Live Brief – Week 10

Now that we have reached the end of the live brief project and delivered the final pitch, it is important to have a debriefing and review the project. As we are all approaching the deadlines for assignments this term and trying to keep up with the workload, as well as jobs and other life demands, it seemed that there was not time that we could arrange where everyone could be present to do a debriefing discussion. I took it upon myself to start a document and share this with the rest of the team so they could add to it in their own time. It seemed the best solution to allow collaboration for a team working remotely. These are some of the main points extracted from this:

What did we do well?

• We understood the brief quickly and did very thorough research which allowed us to meet the brief accurately, identifying the most appropriate social media channel and understanding the organisation’s ethos and way of working collaboratively. These formed key parts of our campaign.
• Communication was excellent with use of Whatsapp, conference calls, Google Drive. Weekly meetings were well attended and documented in the event somebody couldn’t attend.  
• We always worked respectfully and heard each others viewpoints even if we didn’t always agree.  We were always able to give and receive feedback within the group and could adjust accordingly. We received tutor feedback very well and used it to develop the project further. We changed course quite dramatically in response to the feedback in our second review and this was a positive move.
• We worked extremely well as a team.  Great teamwork with people putting in as much time and effort as possible, and voluntarily covering when others couldn’t.  
• We were willing to take a creative risk and this was well-received.

What could we have done better?

• If we had identified earlier that we were doing far too many different work streams, we would have been able to work with more focus and more efficiently.  We could possibly have come up with more of our own creative content if we had gone with a narrower focus. 
• It would have been great if more of our own content had been included in final pitch (however, I know for all of us this was based on time constraints and the demands of work and studies).
• It would have been more professional if we had agreed on a budget and minimum rates prior to the pitch.  

What are the lessons learned that we could apply to future projects?

• After the initial creative brainstorming, it is important to narrow the vision down so that the project becomes very focused, efficient and streamlined. Agree on a set of clear parameters so everyone can participate creatively on equal terms to produce consistent results.
• More frequent reviews, both of project milestones and the creative output from the team, are important to ensure the project is staying within scope, timeline and according to brief, as well as working effectively.  Question the plan if things don’t appear to fit and be confident in raising any issues or concerns. Being able to adapt and adjust accordingly is essential.
• Make sure that every possible detail has been taken care of before the final pitch.  A rehearsal of the pitch may be a good way to identify any missing information, areas that need more work or questions that may arise.  

Looking back, this has been a very intense 9 weeks working hard on our studies and also on the live brief. Despite the challenges of working long distance and never meeting face to face, we managed to collaborate and create together. It has been a tremendous experience to be able to work on the live brief and gain valuable knowledge through this process. I think we did a great job to deliver our final pitch to deadline and it was a real pleasure to work on this project with Bloo, Raeann and Oliver, who were always positive, always willing to pitch in and do the work and considerate of each other every step of the way. We made a great team!