I spent my entire career / life being part of a band, team, crew or department and never thought much about.  

That was until the events of the 2020 pandemic hit and forced all of us to stand down from working in person. It was after that that I understood the critical element needed for a quality creative content production team. 

Yes, during the early days of 2020 we all learned quickly how to meet together digitally.

We all learned how to produce programming and music remotely. 

And we all keep the machine moving forward one way or another.

But something was missing.

I knew it wasn’t the “production meetings or concept discussions” they continued digitally.  It wasn’t the execution of production in one form or another because we had found several ways to do that.

It wasn’t the lack of challenges because in 2020 everything was a challenge.

And it wasn’t the usual struggle of assembling a quality team because EVERYONE was looking for work.

All through 2020 and 2021 we continued working either full remote or a hybrid version of this new production method.

But something was still not right.  Something was still missing.

It wasn’t until things started getting back to “normal” and we began physically working together did I realize what it was. 

It was all the interpersonal relationships.

They had been missing.  The ones we develop working face to face.

The actual execution of the gig is important … obviously.

But the missing link were those down times hanging on road cases swamping stories, talking shop, comparing experiences, learning about new tech from a new peer or hearing about a new way of doing a task you’ve been struggling with for years. 

Those moments don’t exist in the “virtual / digital” domain no matter what the social media Gods tell you, “It ain’t the same”.

It’s in these casual conversations you develop trust and respect for each other, or you don’t. haha

Those are the times that build unity and chemistry which establishes the foundation needed to execute as a unit at the highest level of production. 

It’s those impromptu times that were missing. The times that yield the “I’m going to enjoy working together”. “I got your back, go for it.” “Let’s kick this gig wide open.”  

The take home point is that being part of team, crew, band or community that you “vib” with is as important, maybe more important, then acquiring an arsenal of skills. 

We are in the collaboration business.

We are codependent regardless of your position or occupation.

You need to understand and relate to the person or people you are working alongside.

That’s doesn’t mean need to hang out or go on vacation together. It means you need to take the time to understand their triggers. Their limitations. What they excel at or what motivates them.

Knowing this will help you better understand how they are going to react to the varied unpredictable circumstances that inevitably show up every day in the biz and you won’t get blindsided by a reaction you weren’t expecting.

This is all just basic human interactions. Stuff we all just did instinctively until it was taken away from us for almost two years.

Now that we know how critical it is for our collective successes, we can be more aware and work harder to interact with our co-collaborators.

Get In_Get Skills_Get Ahead… FerroCity.com