Spatial Media's Jakob J has helped deliver numerous projects for our clients and has picked up a few key learnings on the way. In his latest blog, he takes a look at one of the key challenges when embarking on any community engagement strategy; the collection and delivery of timely content.
Introduction
Effective project management is like a well-oiled machine, where every component must work seamlessly to achieve the desired results. However, one of the most common bottlenecks we encounter is our clients struggling to gather and send over their content in a timely manner. In this blog post, we will delve into the challenges posed by this issue and explore strategies for overcoming it.
The Importance of Timely Content
In the world of project management, time is of the essence. Government projects often have strict, and sudden, deadlines that must be met to ensure successful delivery. Whether it's a portal, campaign, or product launch, content is a critical component that plays a pivotal role in the project's success. This content could be in the form of text, images, videos, or any other relevant materials.
The Challenges Clients Face
- Content Scarcity: Many clients underestimate the amount of content needed for a project, leading to delays as they scramble to produce or source it.
- Perfectionism: Some clients strive for perfection in their content, resulting in prolonged revisions and indecision.
- Lack of Resources: Clients may not have the necessary resources or expertise to create content, causing delays as they search for external help.
- Changing Priorities: Clients often juggle multiple responsibilities, and their project may not always be their top priority, leading to delays in content delivery.
- Unforeseen Circumstances: Life is unpredictable, and personal or professional setbacks can disrupt a client's ability to meet project deadlines.
- Too Many Cooks – Too many cooks spoil the broth, and too many stakeholders do the same for content. Keep a tight-knit team at the heart of creative decisions and approvals – other stakeholders can and should be involved – but at all costs, try to avoid a committee approach to creativity as it more often than not leads to an approach that ticks boxes, but doesn’t inspire and engage.
Strategies for Overcoming the Content Conundrum
- Setting Clear Expectations Internally: From the outset, establish clear content requirements, deadlines, and responsibilities within your organisation and team. It is our commitment to help you on this journey as well.
- Content Planning: We highly suggest developing a content plan at the kickoff stage of the project if this has not already been established. This plan should outline what content is needed, who is responsible for creating it, and when it should be delivered.
- Content Templates: Ask us for content templates and guidelines to streamline the content creation and supply process. This can help you produce content more efficiently.
- Regular Check-Ins: We are here to help, flag delays or struggles early on and we will be able to work around it and we are happy to catch up on a weekly basis if required.
- Flexibility and Contingency Planning: Recognize that delays can happen, and build flexibility into project timelines. Create contingency plans for scenarios where content delivery is delayed.
Conclusion
At Spatial Media, we have successfully executed hundreds of projects, and we're here to lead you every step of the way. Our experienced team specialises in coaching your project to come to life with minimum delays and unforeseen circumstances. We understand the importance of timely content and will work closely with you to ensure that your project stays on track and reaches its full potential. Your success is our priority, and we're committed to delivering results that exceed your expectations. Don't let content delays derail your project—partner with us, and together, we'll achieve your project goals efficiently and effectively.
