Your Creative Strategy team is struggling to improve. What can you do to help?

??Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify your team's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. ??Gather feedback through surveys and performance reviews to assess skills and areas for improvement. ??Encourage open communication and collaboration to foster creativity and innovation. ??Set clear goals and align the team’s efforts with strategic objectives. ??Offer training or workshops to bridge any skill gaps and keep the team competitive. ??Promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement within the team. ??Track progress regularly and celebrate milestones to boost morale and motivation.

Depending on the size of your team, allocate tasks according to strengths, not workload, to improve efficiency. Be open and direct with creative strategists about their strengths, while asking them what they feel they’d like to improve upon and learn more about, using this as an opportunity for them to reflect and plan for self-growth. This alleviates the need for you to have to “fix” their weakness, and instead encourages and motivates them to improve on their own.

Stop what you're doing to try and improve whatever it is. Walk away from it. Have your team do something else for the next day or so. Or week. Then come back to the problematic scenario and look at it with fresh eyes. With a different mindset and perspective. Don't fear Not doing as a way to shake loose new creativity!

Honesty really is the best policy. Being honest about what’s working, what’s not, and what you as a leader are prepared to do about it. You’re awesome, so you’re already having regular, candid conversations with your team. They appreciate you for it. Take this wealth of knowledge and examine each facet of your team of diamonds…both shiny and rough need your attention.

Assessing your team's strengths and weaknesses is SO important. As a team leader- when you understand an individual's weakness, you're better able to equip them with the tools or training they need to succeed. This understanding can also help you allocate and spread workload, and make sure that the right talent is on the right piece of the project.

Break it down into bite-sized pieces, you know? Make those tasks manageable, so everyone knows their part in the grand scheme. Assign roles like you're directing a blockbuster, where every star shines. This method ain't just about hitting targets; it's about lighting a fire under each team member, getting them pumped to jump outta bed in the morning. And here's the gem: As you track these goals, celebrate the wins, no matter how small. It keeps the morale sky-high and the momentum unstoppable. Predicting the future? With this kind of strategy, y'all are headed towards becoming legends in your game. Remember, success is a journey, not a sprint.

Creativity needs room to develop and direction to achieve goals. Therefore guiding a team through clear and realistic goals needs to factor in the adequate space for them to design think and to create a mapping system between ideas, inspirations and agreed upon objectives.

Next up, let’s set some goals that aren’t just pie-in-the-sky dreams. More like pies we can actually eat. Clear, realistic, and measurable goals. Instead of 'let’s be the best,' think more along the lines of 'let’s increase our project completion rate by 20% this quarter.' It’s like setting up checkpoints in a video game – keeps us on track and motivated.

The next step is to define what we want to achieve as a team and determine how we’ll measure our progress. Using the SMART framework, we can set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This helps align our team's vision, mission, and values, while also motivating and inspiring each member. By breaking down these goals into smaller, manageable tasks and assigning roles and responsibilities accordingly, we can work together effectively and stay on track.

Brainstorms are a waste of time. Do this instead: - Give your team space to be creative on their own. - Encourage x-functional knowledge sharing (you never know where inspo can come from) - Set come-together meetings to share the ideas you’ve had, and use the meeting to assess and either can or progress ideas that have legs. This way, you have self-development, relationship building, and feedback built into the process. It also stops the most senior person in the room saying their idea first in a group setting and everyone nodding along!

I have one basic rule for brainstorms: no idea gets shot down and shut down. People are encouraged to build and add, but no one shoots things down, not even me. On the day-to-day, I show appreciation for feedback, especially if it's negative feedback. If ideas seem flawed to someone, it probably bears rethinking. Creative strategy thrives on simplicity: even if your initial reaction is "oh you just didn't get it" chances are, the higher-ups and clients probably won't either. Early in my career, I worked with bosses whose only responses were to tell me I was wrong. So I just shut up. You don't want your team to be shutting up when thoughts and ideas are what you're supposed to be producing.

First: tell your team to go out. Seriously. Get out of the office. Talk to people on the streets, go to the places where the brands they work with are being consumed. If possible, ask your account team to organise a factory tour, if the brand they work with is manufactured. Second: give them inspiration. Schedule a weekly session where they will learn how to write better, like writing a pen portrait of a character they saw in a movie. Third: tell them to reverse engineer the strategy of campaigns they like. Ask them to write the propositions and the problem they were solving.

Another crucial aspect of improving my Creative Strategy team is fostering a culture of collaboration and communication. I can use methods like brainstorming sessions, workshops, online platforms, or even informal chats to exchange ideas, feedback, and information with my team members. Promoting a positive and supportive atmosphere—where we respect, trust, and appreciate each other’s contributions and perspectives—enhances our creativity, productivity, and morale. This collaborative environment ensures that everyone feels valued and motivated to contribute their best work.

Finally, foster a culture of collaboration and open communication. Encourage team members to share ideas, give feedback, and support each other. Create opportunities for brainstorming sessions, workshops, and team-building activities. It’s like being a conductor, ensuring each instrument is in harmony with the others. Effective communication and collaboration lead to a more cohesive and innovative team.

The thing about learning that people know from the top of their heads but forget in real life: the easiest way for the learning to stick is DOING. You can send your team to a bajillion trainings and make them show you their notes or even report on what they learned, mentor and feedback to death and talk until you turn blue, but unless you give them opportunities to actually DO the thing they're learning, it's not going to last. Give them opportunities to apply what they've learned and turn that inspiration into something concrete: brainstorm brand initiatives, personal projects (make sure you ask). Check if you're seeing it in the work. Give points when you do.

Training needs analysis on one hand, but also a teams dynamics assessment to understand how effective communication is and how leadership is perceived. There is nothing as a waste of time than providing training which didn’t transform the teams. So sometimes in order to address a symptomatic work hurdle, surveys and advisory that allow personal development, transformational HR coaching are also good to look into.

I once heard the mantra “if you have no life outside your advertising, there will be no life in your advertising” and that really stuck with me. We are in a creative world and ideas come from unexpected connections we make. So the more stimuli we are exposed to the more freely we can think out of the box. While learning can be through structured courses and workshops, learning can also be through travel, entertainment, sport, adventure, nature trails, even shopping sprees and totally unplanned experiences. People watching is a skill not many consciously deploy. Is there any way we can make our teams learn and absorb strategic concepts without sitting in a room in front of a screen?

Encourage your crew to get inspired from every corner of the universe. Books that turn their brains inside out, podcasts that have them nodding in the street, blogs that light up their eyes, or case studies that get their gears grinding. It's all about feeding that curiosity and stoking the flames of imagination. Imagine your team as a bunch of superheroes, each with their own unique powers. Now, you're giving them the training montage they need to face the big baddie: stagnation. By pushing them to learn and grow, you're not just solving problems more creatively; you're building a squad of innovation Avengers.

Creative people often think their ideas are the best and believe they can accomplish anything. However, open discussion can be beneficial. Many teams dismiss creative input, causing people to feel undervalued and hesitant to share their ideas. This can lead to jealousy and conflict. To foster a collaborative environment, it's important to value everyone's contributions. Avoid playing the "boss game." Whether you are the boss or a senior member, show equal respect to all team members. This encourages freedom of expression and a sense of teamwork beyond titles and pride. By embracing humility and collaboration, we can achieve great work and build a better, more creative team.

Gamification, incentives, recognition programs—these are your tools to make your team feel like MVPs. It's about showing love for their hard work and dedication, making them feel seen and valued. This ain't just about boosting morale; it's about crafting a vibe where everyone's pumped to push boundaries and innovate. This strategy turns your workplace into a lab of experimentation, where taking risks and learning from missteps is part of the culture. You're not just building a team; you're nurturing a family of forward-thinkers, ready to ride or die for the vision. So, keep that recognition coming, 'cause when your team knows you've got their back, they'll go above and beyond.

As a creative director, I believe in 4 approaches : - Provide your team with access to market research, consumer insights, and competitive analysis tools. - Ensure they have the necessary software, templates, and frameworks to streamline their strategic planning and ideation processes. - Conduct one-on-one reviews to identify each team member's unique skills and areas for improvement. - Recognize and celebrate team successes and individual contributions to boost morale and motivation

WORK TOGETHER WITH YOUR TEAM! Make them part of the process and the solution. Dont wait for it to fail to have to create ?? strategies! Be a good team mate and inspire then they will even tell you their weaknesses before having to analyze them!

As a leader you must demand the highest standards of creative thinking - at all times. It’s easy to compromise when the going gets tough - team members must know this is never an option. Seed in stimuli with workshops on both consumer and category. Open their minds to other ideas that have broken through. Show them how mental blocks can be removed by various imaginative techniques. Assess which team players are progressing naturally and which ones need more hand-holding. Arrive at what upskilling methods will work best for each person. If all else fails, halt the assignment for a couple of days and let them come at it fresh after a break. You hired the best creative and strategic minds - make sure you clearly express your belief in them.

First, I'd organize a meeting to understand the team's challenges. Then, I'd encourage open communication to identify strengths and weaknesses. Next, I'd suggest team-building exercises to foster collaboration and trust. Additionally, I'd provide resources like workshops or online courses to enhance skills. Regular check-ins and constructive feedback will keep everyone motivated

Sometimes it's good to try a new approach. Just because what's worked in the past has seen success, it doesn't mean that your team will respond to the same methods. Try to speak to your team to understand why they think things aren't working and try to come up with some solutions and different approaches to creative thinking.