Production managers prepare for everything.
You build a detailed production schedule. You account for bank holidays, summer vacations, school breaks, and the quiet period between Christmas and New Year's Day. You coordinate with supervisors, directors, contractors, and every department involved in the production.
Knowing that unexpected delays are inevitable, you add buffer time between major milestones. If everything stays on track, the extra time can be ignored. If something slips, the buffer helps absorb the impact.
Your plan is solid. Every Monday morning, you distribute updated schedules and priority lists to the team. For weeks, everything runs smoothly.
Then one day, someone walks into your office, holding their weekly schedule, shaking their head, and asks:
"What should I work on next?"
Stay calm.
This situation is common in production management. It usually happens because of an unexpected event like:
- A contractor delivers work later than expected or earlier than planned
- The client changes their mind
- A critical task was overlooked
- A dependency suddenly becomes unavailable
- A key team member is absent
When this happens, your carefully planned priority list is no longer complete, and the consequences may not be immediately clear. Despite having weeks to prepare your schedule, you now need to make decisions within minutes.
The key is to have enough information to make the best possible choice.
The more you understand your assets, shots, dependencies, and upcoming milestones, the better your decisions will be.
Focus on What the Next Step Needs
When someone asks what they should do next, you're often choosing between two assets, two shots, or two tasks competing for the same resources.
In most cases, prioritize the work that is closest to completion.
Don't overcomplicate the decision. Asking "Which task requires the least effort to finish?" is often the right place to start.
Completing a task has immediate benefits:
- The next department can begin working
- The production keeps moving forward
- One more item is removed from your backlog
- You gain time to solve larger problems
Finishing something creates momentum.
Imagine a Modeling Artist asks whether they should finish a car model or a table model. The car is the last missing asset preventing several shots from moving forward. The table appears in a shot that is still waiting on other assets. In this situation, prioritize the car. Once the car is completed, animators can begin their work, followed by lighting artists and downstream departments. The table, while important, does not immediately unlock any additional work.
If both assets are equally ready and both can be used by the next department, prioritize the one that appears in the largest number of shots. This maximizes the impact of the work and keeps more people productive.
Avoid Changing Priorities Mid-Task
When an urgent request arrives, resist the temptation to immediately pull artists away from their current work.
Context switching is expensive.
Every time an artist changes tasks, they must:
- Stop what they are doing
- Rebuild context on the new assignment
- Understand new requirements
- Adjust their focus and workflow
This transition costs time and reduces team efficiency.
Frequent task switching also increases the risk of:
- Forgotten work
- Incomplete assets
- Miscommunication
- Delays in downstream departments
Whenever possible, allow artists to finish their current assignment before moving them to something new.
A completed task creates value. A partially completed task often creates confusion.
Unless the situation is truly critical, finishing current work is usually the better decision for the entire production.
Practical Rules for Prioritizing Work
When schedules change unexpectedly, use these principles:
- Prioritize tasks that unlock work for the next department
- Finish work that is closest to completion
- Choose tasks that impact the greatest number of shots or team members
- Avoid unnecessary context switching
- Keep the production moving rather than chasing perfection
- Communicate priority changes immediately and clearly
Final Thoughts
Good production management starts with preparation.
Build realistic schedules. Add buffers. Communicate priorities clearly. Avoid overloading teams with too many parallel tasks.
But no matter how well you plan, unexpected problems will happen.
Clients change their minds. Contractors miss deadlines. Key artists become unavailable. Dependencies fail.
As a Production Manager, your role is to stay one step ahead.
Your attention should be on the current stage of production, but your thinking should always be focused on the next stage. Understanding what comes next allows you to make better decisions when problems arise and prevents bottlenecks from spreading throughout the pipeline.
Most importantly, remember that firefighting should be the exception. A well-managed production relies on smart planning, clear priorities, and consistent execution.
