What does a creative resource manager do? I just got hired at a big agency. I met my team, including my partner and my CD & ECD, who hired me. But later in the day someone stop by at my desk & said he is a creative resource manager & my supervisor who gives me assignments & approve my time offs. During my hiring process & orientation day everyone said my CD is my supervisor who assign me projects & approve my time offs. Did he do a Power move on me? I will be nice but didn’t like the attitude!

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They are your new best friend or worst enemy lol. You are now a resource. And their job is to manage that resource. Meaning they know who's working on what and who has the bandwidth for whatever is coming next. They also juggle PTO requests to make sure 8 people aren't trying to take the same week off.

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Be nice to him. You will get better assignments.

likesmarthelpful

They will also know everyone else's business in terms of which teams/people are being asked on things because they are good and which are considered low performing or people generally don't want to work with them.
Like someone said - make friends, get the insider info, be the first type, not the second.

Most of them are really nice folks who like being near the creative process. They’re there to act as a barrier between you and accounts so you’re not overworked. Your CD will still be the one who evaluates your performance and gives you raises.

I’d highly recommend getting to know your resource manager more. They’ve usually got really good gossip and can get you on better projects.

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CD3 a lot of them gossip quite a bit but usually it’s more about the clients or notable projects than our direct co-workers.

They basically keep track of all the project each creative team works on, and try to spread the work out evenly. They work with your bosses to assign you to different projects and organize coverage for the teams when people are on vacation

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depends on the agency and how many teams/clients you are spread across.

if you’re dedicated to a single client/project - the CDs will handle it, sometimes with PMs helping. but if it’s a shop with lots of smaller projects and creatives bounce around, that’s where resources managers come in.

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They may be assigning your work - which is important but likely in discussion with your CD - but they won’t be handling your yearly reviews. Your creative director will do that.

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Creative Resource manager isn’t your supervisor. That should be your CD. CSM just assigns work. Only time a hear from them is when someone is on vacation and they need someone to fill in or they are looking to unload an assignment no one wants. Requests should really go through your CD, otherwise you will get asked to do all kinds of crap.

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Thank you for all your advice. I know he is not my boss. He surprised me by claiming that he is. I am friendly and will be nice to everyone and him. But from past experiences, I learned knowing where everyone stands in terms of responsibility helps to avoid taking advantage of by others.
During the 2 weeks of my first job, I received assignments from a few people at the same time. They also asked me to write my own copy too. I was extremely overwhelmed and didn't know how agencies work. I finished all the work and went to my CD for approval. He said you did all that on your own? He shared his head and said who gave you these assignments? He called them one by one and started yelling at them for putting me through hell during my first two weeks of agency work. One of them got fired as a repeat offender.
So I always make sure no one takes advantage of my lack of experience while being nice and respectful.

likesmart

There are good ones and bad ones. You’ll find out which one yours is soon enough. Most important is that they’re on the same with your CDs. Some let the power go to their head, sure. Communicate with your CD IF that happens. But the good ones should be watching your capacity, learning and working with you, and making sure you’re not overburdened by too many projects. Key word is working WITH you. Not simply bossing you around and assigning stuff. The good ones ask questions and see how you’re doing with your workload.

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He's not your boss. He can't give you a raise or a promotion.
He's more like an admin. Manages vacations, workloads, and the flow of work through the agency, so it's good to stay on his good side.

Good resource managers are there to help you and protect you. Hopefully he's a good one.

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Yeah some people love to throw their weight around. He said what he said but what it means is according to HR he is your supervisor because he approves your timesheets and expenses because creative directors are above all that “paperwork stuff” so someone has to do it. Your boss is your CD and ECD. If they don’t think you’re good you won’t get any good assignments or raises and you could get let go. By all means be nice to everyone but perform your job like your CCO is looking at your work because he is. (Yes I know I said “he” but I mean what are the chances it’s not a guy?). As far as the resource manager goes, if he tries to give you an assignment make sure he asked the ECD if it’s ok and he knows how much work you are juggling.

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It’s because CDs are good at managing ideas and the work but not people. CDs shouldn’t be bothered with your PTO. They need to stick to the creative product.

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To add to all of the above, account teams/PMs usually tell the resource manager who they want on what and for how much of their time. We also often are able to request specific creatives. I wouldn’t call a resource manager anyone’s boss, unless they have people in their own department.

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Yeah you wanna be cool with your creative resource manager.

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I was super friendly, because my goal is to keep everyone I worked with in a friendly zone. But didnt like how he start with “I am your supervisor”.
I had an one hour conversation with CCO After I started and he was nice and welcoming. None of my actual creative supervisors mentioned to me that they are my boss. It was an odd way for him to introduce himself.
From your explanation it seems, They are what we use to called them as traffic, but it has been several years years since I worked with one. Most agencies eliminate traffic departments.

Ew, no, a CRM's role on a creative team is to make sure everyone's time is spread evenly / so you're not under or overbooked, they aren't making creative or managerial decisions on projects for you. Your CD & ECD are the ones who are managing you –– learning what types of projects you would be best fit for / what your career goals are, guiding your growth, etc. *Please* do not let this person intimidate you. It's ridiculous, and sounds 100% like an insecure person who wants to seem more important than he is.

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Put simply, it's like a Project Manager of Sorts, one who manages and assigns teams' project workloads.

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