Can a work environment be creative?

A creative work environment is one that encourages innovative ideas and ways of working. Employees have the freedom to introduce new ways to approach their work tasks and have the space and time to focus on ideation. Their tasks and projects often align with their passions, enabling them to be more productive and creative. 

Could in-house production be getting in the way of creativity? In March 2022, EKCS asked delegates at Creative Operations London what their biggest challenges were for their team. In the ‘challenges for IHAs in a post-pandemic world’ survey, 27% of in-house agencies (IHAs) said ‘finding time for creative work.’ 

Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun." But these days, it’s all too easy to feel that there is little time to have fun, and even less time for creativity! The ability to think creatively is essential for in-house agencies and brands. Yet, so often it’s difficult, or even impossible, to harness our creativity when it is needed the most.

An EKCS poll conducted in April 2021 showed that one-fifth of IHA leaders still felt that they were mainly a production entity, running as a centralized production team over and above being creative-led. Does your artworker really want to resize print adverts or your web developer create multiple banners when they could be working on ideation and other creative elements?

Creating time to be Creative

There are so many challenges that hinder creative output when working in-house. But the key challenge is time, or lack of it. That’s why IHAs and brands outsource their creative production to an offshore partner. As American management consultant, Peter Drucker, wrote in the Harvard Business Review back in the 1980’s, “Do what you do best – and outsource the rest!” 

Can a work environment ever be creative? Well, by freeing up time for creatives to do what they do the best- be creative, a creative work environment is a real possibility.