Over the last few years, companies have gone from in-office to remote and then to hybrid working models. Which of these models makes marketers and creative teams more productive, and what slows them in the creative process? To understand this, Filestage recently conducted a study.

Over the last three years, how teams collaborate when it comes to creative work has changed significantly. People first went remote due to the pandemic and the resulting shutdowns. As they were getting used to it, many organizations recalled their employees back to the physical workspace. Today, many are working in a hybrid environment. 

To understand how people, especially marketers and creative teams, are collaborating and the effect of the pandemic on their collaboration, Filestage recently surveyed marketers and creatives across a range of agencies, brands, and production companies. The study tried to understand which working model makes teams the most productive and what is slowing them down in the creative process. The study also made a few predictions on creative collaboration for this year.

The following are a few insights from the study.

Hybrid Work Is the New Normal

As pandemic-induced lockdowns lifted, there was much debate about whether people should be called back to the physical space or continue working remotely. While many companies resumed in-person operations, many of them went permanently remote. Ultimately, most companies settled for the hybrid model. Today, about 65% of the respondents have a hybrid work setup, while only 19% are fully remote and 16% work from the physical office.

Further, the percentage of people working in the hybrid model grew this year compared to 2022, while the percentage of people working remotely dropped significantly. 

Change in people working in different work setups

Source: The State of Creative Collaboration in 2023Opens a new window

See more: How to Communicate and Collaborate Seamlessly in the Work-From-Anywhere World

Brands, Agencies, and Production Companies Prefer Hybrid

The study found that 72% of in-house brand and marketing teams operate from a hybrid setup, 15% work full-time from the office, and 13% are fully remote. This is similar to agencies, where 62% of the teams work in a hybrid environment, and production companies, where 69% work in a hybrid environment. The only exception seems to be startups, where 48% work remotely, 28% work in a hybrid environment, and 24% work from the office. This may be because startups find it a more cost-effective option, while others believe they need to see what they build to have a real impact.

Only a Quarter of Creative Collaboration Happens Face-to-face

One of the main reasons companies want employees to return to the physical workplace, besides productivity, is effective collaboration. However, the study found that the assumption may be wrong. According to the study, 75% of creative collaboration happens remotely. 

Regarding the speed of creative collaboration, about 34% of fully remote employees cited it as fast or very fast compared to just about 23% of fully in-office employees and 27% of employees working in a hybrid environment. Further, fully in-office employees were the only category that said collaboration was very slow.

It Takes Over a Week To Get Content Approved

How many versions do creative teams need to share to get a piece of work approved? The study found that it takes an average of 3.3 versions for agencies to get their work approved, while it takes an average of 3.2 versions for brands. Similarly, it takes a startup an average of 3.7 versions to get a piece approved, while it takes a production company 3.4 versions.

Regarding the average number of days required to get the piece approved, it takes freelancers just about four days, while it takes brands ten days to get a piece of work approved. Similarly, it takes startups nine days and production companies six days to get their piece of work approved.

Marketers Spend 20 Minutes Reviewing a Piece of Work

When marketers or account managers review a piece of work, different elements and activities, such as writing emails, highlighting text, and annotating designs, are involved in the process. So, how long does it take to review each piece of work? According to the study, it takes marketers an average of 20 minutes, while it takes 37 minutes for account managers to review each piece of work. Similarly, it takes 33 minutes for the design and creative team and 25 minutes for the project management and production team to review each piece of work.

Further, account managers take about 14 hours a month — the most time giving feedback. Interestingly, marketers spend the least time giving feedback, still adding up to eight hours a month.

Waiting for Feedback Is the Biggest Problem Slowing Marketers Down

There are a few factors slowing teams down. Among them, the biggest challenge is waiting for feedback, with 71% of marketers and 89% of account managers citing this challenge. This is followed by chasing people for approval, with 69% of marketers, 52% of creative and design teams, and 57% of project management and production teams citing this challenge. Other challenges include too many meetings, waiting for more context, and aligning non-communicating stakeholders, all of which indicate poor and slow communication.

Which of these slows the team down?

Source: The State of Creative Collaboration in 2023Opens a new window

Collaboration Will Become Faster Due to Technology

We can predict a few major trends this year regarding creative collaboration. Here are three major ones.

• Hybrid and fully remote work will gain more prominence

While many companies were eager to return to the physical workspace once lockdown restrictions were eased, many quickly moved to a hybrid environment due to pressure from employees. In fact, 64% of employees said they would quit if asked to return to the office full-time, according to a report by ADP Research InstituteOpens a new window . Now, we have a few other factors, especially economic uncertainty, which will prompt many companies to cut costs. All these factors may compel more companies to go fully remote or hybrid this year.

See more: Four Trends for Content Collaboration in 2022

• Collaboration will become faster as more teams rely on technology

As the pandemic started, usage of collaboration and communication tools like Slack and Zoom skyrocketed. And even as companies recalled their employees back to the office, these tools and technologies stuck around. As more companies go remote and hybrid and with technological advancements, more teams can be expected to invest in collaboration and productivity tools to achieve more with less.

• Teams will get better at asynchronous collaboration

The study shows that 26% of creative collaboration happened asynchronously last year. This is where team members put forth their ideas, feedback, and other contributions at a time convenient to them on a given workday instead of having a meeting in real time. While this trend may be relatively new in the marketing world, it may become more common as more people work from across geographies and time zones.

Find New Ways To Boost Productivity

As the study shows, hybrid and in-house work models may not make creative collaboration faster or more effective. On the contrary, many people working in a remote setting find collaboration faster. As more companies go remote or hybrid, teams will have to find better ways to collaborate effectively. Companies should identify the inefficiencies and challenges and leverage technology to overcome them and deliver better work in less time.

How are you overcoming the collaboration challenges your creative teams face? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .

Image source: Shutterstock

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