Winter Blog #4 – Collaboration Styles

Hearing Joe speak today on the array of scenarios that can occur when working as apart of a larger team, it reminded me of my days working in theatre production on a design team.

Working on any given show is a director, the design team, management, administration, producers, crew, etc. etc. Not to mention actors! Working within the design team has it’s own dynamic including benefits and challenges, but functioning as part of that larger whole creates a whole different dynamic.

While I’d like to think that being a member of the design team, we’re all on equal footing– similar to the ideal “partner” approach that Joe outlined, but in reality I’ve experience it’s a lot more like the “support” relationship, where the design team is supporting the director’s vision above all else, and working within the constraints given by administration and management teams.

I think any collaborative form is going to have challenges that come along with the project, but ultimately coming from a theatre background with experience working on a production team, I feel I’m so much more equipped for creative collaboration in this program and moving forward. It’s all about balance and being able to put your own ideas and ego aside for the betterment of the project! And I think regardless of an equal “partner” or more complex “support” relationship on a project, the most important thing is creating an effective final product at the end of the day and respecting other members of the team through that process.