![\"Creative](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Creative-project-management-cover-1-1110x555.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat is creative project management?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Creative project management is the process of managing creative teams and projects while balancing formal practices and unconventional creative work strategies.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The creative industry recognizes the value of project management<\/a> and uses its principles to keep creative projects within scope, budget, and deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creative teams typically include a mix of specialists including content creators, designers, video producers, marketers, and other creative professionals whose goal is to come up with fresh ideas and translate them into concrete marketing deliverables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Creative departments are usually led by creative directors, but the \u201cengine\u201d behind operational efficiency and a balanced team workload is a creative project manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The creative project management process goes through 4 phases that help you structure workflows and ensure efficient delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re familiar with traditional project management phases<\/a>, you\u2019ll see that the creative project lifecycle follows a similar procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this phase, the creative team representatives and clients agree to work together and reach a particular project goal (logo suite, newsletter, advertising campaign, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The usual path is to create a business case<\/a> that justifies the project’s viability and ensures it has potential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The next document you\u2019ll need is a project charter<\/a> that should be approved by leading project stakeholders<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Creative agencies also use a creative brief<\/a> to establish their agreement with clients. This document serves as a roadmap for the creative team working on a project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, you need to select the right creative project management software<\/a>, as it helps you to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udca1 PLAKY PRO TIP<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Check out the article below to find a list of 10 best creative project management software:<\/p>\n\n\n\n At this stage, you should define the project scope<\/a> and clearly state objectives, budget, deliverables, and deadlines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another important step is to develop a project schedule that explicitly specifies the estimated task time and sets project milestones<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, you should identify project resources<\/a> necessary to complete project deliverables<\/a> and eventually bring your project to success. Make sure you assign the right people to your planned tasks, and ensure the team is aligned with tasks before the next phase. <\/p>\n\n\n The execution phase is where creative project managers put plans into action. Creative teams already know their responsibilities and can finally start shaping their ideas and bringing them to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, most of the changes that impact the original project plan take place in this phase. You have to address issues like project scope change requests, late client feedback, or employee leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to take action on time and help your creative team adapt to changes to maintain their work efficiency and prevent missed deadlines<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Using a project management software makes your creative project management much easier. You can reassign tasks quickly, prioritize them, and spot potential risks and blockers on time to protect creative focus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus, the software keeps doors open for your team\u2019s real-time communication and collaboration helping them stay on course. It also helps stakeholders to stay informed about updates and provides a transparent insight into progress for everyone involved.<\/p>\n\n\n \ud83d\udca1 PLAKY PRO TIP<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Creative teams face many challenges on a daily basis. Learn how to respond to them in the article below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n This stage is all about ensuring alignment with the stakeholders and\/or clients and getting their seal of approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, the first step you need to take is to collect the final feedback and take it into account before you finalize project deliverables and send them for sign-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, this doesn\u2019t mean you’re done with the project. Make sure you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, don\u2019t forget to celebrate project completion with your team and give them a pat on the back for all the effort and good work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sign up for Plaky today<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In a nutshell, creative project managers\u2019 main job is to build an atmosphere that drives creativity and allows flexibility while setting clear goals and ensuring a balanced team workload. Easier said than done, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creative project managers act like mediators between their team\u2019s creative mindset and real business trying to get the best of both worlds. They remove administrative obstacles and clarify priorities to protect creative freedom and still keep stakeholders satisfied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from managing their team, creative project managers have a bunch of other responsibilities such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use Plaky to manage your creatives<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Creative teams are often a hive of activity \u2014 ideas constantly pop up, conflicts arise, and feedback rolls in causing teams to redo work. Without proper guidance, things can quickly get messy and chaotic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s where creative project management steps in \u2014 to bring order to the creative process. Here\u2019s what creative teams get with a nudge of project management:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deliver projects on time with Plaky<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n As workloads grow, creative teams often struggle with pressure to innovate, lack of \u201cdeep work\u201d time, and inefficient processes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, to provide an effective work environment for your creatives, it\u2019s best to put creative project management software into use, as such tools help you to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udca1 PLAKY PRO TIP<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wanna see Plaky by CAKE.com in action? Read one of our success stories to find out how Plaky helped VM digital to overcome challenges:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Book a demo <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n With so many tools on the market that support creative teams and processes, the search for the right one can cause you a serious headache. Still, here are key features you should pay attention to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your chosen tools should enable different views and an easy switch between them. This allows everyone (creatives, clients, stakeholders, etc.) to visualize work the way they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, Plaky<\/a> by CAKE.com<\/a> offers 4 different views (Table, Kanban<\/a>, Gantt chart<\/a>, and Chart<\/a>) that cater different uses. You can use Table and Kanban view to see tasks lists and what comes next. Also, the Gantt chart view is great to manage timelines, spot bottlenecks, and make necessary adjustments to avoid creative burnout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plaky\u2019s views are highly customizable, allowing you to structure information and eliminate ambiguity and scope creep. With custom Fields like Person and Date<\/a>, you\u2019ll always know who\u2019s working on what and what the deadlines are. And, to clear the clutter on your boards and find what you need in a second, use the Sort and filter features<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n By storing and sharing your team’s files within one centralized space<\/a> you can enhance collaboration and speed up creative processes, as everyone involved gets real-time access to documents, images, videos, and other file types. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Plaky, files are attached directly to tasks so that you can always stay in the loop with the latest updates, comments, revisions, etc. The search bar in every Plaky board helps you quickly find the file you need, no matter the number of files in your storage. <\/p>\n\n\n Your PM tool must support time tracking to avoid deadline overlap, foster accountability, and make accurate project estimations. Also, time tracking ensures accurate client billing and helps keep projects within budget and on schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks to Plaky\u2019s integration with Clockify<\/a>, you can track time directly in Plaky and run time reports and create invoices in Clockify. This native integration also helps you with resource planning, as you can see who\u2019s underutilized or overloaded. <\/p>\n\n\n The best way to secure more time for deep work is by eliminating manual and repetitive tasks like sending notifications, changing task statuses, moving items, or updating fields. That\u2019s why your preferred tool should have automations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plaky helps you automate processes<\/a> and save hours for creative work by using a simple trigger\/action formula \u201cWhen this happens, then do that\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n Creative project management software enables centralized collaboration and communication real-time. This improves productivity as nothing can slip through the cracks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plaky helps its users stay informed about fast-paced changes made to tasks and\/or projects they are involved with thanks to real-time notifications<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, by using in-task Comments<\/a> in Plaky, you can give feedback, share updates, approve\/disapprove changes, and @mention team members to get their attention when necessary. In addition, you can react to comments with emojis and reply in threads to keep the logical flow of information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another interesting feature is the Plaky\u2019s Activity log<\/a> that allows you to see a real-time record of all activities, on both project and task level.<\/p>\n\n\n No matter whether you work in-house or at a creative agency, it\u2019s important to standardize processes and eliminate repetitive setup of recurring project boards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By using ready-made templates, creative teams can jumpstart projects and work much faster as they are already familiar with procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Plaky\u2019s template centre<\/a>, you\u2019ll find templates for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Efficient and streamlined workflows are only possible when everyone knows their role and responsibilities in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Creative project management software helps you define who has access to what, who can make changes on boards and tasks, and who is responsible for a particular task. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Plaky, user roles<\/a> determine the access level: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The viewer role is ideal to minimize stakeholder friction by allowing you to seamlessly collaborate with external parties and\/or team members who aren\u2019t directly involved with the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can share project updates and statuses in a polished and transparent way without fear of unauthorized changes.<\/p>\n\n\n Here are the main differences between traditional and creative project management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditional project management sets deadlines and has clear milestones and guidelines, whereas creative project management prefers a more flexible approach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While creatives do have deadlines, they are less tight since creativity cannot be rushed.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are the phases of creative project management?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#1 Initiation <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Managing](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Manage-all-the-steps-in-the-initiation-phase-in-Plaky.webp\")
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#2 Planning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Plaky's](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Track-how-your-creative-project-planning-phase-is-progressing-in-Plakys-Kanban-view.webp\")
#3 Execution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Running](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Run-your-creative-projects-and-in-Plaky-and-never-miss-a-thing.webp\")
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#4 Creative sign-off<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Key responsibilities of a creative project manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Why is creative project management important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Benefits of using project management software for creative teams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Key features of creative project management software<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Multiple views<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Plaky\u2019s](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Easily-manage-your-creative-projects-timeline-in-Plakys-Gantt-chart-view.webp\")
File sharing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Sharing](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Share-different-file-types-in-Plakys-task-cards.webp\")
Time tracking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Tracking](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Track-the-time-spent-on-tasks-directly-in-Plaky.webp\")
Automation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Automations](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Use-automations-in-Plaky-to-provide-more-time-for-focused-creative-work.webp\")
Collaborative features <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Comments](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Make-comments-and-give-feedback-to-your-coworkers-to-collaborate-smoothly-in-Plaky.webp\")
Templates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Plaky's](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Use-Plakys-templates-to-standardize-procedures-and-work-more-efficiently.webp\")
User roles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Managing](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Easily-mangage-user-roles-in-Plaky.webp\")
Creative project management vs. traditional project management <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#1 Planning and execution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n