More Than Managing: Roles of a Creative Project Manager
- Adilla
- May 9
- 4 min read
Have you ever wondered what creative project managers’ roles look like? In short, they are the bridge that connects client ideas with their creative teams, turning them into reality.
Creative project managers plan and organise ideas to make visions come to life. Whether they are managing a new marketing campaign or coordinating an event, these professionals mix creativity with organisation to make sure every detail is perfect. Their job is to balance new ideas with practical steps, helping teams through the creative process. They aim to deliver projects that not only meet expectations but exceed them.
Or if you are not in a corporate team and working independently, you would call yourself an artist project manager. The skills of a creative project manager and an artist project manager are interchangeable.
Table of Contents
What is Creative Project Management?
Creative project management involves planning, coordinating, and overseeing tasks and resources to execute creative work effectively. It shares similarities with traditional project management but is less rigid and structured.
For example, some creative project managers would give a time range rather than a hard deadline so it encourages them to explore new ideas and innovative approaches, all while staying firmly aligned with the project's timeline and objectives.
Main Responsibilities of Creative Project Managers
A creative project manager’s duties are spread throughout the project. They not only manage the project and assign tasks but also handle clients while ensuring the project runs smoothly. Here are a few of their responsibilities:
Managing Client Relationships
Creative project manager roles require being clear about the client’s expectations before laying out the groundwork of the project. As the project progresses further, they will need to keep track of the project metrics and update their client. This will ensure the project is aligned with the client’s needs. It is recommended to schedule status updates with both clients and team members to prevent any mistakes or miscommunications.
Brief Team Members
Creative project managers would be the go-to people who could brief on the goings-on of a project. When the layout of the project has been determined, they must ensure team members are informed and assigned tasks that fit their skills and capabilities.
Additionally, whether it is introducing a new project to the team members or recruiting freelancers to assist with the project, creative project managers need to brief them, too.
Ensuring Project Quality
Creative project managers must ensure that projects finish on time while also achieving the expected quality and goals set by their clients. When the project goes through its stages, bottlenecks or issues will occur, whether the team is careful or not.
Other than having good risk management skills, creative project managers would need to be hands-on when identifying issues and repairing them with the team to prevent delays or affecting the quality of the project. When the manager is familiar with the project details, misunderstandings are less likely to occur.
Conclusion
Creative project managers or artist project managers are essential for bridging the gap between clients and creative teams. They remove the hassle of constant communication, allowing teams to focus on their projects. They also oversee the entire project, allowing them to identify whether it is running smoothly or if there are issues that need to be addressed. This way, team members can remain focused on their tasks without interruption.
Start Your Creative Project Manager Journey With TESSR
If you are ready to become a creative project manager (or already are and want to streamline your creative projects), check out our free creative project management software, TESSR. When considering project management tools for creative projects, TESSR is an ideal choice because it is designed specifically for creatives.
One of the key features of TESSR that assists creative project managers is the TESSR Woohoo module. It helps you calculate the completion percentage of projects for all team members, providing managers with valuable insights into work progress and team performance.
If you are interested in starting your creative project management journey with TESSR, sign up here and join our creative community!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between a project manager and a creative project manager?
As the name suggests, creative project managers are more catered for creative projects that require a team leader who understands the creative processes that team members do. Meanwhile, a ‘traditional’ project manager follows a structured and fixed process when planning and executing a project.
Can a project manager become a creative project manager?
It is possible as long as the project manager has the right understanding of how the creative part of a project is executed. Creatives need to trust that their team leader understands the creative workflow that is needed when producing creative work. When reviewing their work, it is encouraged for creative project managers to have a hands-on approach in assisting their creative teams.
Our project management software, TESSR, assists managers in providing space to have open communication with TESSR Review and transparency in workload distribution through the Woohoo module.
Is it difficult to be a creative project manager?
While it is a challenging role to fill in, it will only be hard if they do not take the time to understand the project goals and their team members’ capabilities. Without a good leader, a project will not be executed properly, whether a creative type or not.
Author Bio
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, including parodies of animated shows and plots for board games like Dungeons & Dragons. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. One day, she is eager to publish her book. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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