www.signshop.com: So, let’s start at the beginning: what should you look for in a project management system? While no system can do everything, it’s crucial to cover the basics and make sure you’re purchasing a system that will help you scale. Your needs will also depend on the type of signs you produce and how you operate. For example, the requirements of a full-blown custom fabrication facility are very different from those of a sign broker or a vehicle wrap shop.
4 comments:
I’m a firm believer that project management is the key to success, and can teach so much to anyone and everyone, regardless of job or industry. Every time I start a new project, no matter the scope or scale, the first thing I tell myself is to start by “breaking it down into little pieces”. In settings such as sign shops, which this article covers, certain sign projects can seem too big or overwhelming, and the thought alone is often what holds people back to begin with. My favorite piece of advice this article offers is simple, yet true: “It’s never too early to get started. Even your very first project needs a proper place to land.” Record keeping is also a factor which this article addresses, clarifying the importance of efficient and orgnized documentation. Within to-do lists or piles of sticky notes, sorting thgem into categories or steps can be a big time-saver and effective way to get the project done efficiently. Overall, I enjoyed reading this article because it reminded me of much of this, taking a step back, then leaning in to analyze the details are all parts of the process.
This is an article that makes a lot of salient points about project management, but I find myself wondering more about the part it skimmed over- how to transition your team into using the new system. I know that we as theater professionals can get stuck in our ways when there’s no glaring flaw, and I think it’s hard for anyone to let go of what they know in favor of something that might initially appear pointless. The article even acknowledges that it will be difficult to convince the people you work with to adopt this new strategy, but it never delves further into how you start making that transition without alienating or demoralizing. The second your workplace becomes separated into an us-vs-them mentality, productivity goes out the window. Even the wording of this article could very easily come off condescending, and it gives no strategies or suggestions towards how you could make them more receptive to your ideas or how to gradually bring them into the workplace.
I enjoy this as a project management article targeted at sign shop people. I sympathize with the writer’s frustration at not knowing what is going on. I’m in projects and have been in projects where the most frustrating part was people not knowing what was going on. Having places as the article notes as a tip to record everything down is critical. That master location of all information from budgeting to design can then be systematically divided into their own charts of critical paths, calendars, and budgets. It’s interesting the main quote is about project management being the organization of unknowns into an event or product of value because in my project management class we made risk assessment charts with grades of how severe the consequence and frequency of the unknown would be which I found a very useful tool. I like the number of opportunities I have this year to develop my own project management system on projects and on my life in general.
I have read so many articles recently that are anti-sticky note and I just don’t know how to move on. I understand that using emails as a to-do list is unwise, and I haven’t stopped doing it, but in terms of the post-its there is something so helpful about a physical reminder. I had an old friend in high school who kept all of his notes in a teeny tiny journal in his pocket. He always had that notebook. If he didn't, something was probably going wrong. I’m glad I have so many current reminders about what good and bad organizations look like on a larger scale, I think that will really help keep me in check as I pursue a career in management (and somehow… someway… set down the post-its.) Additionally, this article was a good reminder about how lovely it is to work in live entertainment. Everything is interconnected with the real world. Working in theater, there are so many things we learn to do that feel so specifically theater that sometimes I forget how much of an overlap we have with every other industry. Learning about project management is so helpful for my future career since that’s basically what stage management is; managing one really large project.
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