Author Topic: Help! SMing peers  (Read 4242 times)

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saladressing

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Help! SMing peers
« on: Apr 20, 2008, 08:59 am »
Hi everyone!

I'm currently studying theatre as a subject in (the equivalent of) high school. For our exams, we have to put up a group presentation, and for my group, I've kind of imformally taken up the SM role. The problem I have is that I'm not very sure how to handle my peers sometimes, especially regarding issues such as commitment, punctuality and staying focused during rehearsals... What started out really fun has turned into a chore. :-[

I've worked professionally as an ASM before and on other school productions as an SM and I don't think my expectations are unreasonable... I've never had this problem before...

What I've tried to do is:
1) Remind everyone about meetings and rehearsals almost obsessively. I've been trying to communicate a lot more, becuase I know it's my weakness...
2) Keep records of all rehearsals, including the times that they were scheduled for and the actual time they started.
3) There was also a period when I decided (quite silly of me!), to slack off and let them decide what they wanted to do, because I was afraid that I was being too much of a control freak; rehearsals ended up going nowhere even deep into our "tech week". Rehearsal actually managed to start about 5 hours late, once.
4) My teacher (also my director) has also given everyone a talk about punctuality and things, but they continue to force me to cancel rehearsals a few hours prior...

What else I'm thinking about doing:
1) Do a "sports-team" pep-talk (Holding this off because I'm a little afraid of how "artspeople" will take it).
2) Start meetings on time no matter what (though this would result in me talking to myself sometimes).
3) Be more authoritarian and firm about commitment; force people to reschedule other commitments for rehearsals.
4) Get my teacher to step in and regulate more firmly (last resort).

Any suggestions about how to go about this? Is my action plan viable?

(Heh this has turned into a semi-rant.  :-\ Apologies...)

-Silei.

sievep

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Re: Help! SMing peers
« Reply #1 on: Apr 21, 2008, 01:02 am »
I think your instincts are right . . . .pep talks don't come off very well, whereas a sit down discussion of expectations might.

There's no point in starting a meeting if you are talking to yourself.  Hop on the phone and start calling late people.

Sounds like a plan . . keep us posted!
"This lovely light, it lights not me" - Orson Welles

saladressing

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Re: Help! SMing peers
« Reply #2 on: Apr 27, 2008, 03:22 am »
Thanks for the advice!  :) Since my "semi-breakdown" I've come up with a list of expectations for my group mates:

1.Punctuality:
  a.Always be punctual. Inform group members 15 minutes before the meeting if you expect to be late.
    i.If meetings are in the morning and you have a tendency to oversleep, please arrange for someone to wake you up.

2.Commitment:
  a.Commit to a meeting once you have been informed.
    i.If possible, reschedule other commitments agreed to prior to the notice. Otherwise, inform the group within the day.
    ii.If an emergency crops up, it is your responsibility to inform all group members as soon as possible, AND reschedule the meeting, for a date within three (3) days.
  b.Try not to take on too many commitments, especially those extending into June.
    i.Expect to schedule your time around TSD instead of the other way around.

3.Work attitude:
  a.Follow up on action plans discussed during meetings and emails, or disseminated via sms, promptly.
  b.Take initiative as appropriate, and inform group members of your progress.

4.Communications:
  a.Minutes for a meeting are to be sent out a maximum of two days (48 hours) after the meeting ends, if one or more members are not present.
  b.Reply to all sms reminders and emails to acknowledge that you have received them.

I ran them by my teacher and he agreed that they were valid. I'm going to disseminate them soon.

After that, (when half the group was late), he was very firm with them, and set down some concrete rules (NOT threats! ;)). I was trying kinda hard not to grin too widely  ;D

Now to hope for some improvements!
« Last Edit: Apr 27, 2008, 03:37 am by saladressing »

zayit shachor

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Re: Help! SMing peers
« Reply #3 on: Apr 27, 2008, 03:17 pm »
Nice job on these ground rules.  Good luck on the rest of the project!