How to set up a content production workflow across teams

Some people think content marketing follows three simple steps: Plan, create, deliver. Done!

But those of us who live in the trenches of the content marketing world know what really goes on behind the scenes. In reality, a content marketing workflow looks more like this: Plan, consult, get approval, create, consult, get feedback, revise, get feedback, revise, get approval, double-check everything, and–finally–deliver.

Clearly, there are many steps between creating a content marketing strategy and delivering or publishing your project. These steps often involve getting approval, direction, and input from people outside of your team. From your internal HR or legal team to the content creators or clients you collaborate with, your content production workflow has to function across teams.

An effective, multi-team content production workflow will help keep everyone on the same page and reduce complications and bottlenecks. With strategic content planning and preparation, you’ll set up a content creation workflow that increases efficiency and productivity across teams.

Determine cross-team tasks, roles, and due dates

To ensure you don’t miss any steps in your content production workflow, compile a list or flow chart of all the collaborative tasks necessary to complete your project. Not only do missing steps create complications and errors in your content development, but they also slow down your overall pace and push due dates back. A cross-team workflow provides everyone with a bird’s-eye view of the entire project and can fill in the gaps if needed.

What to include in your creative production workflow:

1. List the various tasks and steps necessary to complete the project and the corresponding teams responsible for the task. Use a task or project management tool such as Asana or Trello to build your list and track statuses. You could also try mapping the timeline of your project with a Gantt Chart⁠(opens in a new tab or window).
2. Work backward from the delivery or publication date of your project and assign deadlines to each task.
3. Label tasks according to milestones, project status, and priorities.
4. Designate a point person for each team to be the main point of contact in charge of task management.
5. Assign and define roles and responsibilities for each point person. The team lead acts as a project manager for each team’s tasks and helps maintain accountability for their respective responsibilities. Designated project managers are in charge of scheduling and attending recurring meetings and adjusting the calendar if deadlines need to shift.
6. Create an internal calendar to keep track of deadlines as well as an external or editorial calendar to provide publication and context around the content strategy.
7. Figure out where to use automation to increase efficiency. (e.g., automate notifications that alert the point person when a task is ready for them).
   

Establish consistent and open communication with other team leads

If you want to effectively execute your content production workflow, you have to establish and encourage consistent and open communication between team leads. Communication is especially pertinent when working across teams, where miscommunication is more likely to occur. As you prepare the creative production workflow⁠(opens in a new tab or window), share it with the other team leads for feedback. Always keep other teams informed of any changes or updates.

One way to keep everyone in the loop is to use a shared content calendar that all team leads can access.

After a design team member has completed the first versions of a social media campaign, they can save a draft of the designs to the projected publication dates in a Content Planner⁠(opens in a new tab or window). Their team lead then pings you and any other team leads who need to approve the designs. The calendar view allows each team to see any conflicts of interest before posting, like an existing event or campaign scheduled on that date.

Create guidelines for shared resources and tools

Guidelines keep everyone on the same page, especially if they are unfamiliar with specific tools or resources from another team. Documented rules⁠(opens in a new tab or window) and best practices will help keep your content consistent and prevent too much back and forth during the distribution process.

Create guidelines for everything from the editing process to how you name and organize files. Develop a style guide to ensure a more streamlined internal design process. Lastly, always offer clarity both before and after the content is created.

Set standards for editing and feedback

Set clear standards about your editing, feedback, and approval processes to avoid wasting time or creating more unnecessary work. One way to do this is to control the editing and access capabilities to preserve quality and avoid accidental edits or deletions.

The team at Global Resources Network⁠(opens in a new tab or window) uses Canva’s control features to limit who can edit, comment, or view a design. The team keeps access limited to the creator and relevant team leads. Although multiple perspectives and input are valuable, too many opinions can lead you astray. By controlling access, Global Resources Network streamlines its production, increasing efficiency and productivity.

In addition to design access, decide on the specific language you will use for feedback and approval. Rather than simply commenting on a design piece and saying, “Looks good,” consider adding a confirmation phrase such as, “This is ready for delivery.”

When asking for feedback, make sure it is clear if you are just looking for proofreading or if you need the other person to give a critique about the font, colors, or image choice. All team leads should know how to ask for high-quality feedback and how to give actionable feedback. The feedback, “I don’t love it,” is not actionable for the graphic designer or copywriter. Instead, the feedback should indicate what they don’t love about it and how they think it can be improved.

For example, a team member at Global Resources Network asks the designer for a specific image change. But rather than simply asking to use a different image without any specifications, they ask that the image show more people. The use of people in their content aligns with their branding goals and will help drive sales.

Organize assets and define naming conventions

Organize your brand kit⁠(opens in a new tab or window) and assets into folders using a defined naming convention that makes it easy for everyone to find what they’re looking for. This means that everything from the asset file name, the file metadata, and the folder name and description should all follow the same guidelines.

“For maximum productivity, you want to provide your content writing team with easy access to the files they require. Searching for files shouldn't take up valuable time,” David Bitton, co-founder and CMO of DoorLoop⁠(opens in a new tab or window), said.

Create a folder management system that is intuitive to all teams involved in the production workflow. For example, you can name folders by specific departments that need access to them (e.g., human resources, customer success, etc.). Or you can label folders by project types, like the team at AfroLovely⁠(opens in a new tab or window), who uses Canva for their PR campaigns, workflow diagram⁠(opens in a new tab or window), content creation process, and reports.

PRO TIP: Take advantage of the naming guidelines to improve SEO by including keywords in your naming conventions.

Design a flexible content production workflow with the right tools

Design a flexible content production workflow that caters to the content needs of everyone involved and creates a smooth collaborative system. Figure out what works best for all teams and freelancers involved, and continue to iterate on it as you work together. This might mean that you create your own system from scratch or combine multiple tools and platforms.

The team at Astrolink⁠(opens in a new tab or window) uses Trello to list and delegate tasks and assign design work to their design team. From there, their design team either shares a link to their designs or attaches the designs in the respective tasks.

You may find that you need to dedicate time to educating people on how to use a tool they hadn’t previously used. In other cases, teams may not have the time or bandwidth to learn a new platform. If that’s your situation, don’t force it. Instead, find ways to bridge the gap with a project manager or another tool.

“Workflows don't work when you force people into them,” Ray Slater Berry, founder and director at DSLX⁠(opens in a new tab or window), said. “If the tech you're using is not part of their daily tech stack, they'll likely drop the ball. Meet people where they're at and find a flexible project manager that's able to tie the entire process together."

Create your own external-facing tracking system

If you can’t or don’t want to use an existing project management software, create your own central system to manage and track all deliverables.

Lead Comet⁠(opens in a new tab or window) created its own “client workbook” in a spreadsheet for clients to access. The spreadsheet indicates the status of a project as well as links to relevant assets.

“This prevents long, complex email threads with updates and provides a layer of transparency and accountability clients crave,” James De Roche, managing partner at Lead Comet, said. “This allows us to track and manage multiple clients without chaotic back and forth.”

Bridge multiple tools and platforms together

Create a system that improves communication and task management⁠(opens in a new tab or window) across platforms rather than requiring everyone to switch all their processes to one central place. This way, you will save time that would otherwise be spent implementing and teaching all teams a new process that puts a halt on current work. Continue using your respective platforms and integrate a slight change or additional feature that enables communication and collaboration.

The team at Kissflow⁠(opens in a new tab or window) built a request application that integrates with various task and project management systems that their design and web teams use to manage their work.

"Content workflows are difficult to find the right blend of visibility, collaboration, approvals, and standardization. Every type of content is also a little unique,” Neil Miller, Kissflow’s director of content, said. But with their custom application, teams can collaborate without having to learn another team’s content management tool of choice.

Make it a working template for future content production workflows

Once you’ve perfected your content production workflow, duplicate it and use it as a template for future projects. However, your content workflow template does not need to be a permanent, unchangeable production workflow template. Instead, make adjustments and improvements as you gain experience and insight into the content production process across teams.

Lead Comet uses a template for its website quality audits. It also uses a time tracker from Clockify⁠(opens in a new tab or window) to track and identify time-consuming workflows so that it can improve those processes. Over time, it adjusted its template and processes to create a more effective workflow. Time Doctor⁠(opens in a new tab or window) is another tool we suggest for time tracking or tracking of your work activities.

Content creation tools⁠(opens in a new tab or window) - such as the ones available in Canva - are also a great way to ensure your content workflows are consistent while making sure your go to market speed is faster.

It may take using it for a few projects before you feel that your workflow is ready to be templatized. Continue to iterate and tweak the process even after you’ve made it your baseline template, as you can always improve your creative workflows⁠(opens in a new tab or window) to increase efficiency and productivity across teams.