By Clair Carter-Ginn, Program Developer & Instructor, Rutgers Creative Operations Certificate

Big transformation projects get all the airtime—but most teams get unstuck through micro moves: a template here, a sunset there, a compliment that changes team energy, a smarter handoff that saves a day of rework. In my teaching (and in client work across brands from luxury to mass retail), I remind teams: don’t try to change everything at once. Start with the low-hanging fruit. Small changes really can fuel big initiatives.

When choosing where to start, ask a few fast-scan questions:

• What will make a visible difference?
• What can we do without asking permission?
• What builds trust?
• What buys time for deeper strategy?

These simple filters surface action that creates momentum without waiting on budget cycles, or approval from the C-Suite.

In the Rutgers Creative Operations Certificate Program, we focus both on the long-term vision, as well as on short-term tactics to help get us where we want to go. 

As Summer moves into Fall and we trade sandals for strategy decks, here are six quick moves you can implement this month, or even this week - to make your team’s life easier—and show that operations isn’t just a back-office function, it’s a strategic advantage.

Below are six “do-it-this-week” moves. For each:

• Why it matters (ops payoff)
• Do this in the next 7 days (starter steps)
• Level it up (how to scale when you have buy-in)
• Show the value (what to track/share)

If you’ve written the same project kickoff email three times, that’s a process begging to be templated. Templates reduce cognitive load, speed intake, and train stakeholders to give you what you need up front. Even super-light starter templates—email outlines, must-have brief questions, slide shells—create consistency that supports scale.

"In the Rutgers Creative Operations Certificate Program, we focus both on the long-term vision, as well as on short-term tactics to help get us where we want to go."

Do this in the next 7 days: Copy/paste your last good brief email, strip specifics, add required fields (deadline, deliverables, channels, approvers). Drop it in a shared folder and let the team start using it.

Level it up: Evolve your template into a lightweight intake form—your first step toward better briefs and fewer “what are we doing again?” loops. (Weak intake = rework; you call this out in your Process section.)

Show the value: Track % of requests that arrive using the template after 2 weeks and how many rounds of clarification drop as a result.

Every team has a challenging repeat task—file naming, spreadsheet copy/paste, asset resizing - classic high-effort, low-reward work that slows things down. Automating even 20% of it wins you back time and goodwill. 

Do this in the next 7 days: Identify the one task everyone groans about. Can you use a naming macro, saved script, or PM tool export to eliminate manual steps? If the tech isn’t there yet, standardize the format—pseudo-automation still saves time.

Level it up: Add simple rules to your DAM or workflow platform so metadata populates automatically at ingest—small automation, big downstream searchability. (Remember: process + structure prevent chaos in asset discovery.)

Show the value: Estimate minutes saved per week × number of people doing the task; convert to hours/month when reporting upward.

3. Give Compliments (Yes, That Counts as Ops)

Recognition fuels culture, and culture fuels adoption—especially when you’re asking people to work differently. You note that giving compliments is easy, free, and goes a long way in building relationships across roles.

Do this in the next 7 days: End one meeting by naming 2 process wins you noticed (clear brief, tight file handoff, on-time feedback). Drop a thank-you in a team channel.

Level it up: Formalize “Ops Shoutouts” in weekly status—behavior you praise becomes behavior that repeats. That reinforces the culture signals you urge teams to watch (and evaluate in interviews!).

Show the value: Rising usage of new templates/tools after public praise is a soft-but-real adoption metric.

Creative ops leaders add the most value when they’re clearing roadblocks, not chasing missing metadata. You explicitly recommend “farm out the garbage work” so the team can focus energy where it matters.

Do this in the next 7 days: List your last 20 tasks; mark which truly required you. Delegate clerical, routing, or file-push work to interns, coordinators, or a rotational ops pool.

Level it up: Build a resource management view—who’s doing what, where are the bottlenecks, and where can lower-cost partners (agencies, contingent labor) absorb production volume? You flag this as a key leadership lever.

Show the value: Reclaimed hours redirected to strategy/planning; track # of strategic initiatives progressed vs prior period.

Legacy steps stick around like glitter after a craft party. You advise teams: if it’s not working, end it—or evolve it—even if “we’ve always done it this way.”

Do this in the next 7 days: Pick one recurring meeting, approval loop, or duplicate tracker. Pilot a lighter version for two weeks (shorter agenda; async comments; merge two touchpoints).

Level it up: Use your Current > Better > Future State framework: map what the step does today, define the minimum viable version, then design the long-term replacement.

Show the value: Compare cycle time (brief-to-approval) before/after the change.

You recommend targeting improvements the boss’s boss will notice—smart politics, faster resourcing, better adoption.

Do this in the next 7 days: Capture one screenshot of chaos prevented (e.g., asset found in DAM vs. expensive reshoot) and share a “Saved us X hours/$” note in a leadership update.

Level it up: Roll small wins into a quarterly “Ops Impact Digest.” Showing value builds the business case for bigger asks—headcount, tech integration, workflow redesign.

Show the value: Track cumulative savings, error reduction, or on-time delivery improvements tied to your quick wins.

"Give compliments. Recognition fuels culture, and culture fuels adoption—especially when you’re asking people to work differently. You note that giving compliments is easy, free, and goes a long way in building relationships across roles"

Ops isn’t a “set it and forget it” sport. Remember that creative operations are living things—they need maintenance, feedback loops, and education to stick. Schedule recurring check-ins, share best practices, train newcomers, and capture what works so wins spread.

Want to make those quick wins last? Keep a light “wins” folder—proof points you can reuse in portfolios, recaps, and business cases.

Many of the biggest changes I’ve led with clients started as small friction-fixes: better briefs, cleaner file naming, tighter intake. That’s how you get from chaos (lost assets, reshoots, rights confusion) to integrated, searchable, reusable content ecosystems where teams “create once, share everywhere”—and real money comes back to the business.

If these quick wins lit a spark, the Rutgers Creative Operations Certificate Program dives deeper into building scalable processes, resource planning, DAM alignment, change management, and the strategic skills today’s in-house creative leaders need.

Clair Carter-Ginn is a strategist, consultant, and thought leader specializing in evolving content creation strategy and execution for global brands. She is the Program Developer and an Instructor for the Rutgers Creative Operations Certificate, where she helps rising creative leaders master the systems, skills, and structure behind world-class content.

Clair has partnered with brands ranging from mass retail to luxury fashion—including Louis Vuitton, Old Navy, Crocs, REI, Michael Kors, and more—to build and scale in-house agencies, optimize content ecosystems, and align teams around scalable creative practices.

A frequent speaker, guest lecturer, and advisor to both emerging talent and industry veterans, Clair brings warmth, wit, and a little irreverence to the operations space—believing that creativity thrives best when supported by structure.

Learn more about Rutgers Creative Operations Certificate Program offered by Continuing and Professional Studies at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.