Pilot Survey Results
Thanks to everyone who took part in my pilot survey! I was expecting more people to take part but I had a total of 10 participants. I learnt a lot from doing this task. Firstly, I posted an incorrect link to my survey. Once that was straightened out it was pointed out to me that one of my questions would not allow you to tick the same answer for each category so I changed that. I was also shown that question 6 was badly worded. I was unable to change this but realise how I need to take better care in the wording of questions. Next time I would also like to have different pages for each question, which I liked on some of the surveys I completed. By completing this task I was able to gather a wide range of answers and I feel it is a tool I will use for my inquiry. 70% of the participants are currently employed in the entertainment industry.
Here is what I found:
How important do you consider the following skills for an Arts Manager such as an Artistic Director or Producer to posses?
Communication- 66% found this to be extremely important, with 22% very important and 11% quite important. It reflects what Mark said in my interview that it is a vital part of being a manager. He also said that communication is important aspect of life in general in education, relationships, entertainment and decision making.
Decision Making- I had some mixed results here with 22% saying not very important, 11% quite, 44% very and 22% extremely. I expected most people to say very to extremely as important decisions can affect the future of the business.
Organisation- Here the majority, 57% said extremely, 28% quite and 14% sometimes. Again I was slightly surprised. I think that prganisation is a vital component of any business and again life in general. It makes things easier to find, saves time and possibly money.
Leadership- 40% said extremely, 40% very, 10% quite and 10% not very. This might depnd on your job title. You may not have to do so much "leading" if you do not have many people below you. However, I was again surprised as I feel that good leadership is what makes a business successful. A good leader can make a sucess of a bad business plan but a poor leader can ruin even the best plan.
Finance- This being a weak skill of mine I was hoping for people to say not very however 28% found this to be extremely important, 28% quite, 28% sometimes and 14% very. Therefore on the whole participants felt this was an imprtant skill for a manager.
Legal Knowledge- Here the majority 44% found this quite important, 22% sometimes, 22% very and 11% extremely. Legal knowledge is important for setting up a business, buying or leasing a place for a business and hiring new employees. While you can hire lawyers it is important to have a basic knowledge of the legal aspect- company law, tax, legal procedure, the practcie etc.
Have you ever worked under great management?
70% of my participants said yes and 30% no, which was good to hear that so many had. Their reasons for the management being so successful ranged from good organsation, tkaing their needs as a performer into account, guests being pleased, good communication, clear aims and objedctives, managemtn working as a team and being efficient.
Have you worked under or know of arts managers that have been performers?
80% here said yes with only 20% no. Pretty much everyone agreed that performers can make good managers as they understand how things work and have been through it all themselves. One answer was that they have good dicipline, motivation, confidence, communication and are empathetic but firm.
What do you feel would be the hardest challenge in making a career tansition from performing?
Although I needed to reword this question, the results found that loss of income took the highest percentage, followed by loss of status, not knowing what to do, sense of emptiness, emotional problems, physical problems and loss of friends last.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
6a Pilot Interview
Pilot Interview Results
For my pilot interview I decided to ask our Technical Director of the show, Mark to take part. I set up a meeting with him before one of our evening shows. I explained the purpose of the interview and what it was being used for and got his consent to blog about my findings. I had a structured list of open questions to ask that gave the opportunity for him to expand on his answers. He was a great person to ask questions to because of his vast experience in the entertainment industry and his managerial role in the company. He has worked as technical crew for outdoorr music organisations, lightning designer for Jayne Eyre, master fly man for Hairspray the musical on tour and various regonal tours and special events to name a few.To record the answers I decided the easiest way was to take notes as it was just the two of us. He gave his consent to use his answers for this course and offered further interviews or help in my inquiry.
Here are some responses I got from my questions:
What qualities do you feel make a good manager?
- Have a varied knowledge base.
- Being able to empathise with the people below you and being able to relate to what they do. I also take this into account when making decisions.
- To be fair and respectful in how you treat people.
- Be honest with your employees.
- Communication!
What problems can be faced in decision making?
In my experience mainly logistical issues. What time frame we have and the materials we have on hand to make it happen. Sometime budget issues come into play as well.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a career transition from performer to manager?
Advantage is that you have gone through the whole process yourself. The hard part is separating themselves from their former role as a performer. They often still have the desire to perform. They also might have a smaller knowledge base than someone who has worked in many areas.
What challenges face young managers?
Having someone working for you that is older than you are and it is much harder to earn their respect and sometimes you don't earn their respect because of that.
In what ways can you keep a business innovative and fresh?
Don't become stagnant. Keep up on the latest technologies and what is happening int he industry. Never stop learning from people around you. I learn something new everyday whether from a person fresh out of college or someone with years of experience. Also listen to people around you and keep and open mind.
What ways can you improve on communication and people skills in a business?
You have to have good people skills as a manager. Improving communication comes with practice. Promote it as often as possible with your staff. You should be able to know where people are and what they are doing in general and encourage staff to do the same. Communicate everything with people from expectations to time lines etc.
I found Mark very interesting to talk to and think I will definatley use this as a tool for my inquiry. For him having good people skills and communication seemed to be very important for a manager. He also made a good point that as an ex-performer going into management it can be hard to get rid of the passion to still want to be onstage. But it can be possible to do both. The Managing Director of the theatre was a performer and will be acting in some of our upcoming shows. He also said that he is constantly learning, which I feel is a key part of this course and shows that even experienced professionals are always developing their craft.
For my pilot interview I decided to ask our Technical Director of the show, Mark to take part. I set up a meeting with him before one of our evening shows. I explained the purpose of the interview and what it was being used for and got his consent to blog about my findings. I had a structured list of open questions to ask that gave the opportunity for him to expand on his answers. He was a great person to ask questions to because of his vast experience in the entertainment industry and his managerial role in the company. He has worked as technical crew for outdoorr music organisations, lightning designer for Jayne Eyre, master fly man for Hairspray the musical on tour and various regonal tours and special events to name a few.To record the answers I decided the easiest way was to take notes as it was just the two of us. He gave his consent to use his answers for this course and offered further interviews or help in my inquiry.
Here are some responses I got from my questions:
What qualities do you feel make a good manager?
- Have a varied knowledge base.
- Being able to empathise with the people below you and being able to relate to what they do. I also take this into account when making decisions.
- To be fair and respectful in how you treat people.
- Be honest with your employees.
- Communication!
What problems can be faced in decision making?
In my experience mainly logistical issues. What time frame we have and the materials we have on hand to make it happen. Sometime budget issues come into play as well.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a career transition from performer to manager?
Advantage is that you have gone through the whole process yourself. The hard part is separating themselves from their former role as a performer. They often still have the desire to perform. They also might have a smaller knowledge base than someone who has worked in many areas.
What challenges face young managers?
Having someone working for you that is older than you are and it is much harder to earn their respect and sometimes you don't earn their respect because of that.
In what ways can you keep a business innovative and fresh?
Don't become stagnant. Keep up on the latest technologies and what is happening int he industry. Never stop learning from people around you. I learn something new everyday whether from a person fresh out of college or someone with years of experience. Also listen to people around you and keep and open mind.
What ways can you improve on communication and people skills in a business?
You have to have good people skills as a manager. Improving communication comes with practice. Promote it as often as possible with your staff. You should be able to know where people are and what they are doing in general and encourage staff to do the same. Communicate everything with people from expectations to time lines etc.
I found Mark very interesting to talk to and think I will definatley use this as a tool for my inquiry. For him having good people skills and communication seemed to be very important for a manager. He also made a good point that as an ex-performer going into management it can be hard to get rid of the passion to still want to be onstage. But it can be possible to do both. The Managing Director of the theatre was a performer and will be acting in some of our upcoming shows. He also said that he is constantly learning, which I feel is a key part of this course and shows that even experienced professionals are always developing their craft.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
6d Delicious Tags
Below is the link to my Delicious page I created. It was really easy to do and a great way to keep a tab of the resources I access. Some I use everyday such as Facebook and others I have recently come across that might be useful literature to review. I will continue to add articles and relevant pages I come across for my inquiry and hope that some of you might find these useful as well.
Here is the link: http://www.delicious.com/laura_weir2001
Here is the link: http://www.delicious.com/laura_weir2001
Monday, 11 April 2011
4c Developing questions within the professional community
For this task I decided to propose my questions with one of the dancers in the show and one of the managers to gain two different perspectives on my developing questions. The dancer, Ashley Marinelli is a recent graduate from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and worked as a freelance dancer and choreographer before joining the cast at Celebration Music Theatre. The manager, Eric Hanson, has been working in the entertainment industry for over 10 years as a performer and then a manager as now works as the Sponsorship and Tour Manager at Celebration Music Theatre. I conducted this as an informal chat where I wrote down the answers. Below are the responses I gained:
What qualities do you feel make a good manager?
Eric: Having knowledge of your relevant field and of course the experience behind it. Also organisation is key to being a good manager.
Ashley: Communication is important. Also creativity and thinking outside the box. I like it when management think ahead and of new ways to move the entertainment industry forward, be innovative and try new things. When they are not just about profit but for the integrity of what we do as we have dedicated our lives to our profession. we love what we do.
What skills are important for a manager to posses?
Eric: Good people skills are a must along with good communication. Also in this day and age computer skills are important.
Ashley: Being business savvy i.e. good marketing skills. To have a good understanding of the entertainment industry. also knowing the line between being a friend and a boss. Knowing when to be professional and when to have fun.
What problems can be faced in decision making as a manager?
Eric: Time frame as sometimes you have to make a very quick decision. It can put you under pressure and if the decision negatively affects some one's life i.e. firing someone it can be very hard.
Ashley: Making the wrong decision as you can then have people looking at you thinking I would have done this or that and you can possibly loose their respect. Hopefully the manager sees the bigger picture and acts to what would be best in the long run for the company.
Have you or have you worked with anyone that has made a career transition from performer to manager. If so, what do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages to this transition?
Eric: I made this transition whilst I was performing as I was also managing the cast. The advantage is that you understand the performance side of view. You can talk to performers and know what it takes to do their job. This helps you to make decisions that concern the performance and give the performers good critique. The disadvantage is the desire of still wanting to be onstage. You can also be too hard on the performers as you know how it can be done.
Ashley: I have worked as a choreographer, which was a big transition from dancer. The advantage is that you can see the larger picture and have an understanding of the industry. As I have trained with some top people and been directed myself I can then pass that down. The disadvantage is that you must be confident. Pricing to be capable even if you are very young starting out. You have to know and be confident that you are good at what you do and that way people will believe you are as well.
Do you feel ex-performers makes the best artistic directors and managers? Explain.
Eric: Yes because they have experiences it all before and have been directed themselves from other directors in their performance. They also have an eye for things non-performers do not.
Ashley: It definitely helps as the more you know the more informed you are to make a decision. Half of what we do is performance. The other half is business. If you know nothing about performing you only know half of your job role. However, I also feel some performers do not have the organisation and people skills to be a good manager.
There are a few key skills that emerged after this questioning that are important for a manager to posses:
- Organisation
- Communication
- People skills
- Business knowledge
By discussing my questions with my colleagues it seems that both agree that performers can be excellent managers if they know their field well enough and to progress from a dancer to a manager seems to be achievable. I plan to inquire further into people who have made this transition and how they found it and also the business side of things. Something that also came up from these questions was the issue of age. Ashley mentioned how in being a choreographer she was viewed as very young and had to be confident and reassure herself that she can do it. I am sure age plays a big part in management as well. Eric mentioned experience but just because you are young does not necessarily mean you haven't got a lot of experience, does it?
To conclude, gaining different perspectives on my set of questions was a good insight into what skills a manager needs and reassured me a career transition can be made. It also opened up my mind to ask some further questions. My next step will be to inquire into the following:
- What challenges face young managers?
- How can you gain management experience when you are still performing?
- What ways can you keep your business innovative and fresh?
- What ways can you improve your communication and people skills for business?
What qualities do you feel make a good manager?
Eric: Having knowledge of your relevant field and of course the experience behind it. Also organisation is key to being a good manager.
Ashley: Communication is important. Also creativity and thinking outside the box. I like it when management think ahead and of new ways to move the entertainment industry forward, be innovative and try new things. When they are not just about profit but for the integrity of what we do as we have dedicated our lives to our profession. we love what we do.
What skills are important for a manager to posses?
Eric: Good people skills are a must along with good communication. Also in this day and age computer skills are important.
Ashley: Being business savvy i.e. good marketing skills. To have a good understanding of the entertainment industry. also knowing the line between being a friend and a boss. Knowing when to be professional and when to have fun.
What problems can be faced in decision making as a manager?
Eric: Time frame as sometimes you have to make a very quick decision. It can put you under pressure and if the decision negatively affects some one's life i.e. firing someone it can be very hard.
Ashley: Making the wrong decision as you can then have people looking at you thinking I would have done this or that and you can possibly loose their respect. Hopefully the manager sees the bigger picture and acts to what would be best in the long run for the company.
Have you or have you worked with anyone that has made a career transition from performer to manager. If so, what do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages to this transition?
Eric: I made this transition whilst I was performing as I was also managing the cast. The advantage is that you understand the performance side of view. You can talk to performers and know what it takes to do their job. This helps you to make decisions that concern the performance and give the performers good critique. The disadvantage is the desire of still wanting to be onstage. You can also be too hard on the performers as you know how it can be done.
Ashley: I have worked as a choreographer, which was a big transition from dancer. The advantage is that you can see the larger picture and have an understanding of the industry. As I have trained with some top people and been directed myself I can then pass that down. The disadvantage is that you must be confident. Pricing to be capable even if you are very young starting out. You have to know and be confident that you are good at what you do and that way people will believe you are as well.
Do you feel ex-performers makes the best artistic directors and managers? Explain.
Eric: Yes because they have experiences it all before and have been directed themselves from other directors in their performance. They also have an eye for things non-performers do not.
Ashley: It definitely helps as the more you know the more informed you are to make a decision. Half of what we do is performance. The other half is business. If you know nothing about performing you only know half of your job role. However, I also feel some performers do not have the organisation and people skills to be a good manager.
There are a few key skills that emerged after this questioning that are important for a manager to posses:
- Organisation
- Communication
- People skills
- Business knowledge
By discussing my questions with my colleagues it seems that both agree that performers can be excellent managers if they know their field well enough and to progress from a dancer to a manager seems to be achievable. I plan to inquire further into people who have made this transition and how they found it and also the business side of things. Something that also came up from these questions was the issue of age. Ashley mentioned how in being a choreographer she was viewed as very young and had to be confident and reassure herself that she can do it. I am sure age plays a big part in management as well. Eric mentioned experience but just because you are young does not necessarily mean you haven't got a lot of experience, does it?
To conclude, gaining different perspectives on my set of questions was a good insight into what skills a manager needs and reassured me a career transition can be made. It also opened up my mind to ask some further questions. My next step will be to inquire into the following:
- What challenges face young managers?
- How can you gain management experience when you are still performing?
- What ways can you keep your business innovative and fresh?
- What ways can you improve your communication and people skills for business?
Friday, 8 April 2011
PLEASE DO MY SURVEY!!!!! It will only take 5 mins
Hi guys! I have so far had two responses to my dance management survey- thank you both! Can some more people please take 5mins of their time and complete mine for me. I have filled out all those that I have come across so would appreciate your help on this task. Just click on the link below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TPQVTDG
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TPQVTDG
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Body image must be aesthetically pleasing????
I thought I would blog on a recent experience I had as Dance Captain. I cant remember who is doing an inquiry into body image but I would be interested to hear your views. Recently I was called into our technical managers office who told me that one of the dancers needs to loose weight. This had come from our Artistic Director as she had recently split a costume- some black shorts- in one of the shows. They felt she has slowly gained weight from the beginning of the contract. So about a week ago I had to sit in a meeting with the dancer and manager and tell her the news. She seemed to take it well, agreed she had gained some weight and the next day I gave her some workout videos (Insanity) to help. The problem I had was that they want her to drop 10lbs in 3 weeks yet we have not weighed her so have no way of knowing if she has done that or not. Then a few days ago I found out one of our singers had been asked to loose weight, the same amount, and has to wear a very tight corset under her costumes in every show!
Now, these girls are not very big by normal standards but a lot of the costumes are revealling. The dancer is very talented and I feel we are only going to make her so much better by having her tone up. It shows that body image is still a very relevant issue in todays entertainment industry. My view is that this is what you sign up for when choosing this career. We must as dancers or singers stay in shape and look good. We are putting ourselves onstage for everyone to look at. This is part of the business. I also recently took the dance part of one of our auditions. I was discussing the candidates at the end with the director and I must admit that were really only interested in tall, lean dancers for this show. Does this prove that casting does come down to what you look like? I think so. When you are faced with a lot of dancers that can all do the same thing and are equally talented you then look at what they physically look like and choose the best one.
What are your views?
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
6a Arts Management Survey
Ok, so here is the new link to my survey. This should work so please fill out! Thanks in advance!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TPQVTDG
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TPQVTDG
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