Why project management is an essential skill in multimedia production
Project management principles are the best method for planning, coordinating, and taking control of your production. It helps you determine success and for some over-thinkers like myself, gives you limitations, boundaries and a stopping point for your creativity. From a communication perspective it also helps so that everyone is on the same page and helps avoid misunderstandings and unneeded friction. It is therefore essential to understand and develop this skill, as it will help you and others get things done in an enjoyable and realistic manner.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
John Leyer
1/26/20262 min read
Whether the task at hand is a presentation, video editing, producing a song, or handling a live stream production, there are elements of project management in each of these "projects". Defining each of these elements (or sections) will give you clarity when faced to make decisions, provide you with a realistic overview of what needs to be done and what to expect.
Project Goals: What do you want to achieve in your project or achieve for others if working for someone else? Prioritize these goals in order of importance, you might discover that sometimes they can clash. Setting goals will help you develop meaningful conversations and improve communication with others and even with yourself. Establishing and achieving the "right goals" for your projects determine if you will want to do this again or if people will want to work with you again.
Audience: for some projects you might not have a specific audience in mind, the question to ask yourself or the person hiring you is "Can you define the people you are doing this for, or can you determine who would most enjoy and value what you are creating?".
Resources: What is the time and budget? Who are the people(Stakeholders) involved that are required to complete the project?
- Stakeholders: Are you doing this for yourself, for others? Are you working by yourself or with others? Who will do what(roles)? Determine who are the key decision makers for the ongoing project and what you will need from everyone involved.
- Time: If this resource is not in your goals already, for when do you want to launch, release or have your event? Knowing when the project needs to be done will help you plan, coordinate and execute each phase of your project so it is completed on time.
- Budget: How much money do I (or other collaborators) need in order to not worry about money throughout the entire project? Make your project sustainable for yourself, collaborators and the people hiring you. You will always need an income, tools and will run into costs or services throughout the project, if you determine you can not do everything by yourself with what you currently have, make a budget for it, know how much you can charge for your work and have it approved/agreed with the stakeholders.
Conclusion: Project management skill helps you lay out and control what needs to be done and how you are going to do it. Applying principles of PM can help you grow in your specific field, give you a clear overview of the entire project, determine different ways or options to solving problems and determine the key milestones that will make your production a success.
Recommendation: Coursera and Google have great project management courses and certifications.