project management

Steering Your Committee Toward a Successful Project

Vintage steering wheel illustrates successful way to run a committee

This month I was privileged to meet with two new clients. While the organizations are quite different from one another, they both formed excellent steering committees for the project we’re about to undertake. It’s interesting how committee-based projects go. Over the years I’ve been part of many, some as a member of the committee and others as a hired professional. What’s consistent in all of them is how much the committee determined the success of the project.

Is your organization is taking on a committee-based project? Here are some ideas for forming that committee, working with your hired professional, and ensuring the outcome is the best it can be.

Committee Members Make a Difference

  1. Recruit a diversity
    Committees are formed to achieve a specific goal. While that goal is one-fold, the project’s targeted audience likely is not. A committee that roundly represents the audience will generate more ideas, more perspectives and more creativity for better solutions.
  2. Keep it small
    This may seem contrary to what I’ve just said above, however the more people you have on your committee the harder it is to make conclusive decisions. Research by Wharton School of Business  suggests 5-6 members is an ideal number. I personally prefer 3-4, not including the creative professional, and an odd number is best to avoid stalemates in voting.

Attitude is Everything

  1. Support the project
    A positive attitude is key. It should be a given that everyone on the committee is on board with pursuing the project.
  2. Be open to all ideas
    Committee meetings should be enthusiastic brainstorming sessions. Members should be confident enough to share their ideas. They must also be open-minded enough to listen to others and consider their ideas even if they at first seem strange.
  3. Be kind
    The committee must build up its members. No question is dumb. No idea is bad. Concepts are for developing, not shutting down.
  4. Be respectful of time
    Whether paid or volunteering, everyone is busy. Each person’s time is equally as important as another’s. Be organized, uphold your responsibilities, and meet your deadlines. Show up to meetings on time. Limit meetings to a maximum length.

Communicate!

  1. Communicate with each other
    Clear, positive and constructive communication is imperative amongst every member of the committee.
  2. Define roles
    Determine who on the committee will be contributors, who will be the final decision-maker and who will communicate to the hired professional.
  3. Appoint one person-of-contact to your professional (only one!)
    Professional creatives cannot sift through each committee member’s instruction and determine whose they should follow. Instead, appoint a person of contact to reliably go between the committee and the professional. Often the person of contact is also the decision-maker.

Trust Your Professional’s Expertise

  1. Let the professional lead
    Professional creatives are skilled leaders of the brainstorming process. They know what questions to ask and how to encourage discussions to deeper depths. Be receptive to their guidance.
  2. Let the professionals do what you’ve hired them to do
    The bane of professional creatives is “design by committee,” which inevitably results in a “camel instead of a horse.” Nothing blows a project’s timeline, budget, or quality more than too many people doing the professional’s job.
  3. Offer constructive feedback
    I once had a committee member tell me in a most insolent way that my concepts looked like they were done by an eighth-grader. Needless to say, as thick as my skin is, that wasn’t a productive start to our meeting. True professionals welcome your feedback, but they need to know specifically what is or isn’t working for you and most importantly, why. After offering this, you can then let them go ahead and solve the problem.

Your Turn

Committee-based projects often get a bad rap, but my new clients prove when managed right, they can be very successful. What suggestions can you add to this list?

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Creative Thinking for The Blogging Bee

The Blogging Bee website, designed by Adunate.com

Last week Chris Kirsch and I were excited to kick off The Blogging Bee, a collaborative venture in teaching fiber-istas the fine art of blogging. Today I’m going to approach The Blogging Bee from an art director’s view. I want to share our creative thinking and explain just how it is campaigns such as ours come to be.

Our Challenge

One day months ago, Chris mentioned many of her fiber friends would love to blog but don’t know where to begin. Would I be interested in teaching them? I jumped at the idea. I regularly teach my clients to blog and they quickly learn it offers great benefits to their business.

And so, The Blogging Bee was born.

The Blogging Bee logo

Our Target Market

Quilters—all fiber artists, in fact—are as diverse as a patchwork quilt. Yet, according to a recent Quilting in America survey, the average “Dedicated Quilter” is female, about 64, well-educated (79% attended college), has a household income in excess of $100,000 and has been quilting an average of 20.3 years.

Quilters are becoming a tech savvy bunch. Five years ago when I introduced Chris to blogging, a concern was that many of her peers barely used email, let alone the internet. Today, she averages more than 1100 views a week on Chris Lynn Quilts. Quilters are looking to get cross-creative with their fiber art. They want to challenge the analytical side of their brain. Blogging is just the thing, especially when taught in a personalized, hands-on method—the very way they’ve been learning fiber techniques all these years.

The Blogging Bee website, designed by Adunate.com

Our Brand: A Romantic Contrast of Old and New

I have two antique sewing machines with drawers stuffed full of vintage gadgetries. Their emotional factor is priceless. They also create an interesting, if not paradoxical, brand. In addition to using them in our website imagery, I also started an Instagram photo series the week before our kickoff. I plan to continue this through April so be sure to check it out.

Here’s where the paradox happens: Even though our look is vintage, our design is trendy. And for very good reasons.

Our website uses a responsive framework, complete with scrolling navigation, full screen images and large text. Being mindful of our target market, we want to make our message easily readable on whatever device the viewer chooses.

We’re also trendy with color. Drumroll, please, for Pantone’s 2016 Colors of the Year: Rose Quartz and Serenity!

Pantone is the leading color authority and each year it introduces its attention-getting Color of the Year (this year it chose two). While Pantone is most associated with the printing industry, it inevitably sets the trend for interior design, fashion and…fiber arts. Naturally, this season’s fabrics will show lots of pink and blue, and with Dedicated Quilters spending an average of $3,296 annually on quilting-related purchases, you can bet they’ll notice this color trend.

Pantone poetically describes its 2016 colors as an “inherent balance between a warmer embracing rose tone and the cooler tranquil blue, reflecting connection and wellness as well as a soothing sense of order and peace.” Our goal was to bring this intrigue to our brand. The Blogging Bee is a romantic contrast of old and new, from the glorious tradition of quilting to the exciting, new levels of online technology.

If you’re in southeastern Wisconsin and want to learn blogging, check out The Blogging Bee. If you’re a business and want this same creative attention for your marketing, check out Adunate!

Sticking Up for Stock Imagery

Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers' Conference 2015

True fact. We designers are as highly opinionated as a house full of relatives gathering for holiday dinner. Of the many obtuse things we debate, stock imagery rates high. Let me assure you, at this very moment there are multiple “dis-cuss-ions” happening in design forums round the world as to whether or not reputable designers should use stock imagery.

Never one to bite my tongue, I’m going to boldly exclaim “why not use stock imagery?”

Then like any other non-committing diplomat, I’m going to say it depends on what stock imagery you use, how you use it and when. And I’m going to proudly validate my opinion with our recent program for the Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers’ Conference.

But first, let me explain stock imagery.

Stock photo used for advertising in WLSTC program

Stock images are professionally created photos and vector images that are bought and sold online. They’re often used in advertising, as shown above. The level of professionalism varies, depending on how much you’re willing to pay and what type of licensing is offered. If used right, stock imagery can be an effective tool when it’s necessary to stay within a schedule and budget.

Like we do with the WLSTC program.

Each year I work with conference coordinator/wonderwoman Kris Snyder in producing collateral that’s reflects the mission of this highly professional event. The conference is attended by more than 1200 teachers, yet in order to keep registration costs to a minimum the committee maintains a conservative budget.

Use of custom photography in WLSTC program

In recent years, we’ve used custom photography for the registration and conference programs. These are real photos taken by schools within the district and donated for our use. Some of them are amateur; others are professional, as is this one by Gusto Photography. Either way, the photos are meaningful because they feature the very students taught by the conference attendees.

Stock vector image used in WLSTC program

And yet, on this year’s programs we used a Vectorstock image. Stock imagery!

Yes, I could have custom designed something equally well. Or, I could have hired an illustration specialist. Here’s the thing, good design takes time and time costs money. A wise project manager examines all aspects of the project; the timeframe, the budget and, of course, the use of the product. Since these programs were to be used only for the conference, purchasing a stock image was a better use of our resources.

Here’s where I justify my argument: Stock imagery doesn’t have to be a lesser quality of imagery. Nor must it be generic.

A good designer knows how to choose stock imagery and customize it to fit the project. For starters, we found a funky, cool image that communicates our message well. Then, because it’s a vector, I could take it apart and rebuild it for our needs. Lastly, I changed the colors to coordinate them with our theme.

So there you have it—my two cents, for whatever it’s worth. If you need help managing your project for maximum efficiency and effectiveness, give me a call.

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Will You Join Me on the Energy Bus?

The Energy Bus, by Jon GordonThe Energy Bus, by Jon Gordon, has been on my list for several years and I’ve finally gotten around to reading it. What a dynamic little book! If you share life with others—uh, who doesn’t?—then set aside the couple hours it takes to cruise through this fun, u-rah-rah story. Or metaphor. Or parable. Whatever you want to call it, because that’s what it is—a listing of basic principles we all know but need to be reminded of, told in a easy-to-read, fictional story.

So…George is a guy who only sees the glass half-empty. Nothing’s going right for him, including his job or his marriage. Then one day he gets on a bus and the driver changes his life with 10 simples rules.

Yes, this is all cliché, but how often are we like George and gravitate toward the negative? Or who of us fails to regularly appreciate our blessings? According to Gordon, it doesn’t take any more energy to think positively than negatively. So let’s get on his positive energy bus!

Passages that resonated with me

You don’t have to sit passively by like so many souls who let life create them. You can take the wheel and choose to create your life, one thought, one belief, one action, one choice at a time.

For us entreprenuers, this hits home big time. Hey, it applies to everyone, both at work and at home. God gave each of us a brain and the tools to live here on earth. He may be the navigator, but he appointed us to be drivers. I know whatever I want my business or life to be, it’s my responsibility to get off my butt and make it happen. No excuses!

Chief Energy Officers (my interpretation: people successful at life) live and work with enthusiasm. They tap the power of their heart by getting excited about being alive, by filling up with loads of positive energy, and by being optimistic about life and work. They don’t let fear stop them.

Gordon goes on to say that positive energy is contagious. When we show our enthusiasm with a full heart, others want to be around us and they take on that same positive thinking. Well, duh! We all know positive people are more fun to be around than negative people.

And what about that fear? Ed Gandia recently did an excellent podcast on overcoming fear and stepping beyond our comfort zone.

Don’t be too stressed to feel blessed. Don’t compare the success of your bus to other buses. Just enjoy your ride.

You hear a lot about living thankfully these days. Last year I took up the daily practice of writing a page of thankfulness and yes, there’s a lot of truth to the idea. I find when I make mental note of my blessings—better yet, I write them down—it helps me focus on the positives in my life rather than the negatives. It ramps my confidence and well-being. Best of all, I realize my business is going just right for me and I don’t need to compare myself to others. Talk about liberating!

So what about those 10 simple rules? Here they are:

  1. You’re the driver of your bus
  2. Desire, vision and focus move your bus in the right direction
  3. Fuel your ride with positive energy
  4. Invite people on your bus and share your vision for the road ahead
  5. Don’t waste your energy on those who don’t get on your bus
  6. Post a sign the says “No Energy Vampires Allowed on My Bus”
  7. Enthusiasm attracts more passengers and energizes them during the ride
  8. Love your passengers
  9. Drive with purpose
  10. Have fun and enjoy the ride

Let Your Professionals Do What You Hire Them To Do

Barriques

I love working in coffee shops. I love them not only for the creative inspiration they offer, but also the communal atmosphere of people. Often those of us hanging out don’t know one another but because tables are small and quarters are close, our conversations inadvertently become shared. Shared, as in overheard.

I learn so much when this happens.

So last week I was working in Madison’s Barriques on West Washington (yes, this wonderful recycled art is showcased throughout the cafe). There was a meeting of professional women behind me and as they discussed their business, one of them said, “I can help you if you let me do what I do.”

Wow. Such a simple statement that packs so much punch (incidentally, she said this in a very nice and matter-of-fact way).

Let Me Do What I Do

No matter what the industry, professionals are experts in their field. You are in yours. I am in mine. Sometimes though, this is something we seem to forget.

Like the time I wanted a cool new hairdo and my stylist suggested it wouldn’t work well for my texture of hair. I insisted on it anyway, and guess what, it didn’t work well for my texture of hair.

Or the time my husband and I thought we knew a better way to install our concrete countertop than the professional who wrote a book on it. Nope, we didn’t think that one through real well.

And then there’s the entrepreneur who ignores her designer’s advice to avoid using blue for branding her restaurant. Why would a designer say no to the client’s favorite color? Probably because, as a professional, he knows certain blues have calming qualities that make them an appetite suppressant.

These are just a few examples of how the professionals we hire know more than we do. Professionals work in their field every single day. They’ve been formally trained and they’re on top of what works and what doesn’t. That’s what makes them successful. Trusting our professionals can make us successful too.

Here’s a deal: I’ll let you do what you do, if you let me do what I do.

I’m a professional copywriter, graphic designer and marketing guru. I write sparkling content that moves readers to action. I design attention-grabbing promo pieces that make businesses stand out.

I’d love to do this for you!

Stop With the ‘Just So Busy’

Di's Messy Kitchen A couple weeks ago Meredith Fineman’s “Please Stop Complaining About How Busy You Are” appeared in a gazillion media sites. Its timing was perfect in relation to a graphic design project I was doing.

Others must have been thinking the same thing because Rebecca Ryan wrote “Are You Really That Busy?” for Madison Magazine and Tim Kreider wrote “The ‘Busy’ Trap” for the New York Times’ Opinionator (actually Kreider wrote his article a year ago, but judging by the 813 comments it received, he hit a touchy nerve back then too).

Basically, these articles chide us to just stop. Stop out-doing each other with our busyness. Stop filling our days with self-imposed busyness. Stop wearing our busyness like a badge of honor.

I’d like to add one more to the list: Please, stop thinking your busyness is more important than anyone else’s. In other words, stop thinking it’s okay to neglect your responsibilities because you’re “just so busy,” yet still expect others to uphold theirs.

Ouch. A bit of snarkiness there, eh?

WE’RE ALL BUSY

Here’s the thing. Like the authors above said, we’re all busy. The stay-at-home parent is busy. The working parent is busy. The unmarried employee is busy. The married business owner is busy. Young students are busy. Older retirees are busy. No matter how you rearrange these descriptors, everyone is busy.

For any of us to think we’re busier than someone else is silly. To think our busyness holds priority, thus making it a justifiable excuse for anything, is narcissism. Yet we’re all guilty of this. I do it to others. Others do it to me.

DON’T COMPLAIN, EDUCATE

So, I certainly don’t want this post to be a rant. And I don’t want my clients to think poorly of me. Instead, I’m following this article’s instruction; I’m offering some education on the theory of cause and effect—how clients’ busyness can sabotage their own projects.

Here’s an example (this actually happens all the time in every industry):

Client XYZ doesn’t meet the agreed-upon deadline for fulfilling her responsibility for the project.

“Sorry,” she says. “I was just so busy.”

Her delay causes a snowball of effects: 1) the designer has to rush to complete the job in the required time frame, which then costs the client more money; or, 2) the designer can no longer complete the job in the required time frame, which then delays the next vender, like maybe the professional printer, who very likely has scheduled the job for a specific date. Lastly, 3) the overall quality and timeliness of the project is compromised.

I’d like to educate my clients of this: You control important outcomes of your project. You affect it’s quality. You affect how, together, we meet your deadline.

Don’t let busyness cause you to mismanage your responsibilities. I want your project to be the best it can be.

How Imagery Affects the Cost of Your Project

program for Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers' Conference

I recently finished my biggest hardcopy project of the season—a handout booklet for the 2012 Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers’ Conference. At a whopping 76 pages, there were easily 40-50 images in the form of photography, ads and music.

Needless to say, this took a bit of time!

As she does every year, conference coordinator Kris Snyder did an excellent job of rounding up these images. And because she took the time to verify they were of correct format and resolution, she kept her project costs from creeping higher and higher.

Imagery plays a huge role in the efficiency of a graphic design project. If clients provide images that aren’t right for the job, I need to contact them, explain the situation and wait for them to send replacements. All the while, the clock keeps ticking ($$) and the project is stuck in standstill.

Here are instructions I give my clients at the start of each project. They’re kind of techie, but if you take note of them, they’ll improve the efficiency of your project.

The Right Format for the Right Job

Images come in two formats—vector and bitmap (raster). Professionally designed logos, technical diagrams and blueprints are usually created as vector images. This means they’re made with paths, or lines, and they can be enlarged to any size without distorting the image. Vector images are commonly created in design programs such as Illustrator, CorelDraw or CAD and have AI, EPS or SVG file extensions (here’s a complete list of vector file extensions).

Let’s say I’m doing a website for you. Or maybe an annual report.

If your logo file has any of the extensions listed above, that’s the file to send me. I can easily adjust the size according to our needs and the image will look top quality.

vector image vs. bitmap image

A logo created and saved as a vector image has a transparent background.
A logo saved as a JPG image does not.

What if your logo file has other extensions, such as GIF, JPG, TIF, or PDF?

Yes, I can use it. However, I may not be able to increase its size. And depending on how the file was saved, it’s possible the image won’t have a transparent background, thus limiting how we can incorporate it into your project’s layout.

While these non-vector files are workable (and sometimes can be converted to vector), they increase the time I spend on your project. If you’re trying to keep your costs as low as possible, contact your logo designer and ask for its vector files.

The Right Resolution for the Right Job

Remember, images come in two formats—vector and bitmap (raster). Bitmap images are made with a gazillion tiny dots, or pixels. All digital photography, whether taken with a digital camera or film (and then scanned), is bitmap imagery.

Resolution refers to the density of those dots. Resolution is an important consideration for every job. It’s the main determinant of the image’s quality and success.

Let’s once again use a website and an annual report as examples.

If I’m doing a website for you, your images will be online and we’ll measure their resolution in pixels per inch (ppi). Online images only need to be 72 ppi. You can send me images in 72 ppi or higher, and I can easily compress them to the right resolution so they pop up quickly on your website.

A 72 dpi image, increased to 300 dpi without changing its dimensions.
At left is an image with a resolution of 300 dpi. At right is how the the same image
would look when professionally printed at 72 dpi. 

If I’m doing an annual report for you, the resolution requirements are much higher. Here’s where you should pay attention because this is where incorrect imagery really bogs down a project.

An annual report is a hardcopy project that most likely will be professionally printed. Professional printers measure resolution in dots per inch (dpi), and they require a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Anything less will produce a poor quality piece (in fact, in today’s highly technical printing world, an image with less than 300 dpi will automatically set off an error message).

So what if your image isn’t 300 dpi? There are ways around this if the dimensions of your image are large enough—dimensions in inches, that is.

changing a 72 dpi image to 300 dpi
The photo at left has a resolution of 72 dpi. If we increase its resolution to 300 dpi,
the dimension of of photo decreases proportionately, as shown at right.

Using graphic design programs, I can easily increase the resolution of an image to the required 300 dpi. However doing so proportionately decreases its dimension in inches. Say you send me a 10×10″ photo at 72 dpi. If I increase it’s resolution to 300, it’s dimensions then decrease to 2.5×2.5″.

That’s a big difference to keep in mind!

If you’re shooting photography specifically for your project be sure to set your camera at its highest quality setting. Your flash drive won’t accommodate as many pictures but that’s okay, you can deal with it.

There you have it, folks, a basic study of digital imagery. Are you still with me?!

 

Schools Using the Harley-Davidson Effect

St. Peter's Lutheran School, Helenville, WI, 1906

There’s a really long article by management guru H. Donald Hopkins (Temple University) entitled “Using History for Strategic Problem-Solving: The Harley-Davidson Effect.” In it he tells of corporate CEOs solving problems such as employee moral or product direction simply by examining their own history. And because Hopkins champions Harley-Davidson, his thinking has become known as the Harley-Davidson Effect (although if you google this you’ll likely find more on the Harley-Davidson sound affects:-).

Anyway, while I’m getting through my part time master degree course, my latest project has been an online program for the Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers’ Conference. I know, I know, associating church with business gives a lot of people the heebie jeebies. After all, it’s the Holy Spirit that works in us, not some business theory, right?

I agree.

But I also go by the conviction that much of our God-given earthly knowledge works really well for his heavenly purposes. The Harley-Davidson Effect is a perfect example.

The Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod (WELS) schools have a strong history in Wisconsin and throughout the U.S. There are 337 schools nationwide, some of them dating back to the mid-1800s. They’re parochial in nature, yet they face the same problems of budget, integration and student-teacher ratio as does every other school. Nowadays congregations do a lot of strategizing and praying just to keep their school doors open.

This year the WLSTC chose “Your Statutes Are Our Heritage” as its conference theme, based on Psalm 119:111. For the program (click here to check it out), we used historical photos to help convey this message. We asked congregations to dig into their archives and, wow, did they do some digging! Not only did people send photos, they also included anecdotes of how their schools were started, what their classrooms were like a hundred years ago, and so many more fascinating stories.

Strategically or historically, however you want to look at them, these photos and stories are poignant reminders that schools have overcome many challenges. They’re proof of so many blessings throughout the generations. And they evoke a sense of pride in the educational work God has allowed them to do.

“Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart,” Psalm 119:111.