Team Strategies: The Basics

Working in any team in any profession requires a lot of work in different areas. What I have learned, and I am going to touch on today, is clear communication with other team members and clients. At the very basis of design and success in businesses, communication is key and there are many different ways to approach this topic. In the retail world, it can be very different than a design firm or other inhouse design professions. However, there are still many correlations between them. My work is a privately-owned franchise under a large company and not only to we have to adhere to brand standards of the whole company we have design requests that come from outside clients such as local individuals and businesses.

Communication Tools

In our store, one of the tools that we use is a job ticket. This is similar to a small contract between us and our customers. Whenever a client comes to us for design or just printing services, we discuss with them what they need for the job and all that is included in the job ticket. This information will include:

Contact Information and due date

Who is assigned to this specific job

Finished Product details (what will it be in the end)

Production Specifications

Sketches and concept ideas for designs

Design Specifications (Estimated time, accounted time included)

 Many times, especially during the summer, which is our high printing season we can have as many as 5 to 15 jobs that we are working on a time. Having clear assigned job tickets for either groups or individuals is a resourceful tool to keep everyone on track and helps keep everyone on track. The job ticket paperwork also contains a section for a small contract where both parties agree to what was discussed and approval of project specifications. This is helpful if any changes in the final project occur.