Darren from our producers group wrote… “We’re having a meeting tomorrow to talk about… well… stuff. One issue – production not being done in a timely manner, things falling through the cracks, AEs not filling out forms in their entirety, etc. You name it, it’s been a problem. Several months ago I stepped away from the role of “Production Director” and things have been a mess ever since.”
JT wrote back… “Amos and I have production guideline meetings once a year. Granted, we have both of us, and eight producers to assign work to. The biggest thing that has brought us the most success is that it cannot become, or be thought of as an “us versus them” mentality. i.e. producers versus the sales staff/management. That’s a battle that the sales staff will always win. It’s about working as a team. Identify what the problems are and address each one accordingly. Everybody’s goal needs to be to increase sales for the company. That’s what it boils down to anyways. The sales people do it by selling, us creative folk do it by churning out effective (hopefully) spots in a timely manner. Reasonable deadlines need to be set, and they need to be backed up by management. However, don’t enforce those deadlines just because they’re there. If an order comes in after deadline and you are able to get it on, then get the spot on the air. Time management is going to be the key. Given your limited time and resources it might be wise to set up “production time” for those who do production. Make sure the sales people get a production time schedule so they can plan accordingly. Exceptions? Always. But having a system in place is going to make things much easier. Long story short though…if management doesn’t back this, then nothing will ever change. Management has to have the long term vision for creating a well oiled machine.”
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