For more than two decades, Emily Cohen has coached design firms and in-house teams to think more creatively, work more efficiently, run more smoothly. She’s helped top-tier studios like Open, The Heads of State, Dress Code, Louise Fili, and Volume, where a partner described her “with infinite admiration and love” as “a ruthless, whip-cracking disciplinarian of a design business consultant.” She’s also worked with larger corporate clients such as PetSmart, Etsy, and Adobe.

Look, Cohen gets it. Designers’ allergies to businessy terms like “actionable results” and “process-driven” and “IRL meeting” are well documented. They trigger negative associations, usually with people not being on the same page, and usually about ends and means being out of sync. Cohen shows how good communication leads to good design.

The key: the creative brief.

What is a creative brief? Why do you need one? When do you write one? Cohen shows how a good one is an illuminating document that “discovers the main factors that will drive the creative strategy.” Sign up for Inside Job 2016, where she will teach creative teams to craft briefs that are smart and laser-focused on clear goals. You’ll learn how to use them across the life-cycle of a project, how they can streamline workflows and processes, and how to get crucial guidance within even the most siloed, sluggish, straitjacketing corporate cultures.