Effective Collaboration with Media Producers: Tips for Stakeholders

As Media Producers, we know it is important to build trusting and lasting relationships with our project stakeholders. Project stakeholders will have their own expectations and needs for the project that they have requested, and they will have their own perceptions and attitudes about what the project is designed to bring. In this blog post, we will outline some useful tips you can follow when working with a Media Producer on future projects.

Collaboration

The Media Producer will collaborate with the stakeholder during the initial consultation to understand their ideas. The Media Producer will understand what it is the stakeholder wants to accomplish and will advise the stakeholder on what is possible within the budget and time scale.

Collaboration is essential throughout the production process. Building a strong relationship can increase confidence across the project, minimise uncertainty, speed up problem-solving, build rapport and improve communication. In turn, this results in outputs that successfully meet your needs.

Communication

Communication is the most important tip for any stakeholder, and this will impact the project significantly. The same communication techniques will not work for everyone. It’s important to let us know your preferred method of communication – whether that’s via Teams, email, or face-to-face. We will maintain frequent levels of communication, regularly check in and arrange meetings. In return, we need you to respond in good time. Building lines of communication becomes more critical in the era of remote work. Both parties should have consistent and reliable communication throughout the production process to ensure the smooth running of the project.

Clarify the scope

Stakeholders’ involvement is vital during the pre-production stages. The stakeholders’ needs, expectations and key objectives for the project should be communicated from the start.

During the pre-production stages, it is useful to discuss project success metrics, objectives and learning outcomes and get a clear idea of the staff and student benefits. This will help determine the aims and objectives of the project. Determining what constitutes a successful outcome will make it easier for the Media Producer to meet stakeholder expectations.

A detailed scoping document should be produced and, once everyone is happy, this should get signed off. This is a record of the initial brief agreed to. If the stakeholder finds along the way, that they want to change the brief slightly then this must be communicated to the Media Producer to avoid confusion.

Project journey

In the initial stages of the project, it is good to produce an agreed project timeline. This is a visualisation of the process the project will go through. Both parties should have access to this. As part of the pre-production process, the stakeholder should provide a final deadline for the project and the Media Producer will map the project journey based on this.

Within the project scoping document there will be a timeline of execution and deliverables. The document will include critical dates that both parties will have agreed on. This means the stakeholder will know in advance when the deadlines are.

Feedback & deadlines

Throughout the project, the media producer will set soft deadlines. It is important for the success of the project that both the Media Producer and the stakeholder meet these deadlines. To avoid delays and project overspending, it is the stakeholder’s responsibility to provide the necessary resources and feedback within the period agreed. It is understandable that stakeholders may have multiple projects simultaneously, so if meeting these deadlines is difficult, please communicate this with your media developer. Similarly, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes and the Media Producer is working on multiple projects so being transparent and communicating any issues early on is crucial.

Feedback on the project is invaluable when working as it helps the creative process and continuously improves projects. It also ensures the client’s needs and expectations are met. The Media Producer will respect the honesty and appreciate the feedback.

Providing feedback throughout regarding the production processes is always appreciated. The stakeholder’s concerns and suggestions might be an opportunity for the team to reassess their processes, enhance clarity and project alignment for future projects.

Following these practices should establish a sound partnership and contribute to the project’s overall success. When engagement is done effectively from both parties it improves communication and reduces the potential for project issues, whilst simultaneously building good rapport and brilliant outcomes.