Left-Brain Staff Management Strategies for Right-Brain Firms

The business models of many design firms and creative groups are often heavily driven by right-brain approaches, based on intuitive, emotional staffing decisions. While this approach can have immediate success in the short run, it often comes at the risk of long-term sustainability and growth.

The misconceived notion is that left-brain business models (logical thinking, planning and analysis) take the place of and ultimately sacrifice creativity and passion. Yet with the right amount of rigorous planning, a creative team with left-brain skills can function more efficiently and produce innovative solutions. Creative firms that develop organizational strategies, systems and tools for staff management that are customized to their unique needs ensure an organizational structure that leverages each employee’s particular skill set and salary level, while at the same time improving overall morale and productivity. 

 LEADERSHIP VS. MANAGEMENT
Two of the most important functions to consider when developing your group’s organizational structure are those of leadership and management. In a small business or department, one person is often thrust into the position of both leader and manager. Yet there is an inherent difficulty in blending and balancing these two very different roles, which require distinct and innate skill sets.

The infamous expression “a fish rots from the head down” succinctly summarizes what happens when a leader is ineffective. The leader’s primary role is that of the team visionary, shaping goals that influence behaviors. Leaders champion both clients and staff alike, exerting influence and taking initiative. Stephen Covey put it best in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” Without strong, visionary leadership, the success of an otherwise great team can be significantly impacted.

Alternatively, a manager’s role is to implement and achieve the vision and goals clearly developed by the leader. Managers support and guide change, measure results and assess performance. They teach, educate and mentor the team … while the leader inspires. Both parties must perform their function by example.

In developing an effective organizational structure, the lead­ership and management roles must be considered. Who on your team has the necessary passion, personality and skills to assume these roles? Understandably, on a small team, one person may have to assume both, but larger teams should identify or recruit staff to assume these roles. A strong creative organization needs to have internal capabilities in both leadership and management in the long run.

 

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Another feature of a successful organization is a well-crafted, visionary management model that accommodates current needs but also considers future growth for the group. Figure 1 is a management maturity chart that reflects five different organizational models for creative teams:

● Informal/ad hoc
● Collaborative/flat management
● Structured management
● Visionary leadership
● Optimized leadership

Ultimately, each creative organization may fit somewhere between these descriptions, and each structure has advantages and disadvantages. Nonetheless, it is important for every organization to recognize where it is and where it wants to be to begin implementing changes that allow it to get there. 

Fig. 2
Four features differentiate the levels within these organizational models:

● The first feature is the role the owner/principal/director has within the organization. This is the critical area differentiating larger teams from smaller teams. At the informal/ad hoc level, the owner/principal/director is not able or willing to remove himself or herself from hands-on design development. Delegation may be difficult at an organizational level (e.g. the size of the team) or at more personal level (their own inherent passions, or the “no one can design as well as me” issue of control). As you begin to climb the organizational model, delegation becomes slowly more possible, and, at the optimized state, the team ultimately func­tions independently of the owner entirely.

● Emphasis placed on account/client management, business and new business development, as well as project and process management are the second and third aspects that differentiate each level. At the optimized level, each of these functions is assigned to full-time staff dedicated to these roles; and, at the informal/ad hoc level, attention to these functions is sporadic and unstructured.

● The final distinguishing feature is the role that bookkeeping and financial management have within an organization. Often, at the informal level, bookkeeping is rudimentary and done by someone untrained, typically the owner (or the owner’s spouse) or an administrative assistant. Emphasis and focus on both short-and long-term financial management and leadership grows slowly as the organization develops and builds stronger internal resources dedicated to managing the financial health of the organization.

 

INTERNAL ROLES & ATTRIBUTES
In evaluating creative organizations, there are several critical roles that need to be fulfilled to ensure all areas of a creative business are well managed. These roles include:

● Business leader
● Creative leader
● New business leader
● Operations management
● Financial management
● Administrative
● Creative
● Production/programming/execution

In a small firm, one person may have to fulfill many or most of these roles, while larger firms have dedicated staff assigned to each responsibility. Some of the roles are self-explanatory (financial management, administrative, creative and production/programming/execution), while others (business leader, creative leader, new business leader and operations management) are often overlooked or undervalued. The latter roles are worthy of further explanation.

At the foundation of any great organization is a strong, skilled business leader. This individual directs the organization’s over­all strategy and visionary direction and sets goals for development and growth. Those at this level often have titles such as principal, director or president.

In partnership with the business leader, the creative leader supports the organization’s vision and directs overall creative development of all or select clients/accounts. Those in this position have titles such as principal, creative director and art director.

The next role is that of the new business leader. Leading and managing marketing and public relations efforts are often less emphasized. Yet focusing on this area is another important factor in the health of any successful organization. Staff allocated to this role often include account executives, the director of new business development or a communications director. 

Fig. 3

The role that wins the award for most-ignored and devalued position is that of the operations manager—often called an account manager, project manager, studio manager or managing director. Operations management is actually the most complex role. Those assigned to it are responsible for envisioning and managing each project schedule and managing its impact on staffing (availability and morale) and facilities (space and equipment), as well as ensuring that internal/external budgets and schedules are adhered to by staff, clients and external allies. The operations manager often works directly with clients to develop estimates, project schedules and scope-of-work management.

In addition to the roles outlined above, many organizations need to look for other essential attributes from individuals within their team:

● Cheerleader
● Industry activist
● Tech guru
● Bad guy/enforcer
● Emotional quarterback

The cheerleader brings humor, energy and an engaging presence to the office, keeping everyone creative, informed and excited about their jobs. The industry activist stays current with the latest design trends and attends industry events—and disseminates this knowledge and passion to the entire team. The tech guru hits the technology conferences and devours websites and publications dedicated to the latest updates and offerings. She may work with external IT consultants or fill that role herself.

A strong team usually has at least one individual, the bad guy/enforcer, who is able to make the tough decisions. Often, those skilled in this area are best assigned to the staff and client management role. Lastly, the most important and difficult role is that of the emotional quarterback. This individual diffuses and manages the drama associated with managing creative personalities and minimizes internal politics or conflicts.

 

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Once a creative organization has defined its management model and assessed its strengths and weaknesses, development of an organizational structure is the next step. The most successful team structure properly aligns the right people to the right tasks, based on experience, talent, personality and passion. Many firms function in a reactionary, deadline- and client-driven work environment, which results in an unplanned hiring and organizational strategy that doesn’t accommodate future growth.

A common struggle faced by many creative organizations is that, because of this unplanned environment, high-level (thus high-salary) employees assume daily design, production, client and proj­ect management responsibilities often better left to others on the team. This results in poor and unprofitable utilization of employee time and a culture that doesn’t nurture and grow new talent.

The organizational structure in fig. 2 demonstrates one successfully revised model for an 11-person firm. This structure was uniquely customized to the needs of a firm that struggled with disorganization, a confusing reporting structure, misalignment of responsibilities to skill level and many redundant roles (see fig. 3 for the original structure). The new structure takes into consideration each of the different roles outlined earlier. It was crafted to leverage existing staff, and it identifies opportunities for future hires and long-term growth.

In developing an effective organizational structure, several factors have to be considered—most importantly, the owner/prin­cipal/director’s vision, personal strengths and passions, and the type of projects/clients they work with. The best structure clearly shows roles and responsibilities, supported by well-crafted job descriptions.

Sometimes—but not always—the organization chart can indicate reporting structure. But as a firm grows larger or relies on more collaborative and flexible teams, reporting structure can be hard to visualize in an organizational chart. In these cases, well-defined processes may better define communication and reporting structure.

An organizational structure has to be flexible (and able to grow as the firm or team expands), appropriate and realistic. Creatives thrive with just the right amount of structure: enough to support, but not inhibit them.

 

MANAGEMENT TOOLS
Several must-have management tools support the well-defined organization. These include job descriptions, an employee hand­book and a procedures manual. They ensure the entire team understands the parameters and guidelines they must adhere to and be responsible for. All three documents must be written in language that is friendly and easy to understand—nothing hinders the successful adoption of guidelines more than documents that contain lengthy and difficult-to-understand legalese.

Job descriptions are often mistaken for those short, one paragraph job postings that companies write when searching for a new hire. Job postings only briefly describe a job, mostly focusing on attributes and skills required. Job descriptions are quite different and include a comprehensive bulleted list of specific responsibilities, organized by key areas—e.g., design, art direction, studio management, project/client management, production, etc. Job descriptions are an important measuring tool for performance reviews. Employee handbooks give your employees context for the benefits and expectations of their positions, and a procedures manual outlines specific guidelines for how projects and clients are managed.

 

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
As a design organization develops, it must adopt sustainable, long-term staffing and management strategies. Strong, profitable, creative teams are uniquely crafted to leverage both left- and right-brain skills sets. The future resists prediction, of course, and unexpected new business opportunities and staffing changes will occur. Even the best-laid plans must be revisited and adjusted to reflect the organization’s continually changing state.