Mindful Management: Aligning the Project Management Matrix of Digital Projects in Creative Agencies

As a project manager, I get a lot of project management content in my LinkedIn feed. It’s nice to be reminded of things you might not think about all of the time or pick up a piece of advice or see an outlook you haven’t heard about before. But as a project manager in a creative agency, I find most of the content I see is pretty generic and more applicable to in-house project managers in a large organization. What are some of the things agency PMs should take into consideration that other PMs may not?

Client relationships

At the core of creative agency work is providing excellent service and results for your clients, which are most often external customers. Yes, we do internal creative work for ourselves, but the vast majority of my time is spent managing client projects. This requires understanding the unique needs of each client, knowing their customers and their stakeholders, and anticipating feedback or changes. All of this requires strong communication with consistent updates and feedback to ensure trust, collaboration, and successful outcomes.

Project diversity

While an in-house project manager typically focuses on a single brand or product line, agencies often tackle projects across various industries with differing audiences. This keeps our senses sharp and helps us stay adaptable to changing conditions, never assuming that we know everything up front and always asking questions throughout the project to ensure we realize the best outcomes.

Creative collaboration

I get to work with amazingly talented and creative people, whether they are strategists, designers, or technical magicians. From brand builders to data analysts (and project managers!), we all play a part in bringing a client’s vision to life and achieving their goals. We do so by sharing ideas and asking questions, even — or especially — in areas outside of our domains of expertise, to push the boundaries of conventional thought. It is this welcome collaboration among all of our creative experts that allows us to perform at the highest levels.

Competing priorities

Typically, an in-house project manager is working toward goals for a single organization. Though a single organization may have competing priorities across departments, it doesn’t come to the level of competing priorities across paying clients! Balancing time and resources across clients with their own changing needs and priorities is a practice in itself, one in which employing agile methodologies is helpful in supporting.

Value delivery

Projects have traditionally been measured with basic standards: were the deliverables completed within scope, was it finished on time, and was it finished within the budget. While those factors remain important, creative agencies realize that clients aren't going to be satisfied with only those standards being met. The project must provide value to the client and their customers. How this value is demonstrated varies from client to client and project to project, so agency project managers need to understand what the outcomes of each project should be and how to measure them, not just simply completing a deliverable.

The role of a project manager in a creative agency is a dynamic and multifaceted one that demands a unique set of skills and perspectives. By prioritizing client relationships, embracing project diversity, fostering creative collaboration, navigating competing priorities, and focusing on value delivery, agency PMs can elevate their impact and ensure that their agencies are not just meeting client expectations but exceeding them.

As we continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of project management, it’s essential to share insights and strategies that resonate with our specific experiences. Let’s keep the conversation going and support one another in mastering the art of project management in the creative space, ultimately driving success for our clients and ourselves.