The Crave
Weekly tips and stories that will help you do your job and make you smile (or groan).
By Julie Alexander December 9, 2021
How to empower your creative team to get [and stay] creative
Lately, a lot of people in our Marketing team have been hitting creative strides. I’ve been hearing more often how excited someone was to create something, or how much fun they had at a brainstorming session. And the content I’ve been getting across my desk has been reflecting that. That can only lead to one question: What happened? Which begs another: How do we keep this going? In 7+ years of managing B2B content teams, I don’t think I’ve experienced this kind of “gel” involving so many people in the wider marketing department. It’s been making me think a lot about what’s different here, and what we can keep doing to fuel creativity. So naturally, I made a list based on my own experiences as both a content creator and team manager.
What makes creative people happy at work
- Creative freedom
- Constructive criticism
- Trust
- Respect
- Genuine conversation and concern
- Connection
- Validation
- Knowing your work matters
- Knowing you’re spending time on the things that matter most
The list felt pretty complete… at least these are all things I know matter to me in creative roles. But how could I validate it? Then I realized: I’ll ask my team. Here’s what they said: What makes you feel the most empowered as a creative person at work?
- Being surrounded by other creatives that are available (and keen) for brainstorming and feedback
- The collective mindset that "Everything worth doing starts as a bad idea."
- Being able to sketch. Try things out. And feeling comfortable enough to discuss them.
- Being able to eliminate variables to avoid thinking in circles. A well-thought-out brand is a big part of this.
- I really enjoy getting the creative juices flowing with ideation sessions, where no idea is a bad idea.
- I’d say brainstorming or bouncing ideas off each other to come up with creative angles/hooks before you start working on something.
- No negative judgment from the team. Only constructive feedback.
- Mindspace; no little to do’s laying around. Clean desk; no distractions (phone etc).
This exercise had 3 big takeaways for me
- Creative freedom and trust go a really, really long way, as does a safe environment. When I combine my own assumptions with the input from the team, it’s clear that nurturing an open, accepting environment may be the #1 best thing managers can do for their creative teams.
- As managers, we should regularly ask our teams what works for them. None of us should have to guess what makes our teams happy. If we build healthy relationships with good communication, they’ll tell us.
- We need each other. Collaboration, conversations, swapping ideas, thinking out loud — we work in teams for a reason. We can’t let remote working get the best of us. Everyone’s had to get creative with this in the time of remote working, but tech is getting better! We had a 2-hour writing session with a small group on Discord the other day, for example, which resulted in some really great blog content.
TLDR: It’s up to us to create positive creative environments for our teams, even when we’re all working from home.
Let’s talk about it together!
Share your thoughts on LinkedIn using #thecravediscussion This week’s topic: What is the best way to fuel creativity in a team?
Currently craving
- Middle Movers podcast — Episode 10: Leading and marketing with purpose as a brand — I always love finding new marketing-related podcasts to listen to while I get some fresh air in the afternoon!
- We (still) talk a lot about the gated/mid-gated/ungated thing, and I really love the way this article lays it all out.
- If you’re not already following John Bonini on LinkedIn, I highly suggest you do that right now! His posts are full of great content gems and reminders, like this one.
- Animalz just released a really in-depth 2021 benchmark content marketing benchmark report
Julie van der Weele
Head of Brand & Comms
About the author
When I’m not thinking up B2B marketing strategies and processes, you’ll find me in the kitchen, at the yoga studio, or in my favorite chair with a cat and a book.
The latest from Foleon
- Foleon podcast series: Perfectly Content. Content strategy, tactics, and stories to unstick even the most stuck. Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
- How to maximize your company’s creative content potential
