Global hybrid teams: Why flexible talent is the key to breakthrough creative work

Over the past two years, we have had to take a fresh look at what we believe is possible and how we bring ideas to life. There is no going back to “normal.” For many organizations, this is an opportunity to reassess — and find a better way to get things done.

At Upwork, the world’s largest work marketplace, my team has done breakthrough creative work at a time when we have faced more constraints than ever.

Earlier this year, we rolled out one of the most successful marketing campaigns in Upwork’s history alongside a complex rebranding process. We did this, while working fully remotely, by leveraging the strengths of employees, agencies, and independent talent who span the globe.

The hybrid model we use to organize our team — also known as the Hollywood model — is the crux of that success. A significant part of Upwork’s creative team is comprised of independent professionals chosen specifically for their skills and expertise, rather than their location or willingness to relocate, and many of whom are engaged through our own platform.

I’ve seen first-hand why hybrid teams will continue to grow their role as the power behind the best brands in the world. In this post, let’s talk about why access to a global pool of flexible talent is so critical.

To learn more about how the hybrid model can work for your business, watch my Adobe Max break-out session: Using the Hollywood Model to Build Creative Teams at Scale.

A hybrid team can be tailored to meet any project’s needs — at scale

As more and more organizations see the impact great creative work can have, they are exploring their options: Agency? In house? Independent talent? For brands that want to get closer to the work, a hybrid team that employs the Hollywood model can serve as a helpful middle ground.

Our industry has leveraged the Hollywood model for decades: You bring a group of professionals together based on the requirements of a specific brief, then disband once the project has wrapped.

At Upwork, I have a core team of leaders who are full-time employees and experts in their disciplines. Each one serves as the hub of a wheel of independent talent: They engage the professionals as needed from our Virtual Talent Bench™ — a go-to roster of workers we’ve collaborated with in the past or who’ve otherwise caught our attention — then track progress and ensure consistency.

As long as we can turn to that talent bench to scale our team, we never have to say no to a great brief. When business moves in days if not hours, that agility is a powerful edge.

The best talent is increasingly going solo

The Hollywood model has only gained traction as a growing number of top creative professionals are choosing to work independently. This is coming at a time when 59 million Americans are now freelancing — that’s 36 percent of the U.S. workforce — citing control over their work, schedule, and location as some of the main benefits.

And it isn’t just people interested in hands-on work who are choosing freelance projects. There are also experts ready to help you build out your hybrid team and navigate the way forward.

For example, I started working with Upwork as an independent creative director to support the rebranding campaign and introduction of the work marketplace. Get a behind-the-scenes look here.

Another example comes from Adrienne Young, creative lead for Amway global marketing. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was tasked with developing a campaign that would showcase the stories of business owners in the company’s five biggest markets.

As she shared at Upwork’s recent Work Without Limits Summit, the scope felt daunting — until she connected with Ben Tyson.

Tyson is a seasoned independent producer who co-founded Hoozens, a small video agency. He worked with Young to help Amway get started, onboard talent, and set production standards to be followed by each crewmember. Together, Young said, they coordinated “five different shoots, [in] five different countries, [in] five different languages.”

The final product spoke for itself: The high caliber of the storytelling brought such authenticity to their brand that it helped elevate how Amway talks about its business.

A team that understands the world can take it on

Upwork’s “Up We Go” campaign was made possible by our access to expert talent around the world. In many ways, this is their story — and the campaign’s success shows how it resonates. Engagement has been 2.5x higher than previous campaigns and video completions are in the high 90s.

For digital service provider Digicel, ready access to a local perspective has been an important part of their growth strategy.

Digicel operates in more than 30 markets in the Caribbean, Central America, and Oceania. When they expanded their services last year, they conducted a full rebrand — and while big agencies had the creative expertise they needed — they weren’t familiar with the nuances and languages of each region.

“Through Upwork, we work with freelancers within our regions, and then we work with several go-to freelancers that are international and not in our markets,” said Amy Grant, Digicel’s former head of Brand and Consumer. “I knew this would really allow us to better serve the markets that we communicate to and make our jobs easier.”

Get it all with a hybrid team

As the saying goes, “You want good, cheap, and fast? Pick two.” Until recently, my experience had been that creative production always required a tradeoff. But fast access to great talent allows you more latitude — and the talent pool has never been as deep as it is now.

Learn more about how the hybrid model can work for your business by watching my Adobe Max session on demand.

This Adobe MAX 2021 post is sponsored by Upwork.