How can you manage a team with varying skill levels in advertising?

Having worked with many teams across a wide variety of marketing agencies, it is vital to meet team members where they are in terms of career path, passion points/areas of interest, skill set, and comfort level managing different aspects of the job. Once you understand this, you can look for growth opportunities to build experience and knowledge in areas that meet your organization's needs. Depending on the person, this may come in the form of internal/team-led training, 3rd party courses/certifications, research projects, industry conferences, opportunities to collaborate with different departments, intern mentorship opportunities, etc.

You need to be a team member first vs being a team lead. People perform at their highest level when they are led by a team member who helps sharpen their strength vs a boss who prioritises title and power. It's that simple

1. Meet team members regularly in a formal as well as in an informal way. The informal way will boost their morale differently. 2. Take and give periodic work breaks. This will give them a fresher perspective on their assigned jobs. 3. Create an open-door policy. This will give an access to everyone to everyone and promote inclusiveness. 4. No discrimination under any circumstances. This will build a positive work environment. 5. Keep work space free of politics and religion. The focus should be purely on individual deliverables and growth. 6. Celebrate every occasion with everyone. This will provide a culture of oneness.

Once I was asked to compare the merits of Mr. X and Mrs. Y as Art Directors. I often use the analogy of comparing a fancy suit to sportswear. Both have their own merits, but their suitability depends on the occasion. Similarly, Mr. X and Mrs. Y possess distinct skill sets and areas of expertise that make them valuable assets in their own right. Mr. X excels in 3D graphics, image manipulation, layout design, and animation, while Mrs. Y is a specialist in 2D graphics, branding, and identity design. Rather than pitting them against each other, I assign their respective talents based on the specific requirements of the brief at hand. By leveraging their unique strengths, we ensure that each project receives the expertise it demands.

The key is to always encourage your team's individual strengths while also encouraging them to gain new skills. Many individuals have talents they have not tapped into because they have not been given the necessary time or encouragement. If you have team members eager to learn, let them shadow or second more experienced members. You can also give them lower priority but still significant work to show their own style. This gives them the confidence to learn more tools that helps both the individual and the team.

Use the seniors — those with titles a level below "director" — to train up the juniors. This is a two-fer, as they're doing a lot of the heavy lifting moment-to-moment while gaining experience supervising toward that director level title. But don't make the mistake of just assuming they're doing it right; it's on you to monitor, oversee, course correct, etc. It's not a "set and forget." Be present and active in ideation, reviews, and drive-bys to ensure the process is happening at all, and effectively.

Giving proper feedback is one the key to healthy team. But what else is important is ability to receive this feedback. Sometimes people not taking actions after receiving feedback, or vice versa taking hasty actions. The best way is always to specify with your team lead / manager what is expected and always ask for help if it needed. Don't feel ahamed if you don't know something. It's always room for improvement and we all imperfect

I have always held skills enhancement meetings/workshops with my teams--with food and tea! Around the holidays, add sherry, it works. In addition,I have generally built a team of people who are connected to another in some way so they cover each other's backs and teach one another without being judgemental.

I believe in fostering a culture of open communication and collaboration within my team, which is why I actively seek feedback from them regarding my own work. By doing so, I aim to create a comfortable space where team members feel encouraged to provide honest input without fear of ego getting in the way. This feedback loop establishes a sense of mutual trust and respect among team members. Moreover, this practice serves as an opportunity for me to reciprocate by providing constructive feedback on their projects. By striking a balance between offering guidance and allowing space for individual creativity, I strive to empower my team to explore their creative potential while ensuring that our collective goals and objectives are met.

It helps if you get your seniors to buddy up with mid-level. And mid-level skilled team members to buddy up with juniors. This helps pass skills down the chain of experience. I've set up advertising and digital teams in this way for many years now. As it helps bring skills levels up across the whole team. And also lets you build role development experience and management skills into senior team members. Make time in their week to converse with one another, asking questions and capture common questions internally across the team (like a wiki) to help spread insights and knowledge like a database resource. Everyone's a junior at some point in their career - so help them grow!

In todays work environment where newly 5 generations are in the workforce, building collaboration is crucial. Involving employees of varying levels in brainstorming, ideation, problem solving and strategy helps each understand different perspectives. Especially in a constantly evolving field like advertising, each level of employees brings something different to the table. A collaborative setting should not just be for specific projects but should also be reflected in the work environment and the day-to-day functioning. Every level of employee needs to understand what the others bring to the table and respect that. This really strengthens the outcomes of every single task and makes them robust.

Create a team dynamic where trust, respect, and support are non-negotiables. If you set the bar high with clear guidelines on roles, responsibilities, and deadlines, you'll create an environment where every member feels empowered to contribute to the collective success.

Hold regular team meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and goals. Provide an opportunity for knowledge sharing and learning. Most importantly, be Patient and supportive. Understand that skill development takes time. Be patient, supportive, and empathetic toward team members as they work to improve their skills. Periodically assess whether the team structure and roles need adjustment based on changing skill levels and team dynamics.

The world is changing. Media consumption is not the same as it was 5 years ago, let alone decades ago. The world is coming closer and that how communication and advertising need to evolve. It’s is critical to create a sense of community and inclusivity in how you approach advertising and how you hire talent. It doesn’t matter if you have sections and pages on your website taking about DEI and creativity, it should be reflected in the talent that you hire. On this age of information, it’s not hard to validate these claims. Actively take input from diverse groups within the organization. Campaigns are more authentic and connect better with community when the right talent is given the opportunity.

Teammitglieder sollten offen und immer ihre Ideen in den Raum werfen können. Sie sollten Spaß daran haben, ihrer Kreativität freien Raum zu lassen. Kritik sollte zurückgestellt werden, damit Ideen entstehen können. So können alle Talente ihren Input einbringen und Innovation und Wachstum entstehen.

I have learnt in my 30 years as a marketer that 'varying skill levels' just means that the team members are possibly not very skilled at doing what YOU want them to do very well, but are possibly awesome at doing something else very well. So the fundamental responsibility for a 'manager' is to recognize that and build multiple skill lakes with different competence sets. For example, I have realised that the creative skills required for developing a press ad is very different from the creative skills required to develop insta posts that need to be published every day. I would never use the same creative person for both - I would draw from a different skill lake for press ads and a different one for digital campaigns.

Accountability not only ensures tasks are completed but also promotes a sense of responsibility and growth within the team. It can lead to improved performance and a stronger sense of unity.

In my experience, looking at the strengths and gifts that your team may posess may be surprising...You may have a rockstar in an area that is untraditional if you are not pigeon holeing your team into a "one size fits all" expectation. Get to know the personalities and strengths as well as what drives your team to success and utilize those to make a better sales team overall.