Most Important Skills For An Associate Production Manager At Dreamworks Animation
Priyaa, an Associate Production Manager at Dreamworks Animation, emphasizes that the most crucial skill is "people management," requiring a thick skin and the ability to "navigate those situations" while remaining resilient. Success also hinges on strong soft skills, including "being able to read a room" and knowing when to provide creative input, coupled with hard skills such as proficiency in Excel and project management software like ShotGrid.
Communication, People Management, Problem-Solving, Resilience, Project Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Priyaa Kalkura
Associate Production Manager
Dreamworks Animation
MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai
University of Sydney, Film Studies
Film, Media Arts, Visual Arts
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Operations and Project Management
Immigrant
Video Highlights
1. People management and strong communication skills are crucial for navigating workplace dynamics and ensuring smooth collaboration.
2. The ability to 'read a room' and deliver the right message at the right time is vital for effective communication and influence.
3. Proficiency in software like Excel, G Suite, and ShotGrid is essential for managing workflows and tracking progress.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
The most important skill for a production person is people management. You should be able to interact with people, because if you are the kind of person who gets very moody or upset about what others say, then you have to work a lot on yourself to be in this role.
There are times when people say things that are not appropriate or might hurt you. But as a production person, you just need to be thick-skinned and be able to navigate those situations. If you let that affect you, it's not going to help the communication process.
As a production person, you are the link between everybody. If you break in the system, then everything will stop. So don't let what everybody says affect you. You can be vulnerable and affected by it, but see how you can be resilient and solve the problem.
Being able to read a room is also super important because you run so many meetings. When a director is saying something, giving your creative input in front of them is a big no-no. You can give your creative inputs, but behind closed doors.
Being able to read the room and say the right thing at the right time so that people listen to you is very important. If people don't listen to you, then you won't get things done.
There are also a lot of hard skills you need to know. Knowing Excel is a good skill to have, and being very familiar with Gmail and all the G Suite applications helps. Softwares like ShotGrid are also useful for your career because you do a lot of tracking in that.
Soft skills are very, very important in this role because it's all about people management. You need to have a lot of soft skills, and it just helps you grow in the industry.