Multitasking, Prioritizing, and Organizing are the Keys to Success
At the beginning of this year, I said that I thought leadership was the most important skill for a producer. While I still believe that to be true, I think there are three other elements that are just as important, if not more so than leadership.
The first trait needed for a successful producer is the ability to multitask. When you are producing, you are either the lead, the video, or the web/graphics producer. Each job has its own specific details and deliverables that need to be fulfilled throughout the day, but that does not mean you are not responsible for helping out with your other producer’s responsibilities if they need help.
Teamwork is such a huge part of a successful show and being able to multitask and work on your specific producer jobs, as well as helping out your teammates with whatever they need is essential. At the beginning of the semester, I noticed that I would try so hard to make sure every aspect of my own jobs for my producing role that day were being fulfilled that I would tend to forget to check in with my other producers to see if they needed help.
As the semester has gone on, I have gotten much better at juggling my own deliverables with that of my other teammates when they need help and my multitasking has improved as well.
The next trait I think is vital for getting your show air ready is prioritization. It is very easy to get wrapped up in one or two aspects of the producing role and forget about all the other things that need to be accomplished before the show airs.
When I first started producing, I found that I would start working on one of the position’s goals and would lose track of time. When that happened, I would find myself working on something longer than I should have been and thus other important goals would get pushed back causing a timing snowball effect.
The first two times I was lead, I would focus so much on perfecting the rundown and writing my copy story that I would start writing the teases and super teases much later than I should have been. I needed to prioritize each task for each position and make sure I was staying on a timed schedule and pace for each job.
As the semester has progressed, I feel I have gotten much better at the timing of how long each detail takes me and have figured out a system of what aspects of the job I need to do first and what ones I can leave till the end to finish.
The last important trait for a producer is organization. Without being organized there is no way to have a smooth and successful show. In the beginning of the semester, it was hard to find a system that worked for each producing role and organize my thoughts and actions because everything was so new.
As the semester has gone on, each time I am either lead, video, or graphics/web I have a whole organized system that works best for me that times out when I should have everything done by and in what order I should do them in. Each person has there own way to organize themselves, but I think the system I came up with for myself has really improved my performances.
Overall I think I have improved a lot from my first time at each position and I am thoroughly impressed with everything I have learned to do this year!
