The nature of live production is collaborative. We’re never doing this by ourselves or for ourselves. We’re part of a team, and as part of a team it’s inevitable to receive input into what we're doing. But what do we do when it feels like this is getting out of control? What do we do when there are too many “cooks” in the kitchen?
First, I think it’s helpful to step back and look at ourselves. Production is a craft. It’s natural to put a bit of ourselves into it, which makes our production work feel very personal. That’s not a bad thing, but we need to learn to balance this personal side of our production endeavors in order to succeed.
Production and creative environments are subjective in nature, and we are never going to please everyone.
Receiving feedback and notes can be tough, but we need to understand these are not necessarily an indictment of our abilities or tastes. Production and creative environments are subjective in nature, and we are never going to please everyone.
Another thing we should keep in mind is that not all comments, requests, notes, etc., are contradictory. For example, in the audio world we often receive requests to turn certain things up or down in the mix. Just because one person asks for more guitars and another asks for more keyboards doesn’t mean those requests are going to fight each other.
I bring all this up because sometimes the issue isn’t “the cooks.” Sometimes we’re just not enthralled to receive feedback. Nobody really likes getting notes, including me, but they are part of what we do. We’re serving on teams to support what’s happening on the platform. It’s not about “us.” We need to work with our leaders, and notes are part of that process.
Once I’ve gotten My Mix out of my system … it’s much easier for me to incorporate any notes to adapt My Mix to Their Mix.
My Mix vs. Their Mix
Something that helped me here is a concept I learned from veteran mixing engineer Tom Lord-Alge. When I provide a mix for someone, I always deliver My Mix first. Once I’ve done that, my goal is to deliver Their Mix. Do I hope My Mix is Their Mix? Absolutely, every single time. Once I’ve gotten My Mix out of my system, though, it’s much easier for me to incorporate any notes to adapt My Mix to Their Mix.
Now, I can hear some push back on this: “But don’t we need to think about the congregation and the attenders?”
Considering our attendees is always a good foundation to start with, and it’s part of my approach to My Mix. We also serve under leadership, though, and we need to trust they are keeping attenders in mind with their notes to us. If this is challenging or a new concept for you, I’d suggest searching for resources by Andy Stanley on Trust vs. Suspicion.
He says, she says, he says …
If there’s a legitimate issue for me with too many cooks, it’s when we start receiving contradictory requests and ideas. It’s when the music director asks us to turn the kick drum down and the production director tells us to turn it up five minutes later. It’s when the worship director wants us to flash the lights and swing the movers and then our senior pastor comes in and tells us to knock it off. Managing these scenarios starts for me before I’m even serving.
There are two things I need to figure out any time I‘m serving in a new environment. First, I need to know, who is my boss? And who do I report to directly? Usually it’s a production director, producer, or worship pastor, but sometimes it might also be a volunteer or staff member rotating into a position for the week.
The second thing I need to know is who is THE Boss. This is the person my boss will ultimately answer to. It’s going to be a senior pastor in most cases, but it might also be a creative or executive director in a larger organization. For a special event it might be a producer or ministry lead.
These two bosses matter to me because they’re the only ones I ultimately need to satisfy in anything I do, and in reality, it’s only going to be THE Boss I need to satisfy. This doesn’t mean I discount or ignore input and ideas from other people involved in the service or event, though. In fact, let me offer some advice: listening to other people’s ideas is a great way to build relational capital whether you think you need it or not.
Identifying the bosses also helps me begin wrapping my head around expectations. I find much of the tension in production and creative environments stems from misaligned and/or miscommunicated expectations. Great leaders set expectations up front, but we shouldn’t wait for that to happen. We need to be proactive to know what is expected of us and what we can expect when serving.
We may also need to gently offer some of our own expectations. For example, sometimes I need to communicate to new clients when it’s a good time to get me feedback and information. This can be as simple as saying, “Right now I have my hands full with some things, but as soon as I get this all figured out I want to hear what you have to say.”
A word about expectations
I should mention that expectations aren’t things to cling to as absolutes and could be fluid at times. Live production, by nature, is full of unexpected things. That’s part of the thrill of it for many of us. However, I believe knowing some expectations before the unexpected happens can help us better navigate the interpersonal complexities in production and ministry environments.
So how do we handle all the cooks in the heat of a service or event? As politely as we can. A lesson I’ve learned the hard way is, it’s easier to be nice than to apologize later. Beyond that, I run things through the matrix of who’s in charge.
Just about every organization I’ve worked with—from the biggest churches in the country to the average and smaller sized ministries—has some kind of hierarchy (i.e., The Bosses). Armed with that knowledge I can make some decisions on who I need to really listen to and who I should just be nice to. When in doubt, I will often ask my Boss for any needed clarification on who will be giving me legitimate requests.
If legitimate requests and notes don’t contradict each other, I have a couple of responses I try to live by. The first and generally best one is to just do it. Remember, it’s not My Mix anymore. A second one is to say something like, “I’m not sure about that, but let’s give it a try.” And when that suggestion works, it’s good to follow up with, “I’m glad we tried that.” If we agree it doesn’t work, we go back to what we originally had.
It’s OK if these two responses aren’t natural or easy for you. They’re not always natural or easy for me, either, but they are worth aiming for.
When requests contradict those from one of the two bosses, I try to respond with a question. For example, “That’s an interesting idea. Have you run that past [My Boss]?” Or, “That’s an interesting idea, but [My Boss] asked me to do this instead.” Basically, I want to communicate in a non-patronizing fashion that I hear them, but they’re going to have to discuss it with my boss before I implement it.
When contradictory requests or competing agendas come up on a regular basis, that’s my cue to schedule a face-to-face conversation with my boss outside of production to discuss what’s happening. A general rule for me is to try and get through 3-4 weeks of it first, though. That gives me enough time to figure out if there is actually a trending issue. Sometimes, as I get more familiar with a new team and they become familiar with me, things work out naturally as our relationships are built.
When I put the time in to [building relationships], it doesn’t feel like there are a lot of cooks to me. It just feels like I’m serving on a team where I want our team to win.
Honestly, the relationship side of working together is a big piece of the puzzle we take for granted in production, especially when it comes to “cooks.” My favorite places to serve are always where I enjoy being with the people I’m serving with. That doesn’t just happen, though. Relationships take time and effort to develop. We have to learn how to work together. When I put the time in to do that, it doesn’t feel like there are a lot of cooks to me. It just feels like I’m serving on a team where I want our team to win.
I guess if there’s a big takeaway from all of this, it’s that handling too many cooks in the kitchen starts outside of the kitchen. If you try some of these approaches, I’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to me through social media or my website.
Hear more from David Stagl at Capture Summit 2022 July 25-27th, where he'll be presenting: "WORKSHOP: Music Mixing for Streaming and Broadcast," and "Audio is Half of Your Videos."
Get $30 Off Capture Summit tickets for a limited time <<Use Promo Code GET30>>
