The Four Toughest Production Questions

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Nov, 2000 by Bert N. Langford

Appropriate answers will help set the stage for efficient, flexible workflows and create an atmosphere directed toward problem-solving, not finger-pointing.

As production head, you will be confronted with many difficult issues and peppered with questions--usually starting on day-one of the job. Four questions are almost guaranteed to come your way. Having the answers to them is the first step in establishing a strong system infrastructure and supportive staff.

1. Your predecessor was awful. Why should we believe that you know what you are doing?

If you respond at a confrontational meeting with confrontation of your own, you are doomed. Instead, give bullet points of how you will improve everyone's lot. Then listen to the concerns of your coworkers: They are offering you an opportunity to fix unforeseen problems.

2. The wrong ad was picked up. What are you going to do about it?

Your first day on the job and already you are being taken to task! Respond with diplomacy and humility. Production sometimes creates problems--at least until the appropriate organization and systems have been determined and implemented. First resolve the immediate crisis, then address the long-term issues that could turn into future workflow glitches.

Your ultimate objective is to eliminate brushfires completely. I'm a strong believer in departmental mission statements, accurate job descriptions and an evolving manual of standard operating procedures, and have used these tools both to create and re-build production departments. If properly executed, they can provide unique revenue opportunities--such as being able to accept late ads at press time--because they create an orderly process that is amenable to adaptation.

3. Why should we trust you with buying responsibility if we can find cheaper suppliers?

Often, presumed "buyers" doubt that you can make production purchases more expertly than they can. Prove yourself with your first purchase. But don't forget that buying can be difficult and is a constant learning process. You should be qualified as long as you don't you fall short on any of the following:

You have some experience. The best buyers have been mentored into manufacturing print-buying. "Learn by doing" is possible, even in manufacturing, but it can be expensive and time consuming.

You have comprehensive estimating skills. Attempt to bill your company for the most current magazine issue for which your printer has invoiced you--without referring to the invoice. If errors represent a lack of knowledge on your part, you are not qualified. Inquire with a college or an industry association for print-estimating courses. Your printer can also answer some questions--just be wary of answers that benefit the printer at your expense.

You can exercise your role as caretaker of manufacturing and distribution budgets. Because of prevailing creative pressures, budgeted production dollars are often not yours to spend; many times, decisions by the editorial, sales and/or marketing departments impact production costs. You must (1) build credible budgets from the ground-up, (2) report spending facts before and as they occur, and (3) provide advice to the publisher on alternative production methods.

You have cultivated strong in-house and supplier relationships. Proper planning and implementation cannot be conducted in a vacuum, and it is your responsibility to ensure that the appropriate relationships between creative and production--as well as between the publisher and vendors--exist.

4. Our competitor is using and benefiting from technology "x." Why aren't we?

Production's role in technology adoption is evolving rapidly. Devour anything you can read and observe about technology, but be cautions about jumping in. Look for live success stories--and don't be the first to test something.

Currently, the Internet has everyone talking. Yet dot-coms, even the dozens trying to do business with vendors and publishers, have their woes. The following is a checklist of what should motivate you to do business with them. If an eProduction dot-com ...

* Offers you a better way to do business in-house via the Web, consider it.

* Works strictly on transaction fees that represent hard and proven savings or benefits, consider it.

* Has a business plan that does not require intensive and continuing capital from venture capitalists, consider it.

Otherwise, don't consider it.

These questions represent only a few problems that a head of production encounters daily. But it is very likely that other issues, such as scheduling and workflow, can be resolved by your accommodating one or more of the preceding questions. Why? Because you will have built the appropriate people and system infrastructures.

Bert N. Langford is president of New York City-based BNL Consulting Group, and can be reached at bertnl@aol.com.