Let me ask you a question. Do you think you communicate as well as you could?
When collaborating with others, whether it be in business or artistic pursuits, it is essential that everyone understands what is going on, what their roles are, what resources are needed and available, what time frames are in place and of course what the end goal is.
In fact, I am of the belief no matter if you may be collaborating on creating a new whizz-bang smartphone app or putting an online (or paper-based) magazine like mine together, there is a great argument for employing some sort of Project Management software like Microsoft Project (from $15 / month) or Asana (free).
If you are not familiar with project management, in very simple terms, it lets you break down any project into the most basic individual tasks, assign / allocate resources to those tasks (items, people, money) and setup timeframes.
In theory, you can then much more easily work out what needs to be done in the right order and with what resources for the optimal completion of the entire project.
For example, if you have a film shoot set up that requires 2 cameras (one locked off and one operated), a soundie, a lighting person and an editor, then it is not too hard to work out that you don’t need to have the editor on the payroll until the project actually has footage to edit.
Similarly, if you only need the locked off camera which is a hire is to get establishment shots,it isn’t needed for the whole shoot.
But in reality, there are many more things to consider, and project management lets you uncover those hidden things and allows you to plan much more effectively.
But I’d like to take this one step further.
One thing I have noticed over the years, is that people rarely actually talk to each other anymore. It’s all done by email, Messenger, LinkedIn, Twitter and the like. And because of this, I’d venture vital information can be lost or misunderstood or simply not even realised.
Instead of face-to-face communication, so much is done electronically.
(As an aside, I used to be an avid reader of a space opera series called Perry Rhodan, named after its principal character, started in 1961 and still going to this day. Apparently, it’s the most successful science fiction book series ever. In it, there used to be a race of aliens that all day, did nothing but stare at moving images on a computer screen. When it started, I suggest they neatly envisaged the future, and it was us!)
Technology like Teams has helped of course, but there is still nothing quite like a person-to-person, in-the flesh-meeting to get a better feel for the situation and of the actual persons attending.
I guess this is why the politicians do it this way whenever they can with their “summits” etc.
What are your thoughts on the matter, especially from an artistic viewpoint? Is it possible to successfully “create” when there are multiple people involved, but they are (figuratively) scattered at the four corners of the globe?
I know Arthur C Clarke and Peter Hyams did it for the movie 2010: The Year We Made Contact, but this was just for the script development, not the whole production. It’s an interesting read if you can find the book describing how they did it.
I’d love to read your ideas in the comments below.