Media operations face relentless pressure to innovate: shifting audience behaviours, new AI tools, and evolving revenue models. Yet inside many organisations, people feel stuck — trapped in narrow roles, stretched thin, or isolated from the cross-functional work that drives real growth. Freelancers and consultants often experience the same: working alone on small, disconnected tasks instead of collaborative, high-impact projects.

To keep pace with audiences, the industry needs more experimentation and fulfilment at every level. Cross-functional teams are common, but they have limits: fixed size, reliant on existing staff, and rarely open to early-career talent. They optimise what’s already there but don’t expand ambition or unlock new opportunities.

Enter flash teams. Temporary, rapidly assembled, and purpose-built, they form around a challenge and disband once the problem is solved. They evolve as the work unfolds, drawing from both internal staff and external specialists — talent accessible through our personal networks and platforms like Catalant and Gigster.

Imagine audience growth stalls. Instead of overloading your audience team, you assemble a flash team: a reporter who knows the beat, a data analyst who can surface behavioural patterns, an audience specialist to test user needs, and a producer to trial new formats. They sprint together, deliver evidence-based recommendations and prototypes, then dissolve, leaving momentum and solutions behind.

Or, for an ambitious investigation, a flash team brings together a data journalist, fact-checker, designer, and legal expert — delivering a stronger package, faster, than a permanent team could alone.

2026 is the year flash teams enter media operations, following the lead of software and creative industries. The payoff: agility for organisations; access to higher-impact work, richer collaboration, and greater autonomy for individuals.

Flash teams help operations move faster and help people grow — raising the industry’s ambition and quality.

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Written by
Khalil A. Cassimally
Khalil is an advocate for audiences-driven approaches and an expert in audience development. He consults, advises, and mentors teams and individuals at media organisations worldwide, helping them shape stronger, more connected societies.

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