Seamless communication
Along with great tools, communication is what makes the difference between a well executed show and well…a shitshow. There’s either a lack of communication, bad communication, or straight up no communication at all (flashback to me getting hired as a 2nd AD, getting no prep, arriving on set and getting told I’m the running the show).
Some people believe that they are excellent communicators. They send emails left and right to make sure that everyone is aware of everything, all the time. This is great when you work on a single project with many variables.
But it’s terrible when you deal with 10 small projects. The “active” communication system is, in 90% of cases, completely useless there.
Definition
What I refer to by “Seamless”, or “Passive” communication, is the act of conveying information to another party without sending an email, sharing a document, or creating a calendar event etc…
Concrete example:
You are a line producer. After budgeting your show, you start crewing it up. Naturally, you open your trusted crew list template and start adding the names, positions and rates of the people that will work this show.
- Bad communication: Sending this crew list to your coordinator so he/she may contact every freelancer and get the paperwork in.
- Good communication: Moving on to the next task on your lis, knowing that the crew list is where your coordinator will find it, and that the information it contains is clear.
This of course supposes that at some point, you created a workflow dictating where to file documents and what information all the parties need to do their job. This is the essence of seamless communication.
Working like the others, not together
In order to communicate seamlessly, a production department must force each of it’s members to follow the same methodology. Working together then becomes a byproduct of the workflow dictating how things are done. Using the example above, if you create your crew list based on the guidelines set across the department, then any coordinator can decipher your work and act upon it. You don’t even need to know who your coordinator is, and yet, you are working together.
Using this philosophy, you can reach a point where “active” communication is only used for emergencies, or situations that are out of the norm. Your inbox will naturally become more manageable and will contain information that actually matters.
In practice
In order to figure out where “passive” communication can be implemented, simply ask yourself if each email you send could have been avoided. It usually will send you on a series of thoughts resembling “yes but I would need to put this information here” or “yes but we all need to be doing this instead”. If you can figure out a way that doesn’t add much work on either parties involved, then you have the start of a great workflow. Most of the problems we encounter result from bad communication, which are often the result of human error. Remembering to give someone a bit of information is sometimes tricky when you’re juggling with 10 projects. By automating this process, you not only save the few minutes it would have taken you to draft an email, but you also save the time to catch and correct these mistakes.
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