Traditional production manager work revolves around documentaries, full length films, dramas and even cartoons. When it comes to advertising, the production manager understands the overall objective of the advertisement and works towards making sure that the advert actually achieves this goal. He or she must maintain focus of this goal throughout the production of the advertisement making sure that no member of the team whether it is the cast or it is the crew, loses track of the client's expectations. This is probably one of the reasons that production manager jobs demand that one works long hours during a project in order to make sure nothing slips through the cracks whether it is the deadlines or it is the quality of the production's quality.
If you are going to be involved in production manager work, one thing that you must be prepared to have and in healthy quantities is patience. The reason for this the diverse range of persons that you will be working with whether it is the actors on the set or it is the production crew. Production manager jobs will often require that the holder digs deep to come up with their best negotiation skills. You will be dealing with vastly experienced actors and creative designers for instance who, thanks to their experience will not consider that they have anything to learn as far as their trade goes. You will also be working with hugely talented but almost naïve novices that will get things wrong again and again before they can fit into their role in the set. All This must of course be tempered with being assertive to make sure that nothing goes out of hand because of one or two persons in the set that are uncooperative.
To be most effective at production manager work, it is always best to break down the entire schedule into milestones. That way, nothing will easily fall through the cracks. Strong project management skills are needed to monitor achievement of each milestone on time and to respectfully but firmly demand answers where the team falls short. An ability to see the links between one process and another is important so that processes using the same resources do not run concurrently and thus leading to confusion. The manager must aim to make efficient use of each skill on the set and avoid spending on a role that could very easily be merged with an existing one thus saving on production costs.
The production manager must make each person involved understands what the expectations on him or her for the job are so that no one is left in the dark. Communication on what time each task is supposed to take place makes everyone is where they are needed when they are needed. As much as production manager jobs demand certain things of each person in the set, they can only do this assertively if they also fulfill their end of the bargain. For instance, all matters of health and safety for the cast and crew members must be properly addressed at all times. This is not only in terms of making sure that the set itself but also establishing mechanisms that ensure any injuries or emergencies are handled quickly.
Production manager work is partly technical and partly managerial. Even though a degree in an advertising or mass media is an advantage, it is not always necessary. An undergraduate degree coupled with a professional course on production is bound to place you in a better position in securing production manager jobs after which you can develop your skills on the job.
