, and welcome to this course on Project Management for Creative Projects. We're going to focus on how business practices used in the world of project management can apply to creative projects, whether you work full-time as a creative, or just find yourself managing a project that involves a lot of creative services. There's a lot of things you're going to learn in this course. We'll start off by covering the "What's" and the "Why's" of project management, giving you a solid overview of the practices. We'll then talk about clearly understanding the services that you're going to offer as a business. We'll move on to some core concepts that are useful in the world of project management, as well as talk about scoping out a creative project. This is an important step where you clearly identify all of the major deliverables and the interdependencies, effectively, the work that has to be done and what could possibly go wrong along the way. We'll also talk about estimating time, which is a key step in successfully delivering a project on time, as well as getting paid accurately for the project itself. And all of this is critical that you effectively communicate with the client, both upfront and as the project is underway. We'll look at the project control cycle, which is a way of keeping the project on track. Creative projects often have creative people, and control can be quite difficult. So I'll share with you some easy practices that can be implemented even with people that really don't like business. We'll also move on to some strategies for managing both your employees and your contractors. Creative projects frequently involve freelance talent. Once you have all these people together, you'll learn about some strategies for effective teams, keeping people working together smoothly, and communicating accurately. And you'll learn some important tips for keeping your clients happy, which will reduce stress and increase the likelihood of success. And when everything's all done, we'll talk about what's necessary for closing out the project. My name's Rich Harrington, and I've worked in a lot of creative jobs. Everything from starting in the world of journalism to working on major branding campaigns for companies. Some of the jobs I've held have been reporter, director, graphic artist, editor, producer, publisher of multiple websites, a production manager, a writer, a blogger and a podcaster. But all of these jobs have a lot in common. They're about being a storyteller, helping other people communicate their messages, entertaining, documenting history, managing the process, and really successfully telling the story. This is why most people undertake creative projects: they have a message to communicate and they want to do it in a way that's exciting and captivating. I'm going to share with you some practical experience. I've written several books through the years and recorded many different videos to help people in the creative space. But I have a bit of a unique background. I also work in the world of business. I'm the publisher for two websites and need to make sure that they're profitable. I speak at conferences and get a chance to interact with a lot of folks, but day-to-day I work as both a photographer and I own a business that is a video production company. Since life's a little too short, I've also dabbled in product management, where I've helped manage software products that are aimed at creative people. This broad skillset allows me to really see the big picture of business, and why it's important to tie all these things together. Now, in this journey that I've taken, I've actually completed the Project Management Institute's PMP Certification, or Project Management Professional. This is the formal certification that you might be interested in that helps you manage projects successfully, and increases profitability while reducing stress. The companies that I apply this in are diverse, but I'll share with you some experiences from RHED Pixel, which is a full service visual communications company. We produce content for many other companies, mostly marketing, fundraising and non-profit type pieces that effectively communicate messages, often on tight deadlines and sometimes with tight budgets as well. I also have to run a facility that other people come in, and our Media Factory studios allow us to really take a look at the operational side, constant flow of projects and different things coming in. As I shared with you, one of the websites I publish is Photofocus. This involves working with a team of authors around the world who are educating other people about photography. There's technology to manage, there's attitudes, there are deadlines, there are commitments, and we have to balance all of this out. So as I share with you my practical experiences, it's designed to help you. You'll have to find the right solution for you, but I've got a lot of experience to draw on that I'm going to try to make available. If you'd like to connect on LinkedIn, I invite you to find me. It's very easy to connect and I welcome you, if you work in the creative space, to reach out. Alright, we've got a lot to cover, so let's jump in.
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