Conflicting opinions, miscommunication, unrealistic deadlines, finger pointing, budget overruns…
These are just some of the problems that can emerge when creatives and clients (or other decision-makers) fail at navigating the feedback process. Instead of a creative process, it can turn into an adversarial, time-consuming slog that leaves everyone feeling battered and bruised.
These issues, although all too common in the creative process, don’t need to be accepted as the price of getting across the finish line. A few strategic changes to your communication process could help you call a time-out on the feedback wars.
Creative feedback doesn’t have to be a boxing match.
Master the Brief
So much of miscommunication is the result of misalignment. In many cases, it starts with a bad brief. A high-quality creative brief isn’t just useful at the start of a project, it can help at every stage of the process. The reverse is also true: a lower-quality brief can continually undermine a project and make the feedback process much more effort-intensive and contentious than it needs to be.
A detailed brief means creatives are aligned on expectations. And while getting it right on the first try might be a pipe dream, the better the brief is, the less likely the work will need extensive revisions.
Just as importantly, a detailed brief gives creatives and clients a common language and direction during the feedback process. Having the objectives and requirements clearly set means there’s a lower possibility of things being overlooked, misunderstandings, or misaligned priorities. A set of concrete criteria also allows everyone to approach the conversation with a level of objectivity, something that can be difficult to achieve with creative work.
When creating the brief, think about purpose, objectives, audience, requirements (or scope of work), and timeframes. Make it as clear and concise as possible. Encourage everyone to revisit the project brief regularly throughout a project, including before providing initial feedback, and while discussing revisions.
Respect Everyone’s Time
High-preforming teams will often have packed schedules, moving from project to project efficiently. Nobody should be left in the frustrating position of having to pull themselves away from other work to address ad hoc updates.
Creatives are responsible to meet deadlines and communicate early about unavoidable delays. If a piece of work is late, the decision maker is going to reengage with a project, which can be difficult when they’ve moved on to their next task.
Those providing feedback need to be punctual with revision requests and approvals. When a creative loses momentum, output inevitably suffers.
Being strategic about meetings is another critical way to respect everyone’s time. Where possible, communication and feedback delivery can be managed asynchronously so that meetings can be reserved for collaborative discussions, rather than coordinating or sharing information. Keeping meetings short can also maximize their impact and minimize disruption.
Check In Regularly
Whether it’s down to a difference in vision or crucial information slipping through the cracks, nobody wants to be in a situation where drastic changes are needed at the end of a creative project.
Consider adding intermediary review stages or milestones. This allows for mid-stream course corrections and means miscommunications are more likely to come to light before they spiral out of control.
It’s important not to go overboard here as creatives need space to think, investigate options, and discover what works without too much external pressure. However, a few carefully planned check-ins will hopefully achieve the right level of clarity without impeding the creative process.
Be Mindful of Emotions
Emotions can run high because feedback can be uncomfortable both to give and to receive. This can be particularly relevant for creatives, who may feel protective over their work due to the level of subjective judgment that has to go into it. The same for clients or other decision makers who know their product or services as well as anyone else.
People can also slip into the unhelpful mindset of seeing a disagreement as a conflict that they need to “win”. This is why finding ways to lower the emotional temperature and put people at ease is a crucial part of improving communication.
Small language changes can make a big difference. Research shows that people are more receptive to constructive feedback when the positive intentions behind it are clearly communicated. Another study found that feedback gathering was far more fruitful when creatives approached it with curiosity (asking open-ended questions) and when people feeding back acknowledged the subjectivity of their own opinions (deliberately using words like “I” and “my”).
Questions are useful tools for both sides. As well as improving the flow of information, asking questions ensures everyone feels their perspective is valued. Asking people to share more about their thought process or introducing suggestions with phrases like “I wonder if…” continually reinforces the idea that this is a collaboration to find the best way forward.
Prioritize Clear Feedback
Vagueness is one of the leading causes of ineffective communication and can be deeply frustrating, both for the person who has to action it and for the feedback giver, who is unlikely to see the change they wanted. To counteract this, everyone needs to focus on being as specific as possible.
Creatives should be encouraged to share insights about the thought that went into the work and decisions they made. While creative choices can sometimes be hard to explain, making an effort to provide additional context could answer questions before they need to be asked. It can preemptively address suggestions that either aren’t workable or have already been considered.
Think about building this into the creative review process so that creatives don’t have to retroactively justify their work, and so people can take the context into account as they come up with their feedback.
Those giving the feedback need to ensure their comments are unambiguous and actionable. “Can you make it pop more”, “I don’t like XYZ”, and (most infamous of all in creative circles) “I’ll know it when I see it” are all prime examples of unhelpfully vague feedback. While some creatives will relish the freedom to use their judgment, unclear comments are much more likely to end in irritation, delays, and wasted effort. It might take longer to distill thoughts down into clear feedback, but it will save time overall.
Use the Best Feedback Tools
Using tools to create a streamlined feedback process will reduce friction for everyone.
Online proofing tools, like ReviewStudio, have markup functions that enable clients to make precise comments that creatives can see in context. Brenda Sesma, operations director at award-winning creative agency Los De Idea believes this is a significant factor in their ability to communicate clearly with clients:
“The process of getting from one approval to the next was long and confusing. Largely because the comments had to describe the changes and what was wanted. (…) Now, we can see exactly what the client is referring to.”
When you centralize feedback, you cut down on time-consuming and energy-sapping coordination of tasks. Creatives don’t need to search across multiple platforms for individual pieces of feedback (which takes time and inevitably leads to information being missed).
The ability to quickly look back through feedback across versions to find out what was said or requested is another huge benefit. It enables teams to smoothly resolve issues and misunderstandings and get things back on track.
Communicate Better to End the Feedback Wars
Moving a creative project through the feedback process doesn’t need to be a headache. Creating an effective brief, using the right tools, and implementing strategies for managing time, emotions, and ambiguity will result in a more comfortable and productive experience for everyone involved.
