Key Takeaways
- Creative Operations leaders are the organization's heartbeat, not just “glue,” driving culture change through empathy, creativity, and efficiency.
- Ops leaders influence culture at every touchpoint, from transforming meetings to strategic budgeting and communication.
- They excel at operationalizing culture through processes, tools, and clear communication, reducing friction and boosting morale.
- Key strategies include creating transparency, making space for creativity, and acting as translators for organizational change.
- Even when broader change is difficult, Ops leaders can build vibrant microcultures and advocate for impactful shifts.
Listen: How to reset culture through Creative Operations.
Many say Operations leaders are the “glue” of the Creative Team, but those who live it know that they are the heartbeat of the organization. Bringing empathy, creativity, and efficiency all at once is a tall order, but Ops leaders do just that—and their impact on company culture should not be underestimated.
Creative Operations leaders seamlessly balance tight budgets, endless organizational changes, and complex workflows to deliver content that brings products and services to life—and drives revenue. At every touchpoint, their ability to quickly build relationships and make clear connections to business goals is critical to their success. That’s why one of the top priorities they shared this year is addressing morale and well-being to repair broken workplace culture damaged by years of constant change and lean resources.
And so, as organizations everywhere enter a mode of crisis and confusion, who better than Creative Operations leaders to help rebalance the ship by infusing culture into everything they touch? No one. So when we gathered 41 Operations leaders in our InsideOut community in person, their mission was to uncover interaction points and actions that lead to culture transformation. Read on for how they’re going about making change.
Intentional influence: Where Ops leaders shape culture
Ops leaders have the ability to influence organizational culture at numerous interaction points, since the very nature of their work requires connecting across disparate departments. Each of these moments is an opportunity to go beyond the “what” and set new norms for the “how” that will lead to deeper engagement and understanding.
Meetings: Transforming connection
In today’s workplace, meetings are a constant, and every one of them provides a chance to shift culture. From fostering psychological safety to ensuring effective meeting hygiene that moves administrative tasks out of precious connection time, Ops leaders transform meetings into powerful platforms that result in shared knowledge and focus.
Communication: Building bridges
A superpower of skilled Operations leaders is exceptional communication skills. Leveraging all the tools of their teams and partners (from internal emails to Slack), their fingers are on the pulse of staff sentiment. Their ability to develop and share feedback loops and translate mission, vision, and values to all levels of the organization connects teams where they live.
Tools and processes: Operationalizing culture
Company culture is clearly embedded in workflow, and Ops leaders, who influence or outright own the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and tools that connect people to the work, can ensure its presence at every step. How work gets done profoundly shapes employee experience, and Operations leaders excel at reducing friction to improve outcomes.
Strategic touchpoints: From budget to buy-in
Don’t discount the impact of budgeting on company culture. What businesses pay for and measure—and what they don’t—sends clear messages on what’s valued, making metrics a profound lever for changing organizational culture. As strategic partners, Ops leaders excel at prioritization, goal-setting, and showing up “in the room” to advocate for teams and partners.
Actionable strategies: Driving cultural change
After defining the most powerful touchpoints for influencing culture, Operations leaders in our roundtables moved into action. They brainstormed and shared real-world examples of how doing the right thing at the right moment can lead to cultural resets that stick.
Creating transparency and accountability
One of the fastest ways to bring staff in for cultural change is to put them in the know. With visibility across the whole organization, Operations leaders can raise awareness and guide discussions that lead to clear expectations on who does what. One compelling example shared was how leaders look for gaps, especially when layoffs happen and critical roles disappear, and help partners find new solutions that keep teams connected.
Another leader shared that they’re carving out tactical work and creating self-serve options to educate partners on what’s involved in getting work done and to protect teams from burnout. They are utilizing survey results to point to the why behind issues, like broken approval processes or inadequate media spend. They are also illustrating the creative debt that comes with projects that require long-term maintenance and updates—work that is rarely accounted for in budgets or capacity planning.
Speaking of budgeting, though, Ops leaders aren’t always involved in setting them—they have a voice in choices like what work stays in and what goes out, and how resources get paid. These decisions and workflows can lead to a positive team culture and avoid feelings of unfairness. And don’t forget those monthly reports. One sharp Operations leader explained how he’s turning boring monthly readouts into cultural touchpoints by including recent creative work and shining a light on those who created it.
Making space for creativity and inspiration
As part of a Creative Team, these Operations leaders are keenly aware of the power of visuals, play, and human connection in building strong team cultures. Simple shifts, like offering a prompt to share a photo or story at the top of meetings or tapping into resources like It’s Nice That to draw in inspiration from outside the org, set the tone for creative thinking and collaboration.
One leader rotates leadership of meetings to showcase, engage, and grow other team members who may not often be front and center. Yet another uses their retrospective meetings to not just show the work but also include pictures of the team members who delivered the work, including those on the Ops Team who are often overlooked in public acknowledgments.
Bringing in staff from other departments to describe their roles in low-lift lunch-and-learns boosts empathy for those times when assumptions lead to friction. Note that all these ideas require little budget, just an intentional approach to how teams spend their time together. Speaking of which, another leader recounted how their org hosts a summer potluck at a team member’s home, which is well attended and builds relationships through shared memories that last all year.
Being the translator—and the lightning rod
Operations leaders are natural educators who seek common ground, which makes them the perfect leaders for culture resets. As incurable observers driven by curiosity, they’re able to translate organizational change and bring murky corporate strategies down to “Here’s what this means for us—and you.” And as forward-thinking partners, they’re able to illustrate the ripple effects of choices to steer more intentional decision-making.
With high EQ and a deep understanding of the power of language, these leaders shared how they’re using those strengths to shift perceptions. To set better expectations, one leader explains to partners the “Creative Supply Chains” that must be developed to deliver the best work, using the language of the business to show the complexity of the creative process. Another reinvigorates boring but common terms like “process” or “template” by repositioning them as “frameworks” that drive results.
As incessant and skilled communicators of metrics and value, Operations leaders can serve as the lightning rod that draws attention to what’s most important. For example, highlighting tradeoffs like increased costs and employee burnout as likely results of not addressing company culture can shine a bright light on consequences and opportunities.
If all else fails, control what you can
While optimists at heart, Operations leaders are realists in practice. Changing organizational culture is a massive undertaking that requires support at all levels. So, as they aim to push the boulder up the hill, they also advise that sometimes focusing on your smallest area of influence may be the best choice. Many leaders found success crafting vibrant microcultures on their own teams that drew in others from around the company who wanted to be a part of the magic.
And if it seems that grassroots culture change isn’t working and no one with the authority to make significant change is listening, bring in a consultant to say what you can’t. There are massive amounts of data to support the fact that workplace culture can deliver or tank corporate strategy, and an external consultant can package and present cautionary or aspirational tales that resonate with business leaders without fear of retribution.
In summary, if you’re not tapping into the incredible superpowers of your Creative Operations leaders to ignite passion for your workplace, you’re missing out. Today’s Ops leaders aren’t just managing tasks—they’re shaping the environment for creativity across entire organizations to increase impact. They are without a doubt the heartbeat of any company, providing the rhythm and vitality for engaged, productive teams.
By intentionally leveraging their influence at every interaction point—from meeting design to budget allocation—and by embracing actionable strategies at every step, Ops leaders can profoundly change culture. So if your business needs to achieve real organizational culture change, go ask your Operations leader what to do next. They’ve got this.
Why do we care? Our mission is to connect leaders to find solutions. If you're a senior design, experience, or creative operations leader of an in-house team at a high-profile brand and want to connect with others who share your unique challenges, let's talk. Our InsideOut community hosts small-format roundtables to support the learning and growth of our members, and we’re honored to facilitate those discussions.
About the author
Susie Hall is Aquent's Community & Customer Engagement President. In 1999 she joined Aquent as an interactive Agent. Over the past 21 years, she's led regional teams, developed a robust interactive design practice and launched Aquent's Vitamin T brand in 2011 to address the rapidly evolving digital talent needs of agencies and mid-sized companies. With 15 Best of Staffing service awards and hundreds of thousands of connections made, she brings a deep understanding of creative, design, and leadership. In 2019, Susie launched Aquent's InsideOut Design Leadership Community, connecting senior in-house design, experience, and operations leaders from high-profile brands through facilitated peer discussions based on real-world challenges.
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