In this series, we’re offering a taste of some of the best practices and strategies featured in our Studio Maturity Reports. If you want to dive deeper into optimizing your studio's performance, we suggest taking our Studio Maturity Self-Assessment. This will provide you with a fully customized report analyzing your studio and outlining exactly what steps to take to advance your studio's operational maturity and unlock its full potential.
The creative operations industry has lagged behind others in leveraging the power of data and analytics. However, that has changed in recent years as more content production studios have prioritized operational efficiency and embraced data-driven decision-making to achieve it.
Whether a studio is at the beginning of its Operational Insights maturation journey or looking to optimize how it leverages data, you couldn’t ask for a better guide than Maximilien Brunon. As a Senior Onboarding Specialist at Creative Force with 20 years of experience working in e-commerce, Maximilien helps studios across Europe leverage the production data captured by the platform to gauge efficiency, identify operational issues, and measure improvements.
For many studios Maximilien works with, it is their first time seeing the reality of their operations through the lens of real-time production data, and, as he shares, it is an eye-opening experience that sets them up for future optimization.
Achieving Managed & Sustainable Operational Insights
In our Studio Maturity Model, Operational Insights define how effectively a studio uses production data to enhance its operational efficiency continuously. Reactive Operational Insights are characterized by having little to no operational data, which, as Maximilien explains, poses significant challenges to improvement.
“It’s nearly impossible to improve your creative operations if you aren’t collecting data on how you are currently performing,” says Maximilien. “When I see a studio either not collecting operational data or only collecting low-value data that merely reflects volume output, I immediately know there is waste lurking in the production process that simply isn’t being uncovered.”
Without collecting granular data that allows for valuable operational insights, data doesn’t become part of the studio’s culture in evaluation or decision-making.
“The best-intentioned continuous improvement efforts are pointless without data. Comparing pre-change baseline operational data to post-change data informs you whether the change had the desired impact on your efficiency. Without that data, you are, at best, making changes based on gut feelings and hoping they improve the studio’s performance without any evidence of success.”
The first step in effectively leveraging data is understanding what is important to measure. High-quality KPIs like Turnaround Time, Throughput for Photography and Post-Production, Rejection Rates, and Cost Per Image provide a much clearer and more business-relevant picture of studio performance than simple volume figures. (For more examples of good KPIs for the creative ops industry, check out our Ultimate KPI Guide.)
Once your team has determined the critical operational metrics to measure, capturing that data becomes crucial. Having a system like Creative Force, where the entire production process takes place and data on every step is captured, is immensely helpful in maturing how the studio leverages operational data. However, if you aren’t using Creative Force, we suggest beginning your data journey with our Studio Reporting 101 Webinar.
Achieving Optimized Operational Insights
Speaking with leaders and management from the most efficient studios in the world, one thing becomes clear: operational data and analytics are at the center of nearly every conversation. This culture of data-driven decision-making is at the heart of what we define in our Studio Maturity Model as Optimized Operational Insights.
“It is so exciting when we have the opportunity to take a studio from Managed & Sustainable in their Operational Insights and push them to that Optimized level,” says Maximilien. “It's like they are seeing, really seeing, their studio for the first time. Things like backlogs in Post-Production, how long samples are sitting forgotten in storage closets, or their cost per image suddenly become clear. You’d think it would be demotivating, but people get excited to have real, tangible issues to tackle because they know their successful efforts will show up in the data.”
This focus on data at the Optimized level isn’t limited to studio management and executives. In the best studios, every team member reviews operational data, knows the studio’s KPIs, and understands how their work contributes to them. This culture of data-first thinking is achieved by integrating data into the normal flow of work. Centralized analytics and dashboards allow anyone to view the data relevant to their work in one place. Team meetings focus on reviewing KPIs from the previous week, measuring the success of operational changes by their impact on measurable production efficiency gains, and celebrating together when performance goals are achieved.
“It gives the entire studio a shared focus,” says Maximilien. “Everyone feels their work and performance are being seen, and it becomes clearer how their efforts contribute to the overall success of the studio.”
The transition to data-driven decision-making represents a significant shift in the creative operations industry, setting the stage for unparalleled efficiency and continuous improvement. This approach identifies inefficiencies and empowers every team member to understand and contribute to the studio's success. As studios advance from Reactive to Managed & Sustainable and ultimately to Optimized Operational Insights, they create a culture where data is integral to every aspect of their operations. Embracing this transformation equips studios to tackle tangible issues, streamline workflows, and achieve their performance goals, ensuring sustained success in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Want more of our best practices and strategies for taking your Ways of Working to the next level? Take our Studio Maturity Self-Assessment to receive a customized report outlining the exact steps needed to advance your studio's operational maturity and unlock its full potential.
