January Meeting Recap

How to become a production hero.

In the fast paced world of advertising production, mistakes are accepted as part of the game. But according to Gayl Curtiss, EVP/General Manger of the Hacker Group/FCB (Bellevue, Washington), you can all but eliminate your errors by following a few simple steps.

It all starts with people. There’s no substitute for hiring the right employees and the right vendors. According to Gayl, don’t rush; hire employees who love what they do and hire vendors who are experts in what they do.

Then, never stop training them. This goes for employees and vendors alike. Put your expectations and standards in writing. Have follow up meetings to review compliance. Rewrite your standards as procedures evolve. While this can be time consuming, if you want to be a star in your organization, the extra effort will pay off.

When it comes to mistakes, make sure the vendor understands the consequences before you begin the job. For employees however, embrace mistakes. Hold meetings to openly discuss every error with the objective of determining the cause. One person will be solely responsible, but don’t make it a public hanging. Instead, develop a protocol to stop the mistake from happening again and put it in writing.

Next, Gayl advocates spending 30 minutes every day on something that will really make a difference in your organization. Answering all those emails can wait; instead focus your energy on mission critical assignments. Be on the lookout for time busters and eliminate them so you can concentrate on the issues that matter.

Finally, Gayl recommends creating a product improvement committee. Meet regularly and review every element of your product as a team. Brainstorm improvement ideas and incorporate these ideas into your ongoing training sessions.

Gayl is the first to admit that her ideas take time, nerve and courage to implement. But she also adds that if you do what she says the rewards will be unbelievable.