Remote creative collaboration is becoming an increasingly popular reality for many professionals, including those in marketing and advertising. A recent Filestage report, based on 366 responses from marketing and advertising professionals, provides insight into the current state of creative collaboration in the industry.
At the start of 2023, the report showed that only 1 in 5 marketers and creatives would work remotely, compared to 2 in 5 at the start of 2022. This shift toward hybrid work, which includes a mix of remote and in-person work, jumped from 49% to 65%. Only 16% of respondents said they work entirely in the office. This shift towards hybrid working underscores the need for companies to put in place processes and tools that can support remote collaboration and ensure a seamless transition between in-person and remote work.
75% of creative collaboration is done remotely
A key finding of the report is that 75% of creative collaboration now happens remotely, and only 25% face-to-face. This shift towards remote work has major implications for companies working in the field of marketing and advertising. For example, a midsize ad agency found that remote collaboration helped them streamline the creative review process, resulting in faster project delivery times and improved efficiency.
Another important finding of the report is that 74% of remote creative collaboration happens in real time. This has a significant impact on the speed of remote collaboration, which is now faster than that which takes place in the office. For example, a large professional services company reported that its remote creative teams were able to collaborate on projects in real time, which helped speed up projects and increase productivity.
Reviewing and approving a creative collaboration creates friction
Marketing and advertising professionals spend an average of 20 minutes reviewing each job, or 8 hours per month. This highlights the importance of effective collaboration and review processes, as well as the need for tools and platforms that can support these processes. For example, a midsize IT company found that using a collaboration platform designed specifically for remote working allowed the marketing team to review and approve projects more efficiently, freeing up time for other tasks.
The report also states that the approval process takes an average of 7 days for agencies and 10 days for brands. This lengthy approval process can be very challenging for marketing and advertising professionals, leading to project completion delays and increased frustration among team members. For example, a medium-sized creative agency reported that implementing a streamlined approval process enabled its creative teams to work more efficiently, reducing time spent waiting for feedback and approval.
According to the report, waiting for feedback is the number one issue slowing the creative collaboration process for marketing and advertising professionals. Also, chasing people for their approval and having too much to do is among the three biggest problems marketers and creatives face. These challenges underscore the need for tools and processes that can streamline the collaboration process and reduce the time spent waiting for feedback and approvals. For example, a large advertising agency found that using a project management platform designed specifically for remote work enabled its creative teams to collaborate more effectively and get projects approved faster.
Addressing cognitive biases in remote collaboration
However, it is important to note that cognitive biases can also affect remote collaboration. The two biases that can have a significant impact on remote collaboration are confirmation bias and attention bias.
Confirmation bias refers to our tendency to seek out and place more weight on information that confirms our beliefs than information that challenges them. This can affect remote collaboration, as team members may overlook information or opinions that conflict with their own, leading to suboptimal results.
Attention bias refers to our tendency to place greater importance on information that is easier to process or that stands out, rather than information that is difficult to process or that is less salient. In a remote working environment, this can lead to team members missing out on important information or not paying enough attention to details critical to the collaboration process.
Conclusion
The remote collaborative work trend is here to stay and continue to grow among marketing and advertising professionals. With 75% of creative collaboration happening remotely, it’s clear that working remotely offers advantages such as speed and real-time collaboration. Not only has the shift to remote work increased efficiency, but it has also created new challenges, such as waiting for feedback, which can slow down the approval process. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to remote work, and today 65% of respondents work in a hybrid manner, while only 16% work in the full office. The future of work has changed and companies need to embrace this trend to stay competitive in today’s rapidly changing business world. Companies that embrace remote collaboration strategies will end up with more efficient, productive, and engaged teams. It’s time to embrace remote collaboration and reap the many benefits it brings.
Translated article from the American magazine Forbes – Author: Gleb Tsipursky
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