So far in our project, we have struggled to set a clear line between our job boundaries, as we are all trying to do as much for this project as possible. George has certainly mentioned to me that he thinks he is not doing enough in terms of locating contributors. The issue has been that a lot of the contacts were approached before George was a part of the project which meant there was not as much for him to do in this respect. I understood his frustration, but after I explained to him that he really could not do anything more, he relaxed a little and contacted a woman driver for us to interview.
Other issues included the D.O.P not picking up the kit when it was his job to do so. Cailan had never actually spoken to us about this issue until we had a group meeting about it. We agreed as a team that it did not make sense for Cailan, who does not drive, to take the kit back home on the train and risk £1000s of equipment. George had been getting the equipment and I had assumed this was already arranged with Cailan, but apparently not. After understanding all of the views, Cailan agreed to fill out all of the risk assessments and forms which he was supposed to be doing anyway, and then George would continue to pick up equipment. While it required compromises from both of them, we reached an agreement which allowed the group to work without issue.George has also had to operate a camera on a couple of occasions, which is not the role he signed up for. I take some of the responsibility for this as I have sometimes made plans for multiple cameras when we were not sure how many crew members we would have. Having spoken with George and researched crew shortages, I have said to George that we need to prioritise getting crew in for our year group to ensure he has to go on camera as little as possible. I understand he does not want to be on camera, therefore I will now be sharing my plans with George even earlier as it will allow him to sort out additional crew. This will benefit all of the team.
One of the hardest parts for me so far has been taking some directorial opinions from the team. There was always going to be an element of advice from Cailan and George to ensure we kept to the high standards we were setting, but I probably took some of the suggestions to heart at first. This was most noticeable for me in our first ever shoot, the race medical back in January. I had my plans and shot list which I thought would cover all areas but other suggestions were made which, at first, I could not take. After later discussion, we have come to the understanding that the crew will complete my shot list when I am in front of the cameras plus any ideas they have. This ensures Cailan has creative freedom along with ensuring we have the key blocks for the story I have crafted.
Linking into this, in the early shoot dates the crew were continually asking my opinion of shots when I wasn't in front of the camera. This, along with me learning how to let go and trust the crew on shoot dates, did cause some confusion at first. I found it very hard to not direct in the typical fashion at first, as I had all my ideas in my head and wanted to ensure they were being followed. Looking back on this early footage you can see that I am not as relaxed as I could be, which is a small negative for the documentary. I have improved on this vastly and am currently able to go into a shoot date and allow the crew to do their magic. I am also being asked far fewer questions by the crew when I am the contributor which is allowing me to be much more natural. This has certainly shown in the most recent sequences which are better in every way.
An issue which George is still struggling with is being in the right place as a producer when on "set". On a number of occasions, he has either been in the shot or has walked in front of the camera which has undoubtedly been an issue. I have remained calm at the moment but have spoken to George about the importance of him knowing where he should be standing. This will not only be a benefit for the documentary, as we do not have to edit round these issues, but it will also allow George to be closer to Cailan to give advice and be ready to do his role as producer when needed. Part of the reason for this happening was he was not sure about how much space he needed to give Cailan as D.O.P and this led to Cailan not knowing what shot he was supposed to get as well as having issues with George being in shot.
The last point I wanted to bring up was that we are all going to be completing additional roles to the ones we set out at the start of this unit. Roles such as graphics, music, effects, grading and helping crew and contributors behind the scenes are tasks that we all need to help with to ensure we complete our goal. George has taken responsibility for helping contributors beyond the project, while I am doing the same for my sponsors (ie. helping them with videos as they helped us financially). Cailan will work on the graphics while I will be doing the majority of sourcing music, while we all will work on the colour grading towards the end of the edit. These roles are shared out fairly to ensure we finalise the project, but we will undoubtedly all help each other with these roles as it will allow a more fluid process, especially when in the edit.
Following on from understanding the issues we have, I have conducted some research into how we can work as a more cohesive and effective team. This information has come from various industries to give a broad understanding of the ideals we should be following to get the best results.
Communication seems to be key in allowing everyone to maximise their potential in the creation of "Dream Chaser": "Managers need to communicate information to the team, whilst also facilitating good communication within and between teams. Of course, effective communication also includes listening, so managing meetings efficiently so that contributions are listened to and considered also helps to build effective teams and team-working processes" (managers.org, 2017). One of our weakness so far has been the communication of smaller issues which has led to some confusion within the team. Understandably, tension is high in this unit as we all are aiming for top marks but, in hindsight, a more methodical approach to certain conversations would have alleviated a lot of our issues. Going forward I feel that as a team we should be holding more frequent meetings whether that be online or in person. In these meetings, we should all come with an agenda so that we have a conversation and points to back up our methodologies. This should allow any confusion to be eliminated. I am working with George especially, to ensure his communication to the rest of the team is more clear as, without this, the shoot days could have issues. After each shoot day we admit that we need to have a conversation about how the day went and what we could improve on as well as the strong points from the day. "Good Coordinators, Team-Workers and Resource Investigators are good at Verbal Communication, Listening, and Questioning. They work hard to ensure that the group communicates well, helping to make sure that there are no misunderstandings or unexpressed difficulties between team members." (skillsyouneed, 2019) Typically, the main improvement we need to focus on going forward is clear communication within the team. If this improves, then we will all do better because of it. We all need to distance ourselves from the critiques and understand that this is very much a professional relationship while creating this project and we should not let these points be taken personally.
Group harmony has not always been perfect on this project so far, which can mostly be down to the small communication issues we have had. "My experience... has been that I felt I could give my very best when I felt valued, that my contribution mattered and that as a team we were working towards shared goals, met regularly to review our work and to give each other feedback. It was in these teams that we were able to create time to think about what we were doing" (tvwleadershipacademy, 2019). I feel that as a team we could all do a better job at trusting one another to complete their work. Because of the issues highlighted above, it is sometimes misconstrued as not working properly if somebody does not reply straight away. We have all been guilty of jumping to conclusions in this unit. It has not happened often but it is worth learning from. I feel we all need to respect each others role now that we have clearly defined them within the group. This trust will allow us all to improve which can only be a benefit to the project. It is clear that we could all do better in this regard and once we allow each other to flourish in our roles then we will have an incredible project. The issue has been that we all want to help each other in every area which has ended up being impractical. This was done with the best intentions, but it seems that once everyone settles properly into their roles we will actually have a better outcome. I know we are a great team and to ensure we make the most of our skills we need to trust each other in the decisions made. It does not mean doing whatever someone says, but if they have a clear vision and evidence to back it up then we should allow them to go ahead. This goes for all of our roles and I fully believe we have learned from the mistakes which will ensure that in the future we progress as a team.
This last point may not directly correlate to this production but I think it shows how I could be doing more to engage Cailan and George in my project by showing them first hand why I love the sport we are making a documentary about. "To achieve the best mix for bringing out the best in your team, offer motivating, fun activities and competitions, rather than forcing bland corporate ‘share and care’ upon staff. Meaningful team building activities which recognise the importance of quality working relationships for team effectiveness and can offer high levels of engagement and positive work impact" (managers.org, 2017). This may seem odd to include in a blog post about creating a documentary, but I now realise that I need to go further as the director to allow the team to understand my passion for this. After reading about the importance of team bonding to create a great professional environment, I decided to pay for Cailan and George to come karting with me as I thought it would allow them to see first hand what it is like to be on a track. I hope this slightly different method will allow the team to come closer together and further understand the team goal. I am excited to see George and Cailan get out on track as I know it will give them a different appreciation for this project as well as the people we are speaking to. I know this experience will be a great one for the team and I really hope it ensures the project changes up a gear. My research into team building after understanding our roles has allowed me to know what I could be doing better as a director and I will pass on feedback obtained today to the rest of the group to allow us all to improve. It's very exciting to see the potential we have as a team and I think these tips will allow us to ensure that we hit that.
References:
managers.org, 2017 https://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2017/april/how-to-build-an-effective-team-focus-on-just-3-things
skillsyouneed, 2019 https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/team-working.html
tvwleadershipacademy, 2019 http://www.tvwleadershipacademy.nhs.uk/enews-02/importance-working-effective-team
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/students/success-guide/ug/effective-study/working-with-others/effective-team-work/
https://knowhow.ncvo.org.uk/your-team/people-management-skills/teams/effectiveteam/definition
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/tips-for-better-teamwork-1919225
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