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What! Time box creativity? You can’t put a time limit on being creative! As a project manager, you’ve likely heard this many times from the creative people on your team—from coders and developers to writers and designers. Well, they’re right; creativity doesn’t come with the snap of your fingers or at any given time. You can’t say, “Sit here and come up with a creative idea in an hour.”
Creativity happens when the brain has time to really mull over and think through an idea. Call it the eureka moment, if you will. Project managers often hear from many creative counterparts that their best ideas come when they can roam freely and stimulate their minds with experiences that have nothing to do with the creative problem they are trying to solve (read: the project set forth before them). For instance, a UX designer may want to escape to the book store to flip through splashy magazine ads. Hey, it happens. After all, sometimes creative ideas speak to us through our subconscious, manifested through our dreams. Other times, they leap off the page of a favorite magazine or grow roots after what appears to be idle chit-chat in the break room.

So, what if you, as a project manager, could harness this creative energy, and still make your deadlines on a project? Here in lies the challenge. You have to offer that creative freedom with the use of what I call “creative time boxes.”

What is a creative time box? Simply, it’s a set time in which you and your creative resources agree can be reserved for their creative “roaming.” It can be a few hours each week to read in the park, the chance to meet with colleagues at a local coffee shop, or the use of music at project meetings and brainstorms to inspire the team. The method you choose should be decided by the “creatives.” If you don’t fully understand why a creative person needs this, that’s okay. Respect it. It’s only going to benefit you and the project in the long run. Oh, and if a creative needs a mid-afternoon nap to recharge, that’s okay too.

You are probably shaking your head and saying aloud right now, “Naps? Really! How do I convince upper management to let the team take naps? How can this possibly help get things done?” The easiest way to convince anyone of anything is with results. Regardless of creativity taking time away from the computer or away from the office, you can justify this with what you deliver and how you deliver it. If you make your deadlines and your team does amazing work, a good manager will recognize the value of what you are doing for the creative team. Also, you can always reference numerous studies and articles that speak about creative results and how they are obtained. This may seem unorthodox to you; but if it works, it’s worth it.

Why Creating & Respecting a Creative Process Matters- Two perspectives Revealed: The Project Manager’s & The Creative’s


From the PM:
Talk to your team about what their creative method is. How do they come up with new ideas? When do they get ideas? What can you do to help them find the time to be more creative? Help foster this.

From the The Creative:
Yes! We appreciate you, as a project manager, trying to understand our work styles and how we’re driven to complete projects. Time away from the desk and meetings off-site for a coffee pick-me-up isn’t a hindrance; rather, it’s fuel to tackle the critical stage of being creative. We understand deadlines; we just hope you’ll understand that quality of deliverables often increases exponentially when you let us be us.

From the PM:
Organize and prioritize what you need your creative team to do. You can’t drop 20 things on a creative person’s desk, saying, “Get this done by the end of the week.” You have to help them understand the priorities and get them the information they need to understand the project so they can start to formulate it in their minds. Yes, they are creative, but they can’t read your mind.

From The Creative:
It’s hard to get things done when we don’t know the outcome we’re striving for—or where to go to find out any answers we may have along the way. Also,where does this fit among all the other things we need to do? Helping clear things “out of the way” for us to focus on more time-heavy creative tasks with higher stakes will only benefit everyone, including the project manager.

From the PM:
Remove distractions from their work day. Have you ever tried to work with your young child asking you a million questions? It’s not easy. Same rule applies to a creative person. The more interruptions to their creative flow, the less likely their creative ideas will grow. Make project rules of engagement that reduce the amount of interruptions to the creative team. Schedule and stick to meetings, so they know when they need to go into meeting mode and leave creative mode.

From the Creative:
A child asking a million questions is a child being himself. However, nothing is worse than having to switch directions 542 times a day, then still being expected to deliver top-notch projects. We need to focus; we need to tune into the highly creative parts of the project (and our brains), because they’re often the most time consuming. Expecting us to be able to “turn on” at any time and not respecting our schedules is extremely frustrating—and so inefficient. Instead, understand how we like to work. We get that you’ll need to talk to us. We’re open to that. Most often, though, give us a head’s up so we can mentally change gears.

From the PM:
Offer them creative time boxes. Set time aside where they will be available to roam creatively, trust them to leave the office and understand this time is critical to maintaining their creative mojo.

From the Creative:
True, you can’t snap your fingers and immediately have the right idea or approach to a project. But if we know we have some time just for thinking, exploring, mocking up designs, writing and re-writing during a block of the day, our brains will anticipate that and get ready to “plug in” to that elusive part of the mind that makes us so great at what we do. If Thur20like to work. We get that you’ll need to talk to us. We’re open to that. Most often, though, give us a head’s up so we can mentally change gears.

From the PM:
Offer them creative time boxes. Set time aside where they will be available to roam creatively, trust them to leave the office and understand this time is critical to maintaining their creative mojo.

From the Creative:
True, you can’t snap your fingers and immediately have the right idea or approach to a project. But if we know we have some time just for thinking, exploring, mocking up designs, writing and re-writing during a block of the day, our brains will anticipate that and get ready to “plug in” to that elusive part of the mind that makes us so great at what we do. If Thursdays are Think-Tank Days, we’ll show up energized, caffeinated and happy. You just need to let us have that time!

From the PM:
A creative workspace is critical. Let them listen to music, use headsets, and decorate their work space. Lighten up at meetings, and try playing some music. Or have these meetings off-sight in a creatively conducive location. Remember when your university professor held class outside? Yeah, that was cool.

From the Creative:
Music, color, graphics, stuff! Yes, we charge and re-charge our minds so many times a day, in so many different ways. Maybe it’s a break to read an article online. Or maybe we put in the earbuds to rock out to our favorite music. And sometimes it’s just a quick walk outside. But we’re very sensitive to our environment, and the more we can claim it as “ours,” the more comfortable we’ll be — and that means it’ll be easier to slip into the creative process and get things done. Honest. It may not make sense to non-creative people, but I bet all my creative friends out there are nodding vigorously in agreement.

From the PM:
Hold the creative team accountable. It sounds “managerial,” but with great power comes great responsibility. If you give people the power to creatively roam, they also need to deliver. Make sure you set realistic goals, deadlines and milestones that the team agrees to meet. Make sure to track progress so that you don’t miss critical deadlines and hold them accountable. Make sure they aren’t abusing this new-found freedom. It’s all about trust.

From the Creative:
We get that we have a job to do. And if we’re given the time to be ourselves and perform our best, which involves time to create, we will respect the deadlines and the project manager all the more. Especially if we can collaborate on these time lines. Nothing kills creativity more than being told when to do something and how to do it. By allowing us to participate in setting deadlines, we are invested. And we are okay with being held accountable. After all, who else knows more about the time it takes to create and deliver than those of us who are creating and delivering? Yeah, exactly. Trust is definitely key, too. Mature and experienced creatives won’t abuse this wonderful, free-roaming process.

From the PM:
Evaluate and re-evaluate. Make sure this process is working; ask the team if it’s helping, or if they need more or less from the process. Make sure you don’t give up too much by adding risk to your project trying to pursue the creative sweet spot. An office of white walls, glass meeting rooms and repetitive keyboard clicking doesn’t foster much creativity; but on the flip side, too much freedom can lead to being taken advantage of and missed deadlines.

From The Creative:
It’s all about trying it out. Saying no from the start is easy; adapting a new approach to meeting deadlines can be scary for managers. But try it. I’ve been lucky to work with teams who value creativity and respect a creative’s need to “pursue the muse.” After all, if you really want high quality projects done, you need to make time for high quality creativity. Otherwise, you can probably check off that you met your deadlines, but you may not be able to say that your team gave it their best.

Finding what that best is takes some time. Start small, of course. As creatives, we like to know we can pack up the cubicle and hit the open park if we need to. Trust me when I say that our brains are always working on the project. Requiring us to be physically present during operating hours looks good on paper, but does it really deliver the results that are going to impress and please those you need to be impressed and pleased? Exactly.

Parting Thoughts PM’s Parting Thoughts:
Creative work takes time and requires the right environment to develop. As a project manager, you can do a lot to help your team find their creative mojo, thusly making your project more successful. Don’t be afraid to break the mold or rock the boat. You expect your creative people to think outside the box, so why shouldn’t you?

The Creative’s Last Word:
Try it. I mean, what is there to lose if your team trusts and respects you? We’re not misbehaving imps. We’re professionals, and we we take our work and our craft very seriously. We just need something most other people don’t, and that can be scary—or just plain illogical—for others to embrace. You may not understand why I might need to skip out to an art gallery in the middle of the afternoon. But I know what I’m looking for; and when I find it, I’ll be more than happy to bring that passion, perspective and creativity back to the office.

About the PM:
John P Vajda: PMP, CSM: works as a Project Manager at Oracle Corporation*, and has finally found his creative mojo. The statements in this blog do not reflect that of Oracle Corporation, and are solely those opinions and thoughts of John P Vajda.

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