Creative Intake &
Operations System

Overview
As Creative Services continued to support a growing volume of work, it became clear that how requests entered the team—and how that work was tracked and communicated—needed more consistency and visibility. Requests arrived through multiple paths, and much of the project context lived in direct messages, making it harder to shift work, provide coverage, or maintain continuity when priorities changed.

I led the design and rollout of a creative intake and operations system that clarified how work entered the team, how it moved through delivery, and how outcomes were tracked—while remaining flexible enough to support evolving business needs.

This work established a shared internal operating model for Creative Services, aligning intake, delivery, communication, and feedback.

What We Were Seeing

Before the system was in place, several patterns had emerged:

• Requests came in through multiple channels depending on urgency or relationships

• Project context lived in private messages, limiting visibility and continuity

• Shifting or rebalancing work was difficult when availability changed

• Intake data wasn’t consistently captured to support planning or reporting

• Stakeholder feedback was collected manually, creating extra lift

Prior survey results also showed that the intake process was a key source of stakeholder friction.

The System I Put in Place

Rather than addressing these issues separately, I focused on creating a cohesive operations model that connected intake, communication, delivery, and tracking.

Key elements included:

• Clearer intake structure
  Updated the intake form to capture the right information up front and align requests to larger initiatives.

• Shared expectations for intake and delivery
  Clarified what information was required and how work would move through the team.

• Documented internal workflows
  Improved transparency around ownership, handoffs, and timelines—especially when work needed to shift.

• Centralized project communication
  Moved conversations out of private messages and into shared channels.

• Automated project kickoff and closeout
  Implemented workflows that created project channels with key links and expectations, and closed projects consistently while triggering feedback surveys.

• Operational tracking and reporting
  Began tracking request volume, clients served, deliverables produced, and team capacity to inform planning and decisions.

Together, these changes replaced fragmented processes with a more reliable, repeatable way of working.

Enablement & Adoption
Adoption was a key focus. I paired system changes with clear documentation, training, and ongoing support to ensure the model was easy to understand and use.

This wasn’t just a form update—it helped normalize shared ownership, reduced reliance on individual knowledge, and made it easier for the team to support one another.

Impact
The intake and operations system delivered clear improvements:

• More complete and consistent requests

• Clearer project scope and expectations

• Less back-and-forth and rework

• Better visibility into workload and capacity

• More consistent stakeholder communication

• Actionable feedback through automated surveys

Most importantly, it allowed Creative Services to operate with greater confidence and predictability.

Reflection
This work reinforced the value of treating creative operations as something that can be intentionally designed. By focusing on visibility, clarity, and continuity, the team gained a system that supported day-to-day work while remaining flexible enough to evolve over time.