What goes into building a strong, in-house creative team?

We talked to Terry Haller, Manager of Creative Services at Harley-Davidson, Phil Mrzlak, Creative Services Manager at McDonald's, and Shane Hudalla, Operations Director at Synchrony Financial (formerly GE Retail Finance) to find out for the In-House Agency Forum's blog. 

Terry, Phil, and Shane highlighted three things you need to do to build and maintain a strong in-house creative team:

1. Pay Attention to Soft Skills

Technical skills are table stakes, which means that you have to focus on whether or not the people you hire will fit into your existing team and whether or not their strengths complement those of the people they are working with. You also have to pay close attention to their communication skills and ask yourself, "Could I put this person in front of a client?"

2. Enable Good Work

Making it possible for your people to do good work, according to the managers we spoke with, depends on three things: ensuring that people are doing things they are good at ("setting them up for success"); reducing stress; and getting creative a seat at the table when projects begin.

3. Never Stop Communicating

Above all, as a leader of a strong in-house team, you need to be continuously communicating with the people on the team, so they understand what you are trying to accomplish, and people throughout the business, so they understand what you can do. 

You can read the entire article on IHAF's blog, The Inside Scoop.

Image Source (Creative Commons): Jose Mesa.