7 Best Practices for Managing Creative Teams
- Adilla
- Jun 20, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 8
Team management is already tricky, and managing a creative team? That’s when a bit of manoeuvring and flexibility is needed without disturbing the creative flow of your creative team.
So, what is the best way to manage creative teams?
Table of Contents
Why Is It Different from Managing Non-Creatives?
Creatives need a balance between structure and freedom. Too much rigidness could affect their creative flow; too much freedom could affect clients’ expectations, especially when they want fast results. Creative leaders need to understand that creatives don’t work well with traditional management.
7 Best Practices for Managing Creatives
Understand The Creative Process
The key is to show real interest and ask open-ended questions, not ask people to do tasks you think they can do. Rather, by understanding the creative process of your team, you’ll get to understand what drives their creativity and what keeps them motivated.
Creative minds work better in an environment where they feel valued and understood. So, creative leaders are encouraged to be curious and aware of their team’s workflow. Hence, by doing so, you’ll find ways to enhance their performance.
Lead, Don’t Micromanage
When creative managers control their teams too much, it signals a lack of trust. This could lead their creatives to disengage and lack the motivation to perform well in their work.
Rather than making the decisions for your team, encourage them to make one and take risks that could boost their ideas to be competitive and innovative.
Provide Resources and Guidance from the Back Seat
Encourage your team to try and give assurance that it’s okay to make mistakes. This will be an opportunity for your team to learn as they go about their tasks. If you worry too much, they might make too many mistakes during the process or disrupt their workflow.
Therefore, provide the resources to ensure they are well-informed and encourage them to ask for help if needed. Creating a space of trust among your teams can boost productivity.
Encourage Collaboration and Communication
An environment where team members support and inspire each other could lead to collaboration that can produce innovative solutions.
It’s important to establish open communication among a creative team to prevent any misunderstandings or miscommunications. However, with the nature of creative work, a tool that can ease the process of collaboration is essential.
Moreover, not all tools are created to be able to give the right space for creatives to give accurate feedback without needing to swap tools in between reviews.
TESSR, as creative project management software, recognises this and has created the Review section in our software. This feature not only displays the full visual image or video in the app. However, users can also give contextual feedback, like highlighting parts of the file and giving comments and voice notes.
Constructive Conflict Resolution
Conflict is inevitable, especially in a space with diverse creative minds. Whether we like it or not, in a team full of creative people, disagreements are bound to happen. When it does, practise and show that there is a healthy and productive way to deal with disagreements.
Plus, if dealt with properly, a bit of discourse can build innovative ideas while still being respectful and empathetic.
Prioritise Time Off
Creative burnout is a dangerous territory. Once your creative teams are in it, it's hard to get out, so prioritise rest time. If your fear is a delay in work when your team is gone, add buffers between deadlines or delegates between your teams who can take over.
If you’re struggling with the feeling of guilt when you rest, recognising it is the first step to dealing with it. The guilt might take some time to go away, but by letting your creative leader know of your struggle, you’ll be able to build the boundaries needed to separate rest and work.
Schedule Regular Meetings to Manage Capacity
Have check-in meetings with your teams to know how they are faring with their workload, whether they are overburdened or underutilised in the project. Find a time that works best with your project’s pace without disturbing their workflow.
This is essential, as with the nature of creative work, some unpredictability could happen that might delay the workflow. So, creative leaders are encouraged to check in with their team to ensure efficiency and productivity.
How TESSR Supports Creative Leadership
TESSR is designed with the realities of how creative work is done, from the tight timelines and the constant feedback loops to the need for clarity at every stage.
Each of our features supports creatives’ and project leaders’ natural workflow. Our creative project management platform’s features are built to streamline work collaboration, reduce friction and miscommunications, and keep the creative workflow moving smoothly from concept to delivery.
Other than that, our creative project management platform can also help:
Increase efficiency with visibility of work statuses and updates through TESSR Insights.
Enhanced accountability when real-time progress updates are implemented in Woohoo.
Creative processes are streamlined, with each team’s My Work dashboard displaying their assigned tasks and deadlines.
Key Takeaways
By implementing these practices, as a leader, you will prevent your team from feeling underappreciated or overburdened.
However, if the current management style isn’t a good fit for your team, feel free to consult with your senior or mentor.
You can also try creative project management to help with your daily work.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
I am a non-creative manager, but I manage a creative team. Is it still possible for me to manage them?
Yes, it is possible to manage creatives as a non-creative manager, albeit challenging. There are key things you should keep in mind when managing creatives with a non-creative background. Looking up information on how to manage creatives can be a good start.
Be ready to have open communication and learn in-depth about creative processes. When providing feedback, guide them without restricting their ideas. Also, provide the space for them to explore their ideas while still leading them to the main objectives.
Are there tools to better manage creatives?
There are tools to better manage creatives, like our TESSR tool, which is created with creatives in mind. Our customisable features in each of our modules are made flexible for different creative projects.
Book a demo with us to learn more about it. And, hey! We have a forever free plan!
I’m a creative freelancer. Is it possible for me to build my own creative team?
It is possible for you to build your own creative team. Building a creative team is not as hard as you think. Find fellow creative individuals who share a similar goal with you, and you've got yourself a team.
How to build a managerial career in the creative industry?
To build a managerial career in the creative industry, there are a few creative management skills you need to build on to solidify your portfolio as a potential creative manager. If you’re already a creative, take on projects that can showcase your ability to lead and foster an environment that can build innovative ideas.
Other than that, improving your communication and conflict resolution will be an essential skill as you navigate your way towards a managerial career. Your colleagues would take note of this and be encouraged to have you as a creative leader.
What are common mistakes when managing creative teams?
There are a few common mistakes when managing creative teams. For example, poor communication, micromanaging from a lack of trust or overloading teams with tasks or deadlines that are unrealistic.
How do you balance creativity and deadlines?
Balancing creativity and deadlines can be a struggle, but it's not impossible. Keep in mind the unpredictable nature of creative work as you plan out goals, objectives, tasks and deadlines.
As a safety net, add ample buffer time between tasks to prevent creating a domino effect with the deadlines.
How do you motivate creatives under pressure?
To motivate creatives under pressure, give them a clear structure for reassurance, support on tasks they struggle with and encourage frequent breaks. Creative leaders can engage their team’s capacity to prevent undue burnout.
Author Bio
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.