Over the last few months, we have been asking our in-house creative community to share with us the biggest challenge they face. 

Whilst the list was broad in scope and very long, we wanted to share with you the 5 most common challenges faced by in-house creative teams in the UK. 

So, in no particular order, here are the top 5 challenges shared.

Remote working 

It is probably no surprise, considering the year we have all been confronted with, that remote working made our top 5. 

Whilst for some, working from home has provided flexibility and a better work/life balance, for lots of creatives and team leaders, working in ‘isolation’ has inadvertently created the feeling of disconnect and restriction.  

Whilst all in-house creative teams have swiftly adopted and adapted tech platforms to enable teams to stay connected, working from home has created barriers to freely communicate and collaborate. It has hindered the spontaneous discussions with colleagues, the sharing of ideas across the office and spur of the moment meetings to help support each other. 

It has also made working on more complex briefs more challenging, time consuming and cumbersome. 

Being treated as an “all you can eat buffet”

This challenge came from one of our Breakfast Club members and was echoed in our survey results. The key challenge here is that of balance. Trying to balance being treated as an “all you can eat buffet” while trying to maintain a creative reputation. 

Many teams are dealing with high demand and trying to manage creative output on limited resource and capacity.  This high workload ultimately results in a “we just have to churn it out” situation as there is no time for the team to be truly ‘creative’. 

Getting the organisation to understand us

Linked to the above challenge is getting the business to really understand the teams purpose, capabilities and capacity. This is both relevant at board level and for senior managers. 

Getting those decision makers to understand when to bring the in-house creative team into project development discussions is a common challenge faced by so many. Being part of those discussions early can really add value to a projects development and creative output. If it’s not happening, it leads to frustration, confusion and unrealistic timeframes. 

Tech stack

Here we saw two main challenges. 

The first was that of ensuring all those working from home, including new starters, have the hardware and software to effectively do their jobs. 

The second common challenge was about keeping up to date with new technology and digital platforms. Particularly a challenge whilst running alongside business as usual activity.

Some also expressed their concerns at getting their team to think digitally first.

Personal development and training 

For many creative leaders this last year has been dominated by Covid loss, recruitment and remote training of new joiners. With emphasis on volume and demand, there is limited time for personal development and coaching. With this said however, there have been a handful of teams who have safeguarded some time each week for this crucial upskilling to take place.

Some of the other challenges shared include trying to manage the brand for multiple audiences, taking marketing to the next level and design by committee.

We hope that by sharing these challenges, frustrations and shared experiences with you it will at least support the notion that you a not alone!

Join our community and connect with your peers - Join our LinkedIn group to keep up dated. 

Sarah Halfpenny
MANAGING DIRECTOR
E:[email protected]
T: 07779 163563