Pivote

What experience are your day one employees having? I just heard from a good friend - with almost two decades of experience in her field - that her first day at her new job is “disorganized. Like comically so.” She’s working at a not-yet opened space for a larger entertainment company in the area and her job will be customer facing. Less than a few hours in and she’s already considering walking out the door and taking all of her experience elsewhere. So what has this company messed up so far? They sent the schedule out at 6:30 PM the day before she was to start, their dress code list is missing important details (do the shoes need to be closed toed?- we guessed better safe than injured), and there’s only paid parking around the venue but no indication of where or when she’ll get a parking pass. And that’s just to name a few of the issues. If she does leave she’s the only one scheduled on the floor for opening so all of this could be a very costly mistake. What’s the lesson here? Your employee facing operations are part of your customer facing operations because how well they do their job affects how well the company operates which affects customer experience. From the get-go it’s easy to see that this company does not spend any time upfront thinking out their employee facing operations. And in this case they’re gambling with their opening. That’s a big gamble to not have set aside time to write out a dress code and make sure the schedule went out at a reasonable hour. If you haven’t done so recently, I urge you to check out the first day process, for all levels of employees, and make sure it treats them with respect. __________________ 👋 I'm an operations expert and I help producers and general managers in the performing arts skip the operational overwhelm, create company efficiency, and get their time back to successfully running the show with my Business Process Documentation and Mapping Service.

What's you favorite load-in or load-out story? I will never forget just how quickly the tent came down while working as a dresser for Kurios. As soon as I walked backstage to hand over the last costume I was handed a hard hat and vest. The staff knew who to direct to do what. Mere moments after the last audience member left the local hires were sent home because the tent was coming down. As quick as we were moving, I never once felt in the way because I knew what task I needed to complete and that there were a handful of minutes to complete it in. Well thought out logistics can be just as beautiful as the production itself. https://lnkd.in/gH9skfA5

Temporary workarounds so often become permanent solutions - leading to loss of time, resources, and morale. Do you know what workarounds have become routed in your performing art group's day-to-day?

Love a morning when the first post is something incredibly relevant! Find the full study referenced in the article here: https://lnkd.in/gVJ9CpAH ________ Stand out quote: "Many companies are now experimenting with new models, for both political and practical reasons. There is a new interest in horizontal/collective leadership models, and more skepticism about traditional organizational and compensation structures. " We're seeing changes to structures that haven't been touched in decades out of necessity. Many performing arts groups are trying to get back to pre-pandemic audience levels by doing what worked before. But the audiences spend differently now and there’s little research as to what for sure works. New ideas need to be tried. But the only way you can do that successfully is to have a company efficient and flexible enough to handle multiple inter-departmental changes. With Pivote, you’ll end up with a company workflow so optimized and clear that you can adjust it with ease - no matter what external changes occur. 

Love a morning when the first post is something incredibly relevant! Find the full study referenced in the article here: https://lnkd.in/gVJ9CpAH ________ Stand out quote: "Many companies are now experimenting with new models, for both political and practical reasons. There is a new interest in horizontal/collective leadership models, and more skepticism about traditional organizational and compensation structures. " We're seeing changes to structures that haven't been touched in decades out of necessity. Many performing arts groups are trying to get back to pre-pandemic audience levels by doing what worked before. But the audiences spend differently now and there’s little research as to what for sure works. New ideas need to be tried. But the only way you can do that successfully is to have a company efficient and flexible enough to handle multiple inter-departmental changes. With Pivote, you’ll end up with a company workflow so optimized and clear that you can adjust it with ease - no matter what external changes occur. 

Temporary workarounds so often become permanent solutions - leading to loss of time, resources, and morale. Do you know what workarounds have become routed in your performing art group's day-to-day?

An interesting read for sure! This quote from the article encapsulates all of the research I keep finding in a wonderfully succinct manner: "The report erodes a stereotype among many performing arts managers, what one interviewee calls the “old myth of the long slow escalator.” It was the notion that, “once attracted, new audience members would progress to become more frequent attendees (hopefully subscribers) and then donors,” Ostrower says. ____________ Performing arts groups need to pivot away from expecting the "long slow escalator" to occur. Change can be intimidating, especially when there is no "magic bullet solution" so it's not one but multiple changes until you find the best fit. That's where Pivote comes in! We eliminate the operational overwhelm so you can increase company efficacy and get your time back while discovering what works.