Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1434261
people you depend on, I'm also looking for new artists who show promise. As you're doing that, you're fulfilling their needs because they're growing and they're also getting these opportunities to shine." "The deepest job satisfaction tends to come from having our existing talents recognized, utilized, and valued," Walker says. "People enjoy doing what they are good at." HOLD ON AND LET GO With your team in place, it should be easy to just let the various departments do their jobs while you make sure every- thing is on track. But suppose you came from the creative side of animation, and suppose you still love doing the tasks that you now oversee? That's okay, as long as you recognize your limits. There will be a certain neces- sary amount of letting go, of realizing that you no longer have the time to step in and take over a task that now falls to a department that you supervise. But there's no rule that you are required to delegate absolutely everything. Neary, who took great delight in storyboarding throughout his career, heeded the advice of Steven Universe creator, Rebecca Sugar, who counseled that a showrunner still needed to draw on their own show as a kind of treat. "You have to reward yourself for your on satisaction, eary says nce you realize that, you can assign yourself some shots and not worry about having to do every single thing." F E AT U R E F E AT U R E HAVE FUN "There are always these huge problems that you don't know how to solve," says McKee. "But there's [also] always someone on your team who thinks in a dif- ferent way—someone who you least expect is going to find a way around that problem. It happens every time." So how do you make sure these people come forward? McKee offers these tips: • Foster a safe place where everyone's ideas are valued and important— acknowledge contributions. • Work together, throw out ideas, and give people the chance to experi- ment to make something right. • Take time to identify challenges and gather the right combination of people to solve them. • Listen to a person's needs and then make sure they have what they need to accomplish a task. • Define strengths and then adjust to weaknesses using your team as a whole. • Always remember how much fun your job is—you're in animation. How cool is that! course, there ill e ties hen circumstances demand that you give the responsibility to someone else. Neary recalls a recording session for an episode of The Fungies! that would feature the voice of Stephin Merritt of the band The Magnetic Fields. A huge fan, Neary want- ed to be present for the session himself. ne sliht hitch his partner as oin into labor for the birth of their first son. With his time limited, "I needed to hand this off to my director, Katie Aldworth," says Neary. "She's amazing and a super-talented artist who has been in so many sessions. The problem wasn't her covering for me. The problem was me letting go and realizing, 'Hey, you've got other stuff to do right now. You're pretty busy, and that's okay.'" CLARIFY BEFORE YOU CLARIFY Communication is a critical factor of man- agement and delegation—giving your team members a clear and consistent idea of what is expected of them, and letting them know that you are there to answer ques- tions or address problems as they arise. dittedly, the D landscape that drove many to work remotely has created additional hurdles to keeping everyone on track. But the basic princi- ples apply across the board, starting with this one: Task-setting or delegating meetings should be held early, but not so early that you're not yet firmly clear about what you want or expect. "This may sound obvious, but many leaders make the mistake of starting a delegation discussion with their employ- ees while they're still in brainstorming ode, says san his prole is ur- ther exacerbated when coupled with the fact that employees usually won't ques- tion their manager's request because they want to avoid being perceived as incom- petent. An invitation to discussion from a manager may instead be interpreted as a hard directive, leaving subordinates to try and execute ambiguous tasks. These factors can lead to situations where employees are confused about delegation expectations, which can result in failure." 42 KEYFRAME