Comments | labricoleuse: team management in a costume context

labricoleuse

team management in a costume context

Jul 16, 2008 21:49

One of the things i always try to impress upon those interested in a professional costume production career is the importance of management skills and an understanding of workflow. I talk to my students about this in classes, and to assistants about it in professional jobs (where appropriate, of course). I mention it whenever people ask me what ( Read more... )

nyc, management

Comments 4

lacrimawanders July 17 2008, 15:13:04 UTC

Thank you for this. I worked for a year in a costume shop in college before I quit - my supervisor just wasn't following some of these, particularly #5, and I loathed the potential drama of going in to work. Reading your blog always makes me feel better about the whole experience - costume work was something I was really interested in for years and pretty gung-ho about, but it ended up just not working out well. I'm glad to hear about these things approached differently.

labricoleuse July 18 2008, 01:29:23 UTC

I think you do run into folks in arts-related careers who--because they have had no formal management training--make poor management decisions, such as it sounds like your situation was, with a supervisor flipping out at his/her staff about the workload. I'd hazard a guess that maybe this is also partly because sometimes costume shops run like a stitch-and-bitch friend-group instead of a formal workplace, and supervisors blur the lines between "grousing to a friend" and "behaving in an unprofessional way that hinders the output of the team." Myself, i figure, why bitch and moan to people who are probably working as fast as they can already? If someone's not up to speed, i can think of a lot better ways to motivate them than haranguing about OMG THERE IS SO MUCH TO DOOOOO etc. I am sorry you had a poor experience with shop management! Good managers are rare (this goes for most every field i think, probably). I have had the great fortune to work with and for several really talented ones, and i'm glad to have taken away from the ( ... )

........ anonymous August 14 2008, 18:43:16 UTC

Your blog is interesting!

Keep up the good work!

anonymous September 9 2008, 05:19:54 UTC

thanks for the great advice! your blog is very informative and fun. I'm trying to get started here in nyc in costume production after not working in theatre for ten years! i just got a wardrobe supervisor job with a play at a reputable theatre to build my nyc resume. not sure if my goals are do-able but giving it a try. best to you, v