100 Days Heading Creative

Or - why I love being a people manager

Hey folks,

The year began with me crossing one of my career aspirations off the list:

I was returning to Betsson at the start of January as Head of Creative.

This 25+ team is one near to my heart, I'd been part of them four years back and it was here that I experienced some of the more joyful periods in my career. To return as the leader of peers I trusted and respected would be a bold challenge.

I arrived in a period of turmoil: a shift in the organisation, the resignation of my direct manager and a series of unfinished projects. I found my former comrades in a state of low morale and a departmen facing more than its fair share of problems. When I asked my interim manager what my immediate goals should be, he told me not to worry and take my time. "See what's happening and find your feet," he kindly said, knowing there was a lot to contend with.

However, with major events like the Copa America, UEFA European Championships and a plethora of other commitments on the horizon, time was not a resource I could spare.

Getting our house in order: managerial moves

My first priority was to sit with my direct reports and the Brand Ops manager to talk through the issues at hand, and the team's aspirations for our department.

We held affinity mapping sessions to brainstorm all the problems and collectively structured them into a roadmap, one we collectively believe we can deliver on. My managerial approach is collaborative - I don't commit to anything unless my team buys into the delivery of that promise.

At Betsson, Annual performance reviews take place in January. I sat in every 121 meeting, listening to my Team Leads provide feedback to their designers, helping me learn about the abilities of the latter and also the managerial approach of the former.

My managerial approach is collaborative - I don't commit to anything unless my team buys into the delivery of that promise.

After reviewing workload data and interviewing key personnel we restructured the department. The teams were reallocated according to headcount needs, talent and even personality fit. Not a popular move, but one that paid off later.

We created a new Projects+Media team to focus on working on longer-term projects, 3D assets, animation and video support services.

We instituted a cloud-based whiteboard and made sure that every artwork gets posted there, dubbing it the Creative Review. This means that any given time we have a top-down view of all brand elements being done and can quickly gauge what assets are being overused, if the artworks are on brand and also reward the designers knocking it out of the park.

Gaining more ownership over projects lets us reduce agency dependency and empowers our in-house talent

I created an in-person feedback forum for a branding project started before my arrival, giving direct and honest comments to every participant. Collectively we selected the best three performers to take on the next stage of the project and empowered them with what resources we could spare to develop their ideas.

I've instituted weekly Lead+Ops meetings to cover all the ongoings at a managerial level, plan out the next week and firefight any problems. An absence of structured 121s was also corrected. I also began a 'GTKY'(Get to know you) weekly session to develop a rapport with the newer members of the team, learn about their career journey and what other skillsets they might have. (Really starting to feel my years here, some age gaps exceed two decades ??).

Why did we do all this?

• We restructured the teams to create a better balance.
• We review the balance collectively to find opportunities for efficiency.
• We create efficiency to buy more time.
• Time lets us take more project ownership.
• Ownership lets us reduce agency dependency and empowers our talent.

Indeed we've already brought much more work back in-house, saving thousands in agency costs.

We've developed videos and animations that would normally get outsourced,

We've written TVC scripts and project-managed major video and photo shoots.

We built new templates to expedite workflow and an arsenal of 3D assets for the rest of the year.

We've built a working environment that is as fun as it is challenging.

And we've only just begun.

Propriety information prevents me from sharing the actual projects we've knocked out of the park, but I'll namecheck those making them happen. I'm immensely proud and fortunate to work with these folks - Nadia Maniscalco , Dennis Kjellin Caroline Borg , Naomi Grima , Karl Sciberras , Claire Ciantar , Isabelle Sciberras and of course Kim Ekelund and Hakan Jerner - Let's make the next 265 count!