Student’s Critically Reflective Analysis

Learning Target: Improve project management skills and timekeeping.

Description

During my placement at Artist Management company Bold Management, Liverpool I was part of the administrative team and, from the outset, was given a range of challenging tasks - often doing multiple tasks for different people at the same time – on occasion, I was assigned and undertook up to six tasks in one day.

As Bold manage a range of people including musicians, talent acts and reality television stars, a large part of my time was spent undertaking a range of different tasks in relation to all their different acts. On a daily basis I was involved in such things as:

1. Researching potential venues,2. Checking the availability of acts;3. Contacting people in relation to booking venues;4. Updating databases and5. Carrying out general administrative duties such as organising their client’s receipts.

Critical Analysis

“Project Time Management includes the processes required to accomplish timely completion of the project.” (Project Management Institute, 2008, pg. 412) The Project Management Institute (2008) states that there are six processes that define Project Time Management. These include defining the activities and actions that need to take place to complete these activities, sequencing these activities and the control schedule, monitoring the status of the project. After reading these stages I knew that I would have to be organised if I were to be successful in completing all the tasks I had been allocated.

Prior to starting my placement I envisaged I would report to one person and be able to structure my day and time manage myself through the use of a spreadsheet or of a diary listing all the activities I need to complete, the outcome of the activity and its completion date.

This, however, did not come to fruition as I quickly learned that the workings of this particular management company tended to be ad-hoc and spur of the moment. The two Directors therefore allocated me work, as and when situations arose that needed addressing and also reported to an Office Supervisor. I was happy to work in this way as it meant that I would need to use my initiative and set my own deadlines in order to stay ahead of the game in I was given another task by either Director or the Supervisor; and this in turn helped enrich my work experience.

As “planning and organising is wasted if it is not communicated effectively” (Horn, 2009) I knew that communication with my supervisor and the Directors would be vital to my success in my placement. Without an open dialogue between us I would not have been able to carry out the tasks that were asked of me. My understanding of what was needed or wanted of me during these tasks was therefore of primary importance. In addition, communicating my findings to my supervisor and being able to discuss the results with him meant we could enter discussions about the best way/s to finalise any plans as a result of my research.

To maintain open communication links, I regularly kept my supervisor and the Directors up dated in relation to progress made on each task I had been assigned. I did this via emails and direct conversation throughout the day as well as giving them an update at the end of the day. Speaking to them at the end of the day enabled a review of each day’s progress to be undertaken which, in turn meant they would be in a better position to allocate tasks to me for completion the next day. Such daily reviews meant that as soon as I went in the next morning I could get on with work rather than waiting to be told what to do. I enjoyed this as it meant I had a good idea of what lay ahead each day and could plan my schedule accordingly.

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Conclusion

“Artist managers spend much of their time planning and organizing on behalf of their artists.” (Allen, 2007) In order to excel within the music industry I will need to have a firm grasp on timekeeping and project management and the practical theories, such as Critical Path Analysis and Gantt Charts, as well as People Management.

I believe I have shown that I have the basic necessary skills to produce work in a timely and effective manner, however I need to widen this skill to incorporate more paper based time management strategies. I can use these methods in everyday life to practice the most effective way to produce them.

Further Actions

Use Critical Path Analysis or similar methods to help keep track and time manage such things as university deadlines to gain experience of using timekeeping methods.

Create something, such as an event, that will require me to improve both my project management and time keeping skills in order for it to be successful.

Learning Target: To improve research skills, both online and contacting relevant people

Description

While at Bold Management, Liverpool I became part of the office administration team. I was allocated administrative tasks, which were pertinent to the management of acts on their books. One such task was to source and contact suitable venues for their acts to perform in. In addition, I liaised with the staff of appropriate venues and other relevant people who would be willing and able to publicise these acts.

The first act I was given to undertake such research for was a parody act called “Queens of Pop”. I was briefed by my supervisor on what was required and was asked to look for venues in Manchester and Liverpool that could comfortably accommodate approximately a 300-person capacity. An additional requirement was and to try and avoid having to pay the venue for the event.

Simultaneously, I had to search for and contact, via phone or email, any people who would be able to promote the act. I was given access to the general business email for Bold Management and left to contact people and businesses to try and negotiate terms for the use of their space.

Critical Analysis

“Research is…a problem solving activity…successful researchers are those who possess the knowledge and skills that enable them to overcome the problems inherent to the process of research.” (Thomas, 2004, pg. 1) This was the main skill I wanted to acquire

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while at placement. My main aim was to build skills that would enable me to undertake research effectively and overcome any obstacles that may have arisen.

At first, I was apprehensive to contact venues as I wanted to create a good impression to both my placement and also to the businesses I was contacting on behalf of Bold Management. I decided to do some academic reading beforehand on research approaches. One of the works I read by Dainow and Bailey (1988) states that skills, such as communication, can only really be learned through a trial and error process. The person needs to make mistakes in order to master the skill even though this can be disheartening. With this in mind I dived into the task of contacting relevant people to try and develop the communication skills I already had obtained through hosting an event as part of my Events Management course. After speaking to the contacts and reporting back to my supervisor, my supervisor asked me some questions in relation to the conversation I had just had. This made me realise I had failed to ask some important questions such as if there was a fee available for the talent act. This meant that I had to spend more time contacting the person again and if contacted by email, wait for their response. This wasted time as certain things could have been confirmed and therefore move forward in the same day, however I was having to wait sometimes a day or more for people to respond to a question I should have had the initiative to ask originally. This error proved to be a key learning point for me and one which I was keen not to replicate in future negotiations with people.

Over the first week I learned what information I needed to gain from the people I contacted and my confidence in contacting people increased. Dainow and Bailey (1988) declare that confidence comes from a person having a sense of personal power, they can deal with their surroundings in a competent and appropriate manner. Having this confidence helped me to reduce any mistakes I made and therefore enabled me to work effectively.

Once I’d mastered the technique of effectively contacting people, my success rate for securing venues and publications was much quicker. After two days at placement I had secured a feature in a national student magazine – Student Times for the “Queens of Pop”. I achieved this by emailing and calling the editor of the magazine. Part of my brief was to try and get publicity for the act, in addition to securing a venue for them. As they are a drag act, I used my research skills to specifically source relevant student newspapers, blogs and magazines which catered for the gay market and would therefore get me a higher success rate when approaching the different avenues of promotion.

Conclusion

Overall, I believe my research skills, in particular my telephone skills, grew throughout my placement. I became more confident and efficient when researching. I was able to research more than one project at a time, on an on-going basis and produce meaningful results – whether they were information-based or confirmation from contacts by the end of the working day.

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Reflecting on my time at Bold Management, I am now fully aware that if I want to work within an Artist Management company I need to be mindful of the most suitable research methods and use them accordingly, dependent on the nature of the project. This knowledge can only really be built on by undertaking regular research to ensure I’m confident and competent in all aspects. I believe that if I approach any future work experience or employment where research is a major part of the job description, in this manner, and then the probability of my success will increase.

Being able to research effectively will also help me stay one step ahead from the rest of the industry. It will help me realise what has been done before to help artists become noticed and for me to put that into play.

Future Actions

Source any work experience opportunities that will allow me to further my research skills and develop new skills that I was unable to gain during my placement such as using statistics and focus groups.

Further reading of relevant text, such as industry magazines as well as expanding my knowledge of research.

Keep up to date with what other Artist Management companies are doing, such as any events they are holding, to see how they are marketing and what they are offering.

1,819 words

References

A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (4th ed.). (2008).

Newtown Square, Pa.: Project Management Institute.

Allen, P. (2007). Artist management for the music business. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Focal

Press.

Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques (5th ed.).

Chichester, England: J. Wiley.

Dainow, S., & Bailey, C. (1988). Developing skills with people: training for person to person

client contact. Chichester [England: Wiley.

Horn, R. (2009). The business skills handbook. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel

and Development.Thomas, A. (2004). Research skills for management studies. London: Routledge.

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