COMEDIA

RESEARCH· CONSULTANCY· PUBLISHING

ALBANY VIDEO

A STRATEGIC DEFINITION OF THE ORGANISATION AND AN ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS •

FEBRUARY 1987

Directors: Charles Landry, David Morley, Russell Southwood, Peter Boyden

V.A.T. Reg. No. 340 9153 72 Company Reg, No. 1586128

Registered office: Comedia Publishing Company Ltd 9 Poland Street London WI V 3DG

'

INTRODUCTION

Originally, Albany Video asked us to carry out a skills audit of the organisation to identify what its training neeqs were. After a preliminary discussion, it became clear

, that there were problems about the breadth of the orgpnisation's 'core' definition, so we expanded the brief

• o look at this aspect. From this work, the organisation needs to emerge with a new 'core' definition. From that definition, we can then identify the training needs.

The re-assessment has been forced on the organisation for three reasons:

1. It has lost its grant funding from Channel Four. This had given it considerable financial freedom to engage in a range of diverse activities.

2. Key personnel are leaving the organisation.

3. The funding structure of the audio-visual sector has been transformed by the demise of the GLC. In conjunction with the loss of the Channel Four grant, this means that the organisation will need to think more clearly about the markets into which their work fits and to generate a greater degree of revenue earning capacity. This is a complete break with how Albany have thought about their work in the past.

The combination of a) and c) have left many members of the organisation feeling directionless over the last period. This report and the discussions leading to it aim to clarify new directions which Albany Video can pursue and to help it find a firm basis for survival.

It is structured in the following way:

•

Summary of Report Structure

Section A: WHAT ALBANY VIDEO CURRENTLY DOES

1. Existing Definitions and Activities

   a, Background

   1. Production

   2. Distribution

   3. Advice

   4. Training

   5. Hire of Equipment

   6. Effects on the Office Environment

2. How Existing Activities are Currently Run

   1. Key underlying themes

   2. Decision making structure

   3. Project management

   4. Administrative systems

   5. Communications systems

   6. Strategic planning

Section B. SKILLS AUDIT

1. Strengths and Weaknesses of Individuals

   1. Geoff - implications

   2. Tony - implications

   3. Val - implications

   4. Carol - implications

2. Strengths and Weaknesses of Albany Video

Section c. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ALBANY VIDEO

1. New Definitions

   1. Production

   2. Distribution

   3. Consultancy

      •

      Section D. TRAINING NEEDS

      1. Management, Administration and Planning

      2. Marketing/Communications

      3. Production

      4. Computer

      s. Contractual Arrangements for Video

      6. Other (Typing, Public Speaking, Report Writing etc.).

      Section E. ACTION PLAN AND TIMETABLE

      1. Development Plan

      2. Marketing Plan

      3. Consultancy

      4. Physical Environment

      s. Advice, Equipment Hire and Training

      6. Training Needs

      Section A. WHAT ALBANY VIDEO CURRENTLY DOES

      A. l. Existing Definitions and Activities

      1. Background

         Albany Video started about fifteen years ago as a grass roots community video project, proselytising the use of video by and for the community.

         The ethos was, and to some extend populist; participative and professional, seeking to involve community as much as possible.

         still is, informal; originally anti­ the disenfranchised

         As one member said 'how good a tape was depended on whether the the tenant had held the camera'. In that sense, Albany in its first years was a purist project, reflecting many of the concerns of the community communications movement of the early 1970s, with a strong emphasis on producing local tapes, made by local people for local consumption.

         Albany struggled financially until the late 1970s, surviving on self exploitation, enthusiasm, overwork and commitment. The stages in Albany's development include: the combination of two fortuitous events which projected Albany onto a higher level. They were the establishment of Channel Four who grant aided the re-equipping of Albany and the creation of a GLC arts policy, which mirrored Albany's concerns so that they received substantial grant aid from them as well.

         The influx of funding also meant that production values could go up and videos be produced that had a national rather than purely local focus.

         In time, some of Albany's videos achieved a national reputation, but there was as yet no adequate professionally run distribution service which could satisfy Albany's sales potential.

         This led Albany opportunistically to branch out into distribution, distributing originally only their own materials and later those of other groups. This growth can be described as grant led growth.

         

         However, in 1986 the closure of the GLC and the cutting of the Channel Four grant stopped the grant aid based growth pattern that had established itself in particular since the early 1980s.

         

      2. Production

         In this area, Albany Video both carries out its own productions and manages productions on behalf of others. This can range from a small scale community production, costing below £1K to a much larger production for broadcast for £10K - £20K.

         This span of work creates problems because the community oriented work:

         1. is harder to timetable because it contains a large element of unpaid, voluntary involvement.

         2. operates at a different level from the larger budget work (commissioned non-broadcast) both in terms of equipment and production values.

            The organisation has a considerable national reputation for several of its tapes but this has been generated from work which, although locally rooted, has a clear national relevance. It is important to understand the detailed implications of this fundamental shift from solely locally based productions with local audiences to locally based productions with a national relevance.

            All of Albany's work is of a social/political nature and is of clear relevance to a range of people including the voluntary and campaigning sector, the education- sector and local authorities. Albany's method of involving people in the making of their productions - whilst not unique, will be a considerable attraction to people in all these sectors wanting to commission videos. They will feel Albany is sympathetic to deal with and will understand the issues that are to be put across. This constitutes a unique selling point (USP) for these groups of people.

            Because of the recent history of steady grant funding for the organisation and grant funding by the GLC of groups wanting to make videos with them, the organisation has effectively been able to generate its own production ideas ·or decided with whom it would work without reference to the need for revenue generation.

            This has meant that they have not had to go looking for commissions not of their own creation, and therefore have not had to think out who might buy productions. A marketing orientation is thus not embedded in the organisation.

            - 5 -

            The key gap in the production process is the need for marketing. This role would concentrate on:

            1. Identifying who, in the sectors listed above is commissioning videos.

            2. Creating ideas and putting them to Channel Four as one-off productions.

            3. Identifying the markets for particular products and from this, calculating the likely secondary revenues from tape hirings and sales.

      3. Distribution

         The distribution side of Albany started because the distribution facilities of the· independent sector were unable to meet Albany's aspirations. None of the existing companies tackled Albany's original core market - youth clubs - with sufficient thoroughness. Concord was regarded as too all inclusive and sprawling; the Other Cinema concentrated on political organisations; Team Video on education and the two feminist distributors by definition only handled feminist films.

         This development, however, was opportunity led rather than planned.

         We recognise that there is clearly a market niche for Albany's videos, which now include both self generated material as well as tapes from outside; witness its growth from £4,400 two years ago to

         £10,500 for six months this year. Over 130 tapes are now in stock and the catalogue is still growing.

         Everyone at Albany claims to be keen and involved in

         distribution. In reality only Val distribution, and the involvement of largely confined to tape selection for the

         works on

         others is catalogue.

         Thus the nitty gritty of distribution is handled by a single person.

         in fact

         If distribution is to become part of what Albany does in future there needs to be a separate operating budget. In the current accounts it is unclear whether distribution is making a profit or not. Only with a separate budget is it possible to market and develop the distribution side.

         In future the distribution side needs to operate from a physically self contained base. Under the existing arrangement the activities of other parts of the

         

         organisation impact negatively on the running of distribution.

         The distribution side of marketing plan if it is to involve deciding more

         Albany needs a strategic move forward. This will clearly what kind of

         distributor they want to will aim their products.

         be and to whom and how they

         The creation of such a of the strengths and

         plan involves an examination weaknesses of Team, Other

         Cinema, Concord, Cow mainstream distributors

         and Circles as well as the such as Guild.

         A major list building exercise, of potential buyers of videos, needs to motion. Naturally the computer, to be will be helpful in this process.

         buyers and be set in installed,

         It should be clear that this set of activities cannot be undertaken by one person on their own.

         Once distribution has been given the appropriate status, in real terms, within the organisation it is important to see how it fits into the overall picture.

         Firstly, it needs to pay for itself in its 9wn right. If this is not possible we are confident that it is fundable. The key point is to clarify whether it is profitable. At present grant aided and self financing elements of your acivities are blurred, which makes planning near impossible.

         The second and perhaps more important reason for involving yourself in distribution is that it effectively acts on front end research for new productions, by keeping your ear to the ground to what sells, what is in demand and what the gaps are. Your distribution contacts in social concern organisations can also be turned into sales targets for video productions.

         We were surprised that Albany has not capitalised on its in-house database, which not only gives you a range of contacts with key clients, but also your distribution wing spreads your name throughout the country.

      4. Advice

         Currently, Albany Video gives fairly low level advice on equipment usage· and how to approach making a production. This advice is completely unstructured

         and as a consequence is very time consuming. There is no clear idea of who the advice is aimed at and the a tivity appears largely responsive. This is an activity which is neither grant funded nor paid for directly by its users. Given its open ended nature, this has serious implications for the organisation.

         We believe that Albany should seek to find another organisation, or another discrete entity within Albany, to take over this advice role and play a positive role in transferring this work to the new organisation. The advice that Albany itself should undertake in the future, should be higher level consultancy work. For example, it could use its existing knowledge to advise local authorities on a range of subjects from equipment acquisition to training policy. Indeed, Albany already have some of the necessary contacts to attract this kind of work.

      5. Training

         In line with many community based projects Albany found itself being asked to do training. Ten years ago there was clearly a perceived demand from all kinds of groups across the country.

         However, this demand is now declining as

         1. The relative enthusiasm for video diminishes

         2. Equipment becomes simpler to use

         3. Groups have their own equipment

            In time, within Albany, enthusiasm for training has waned and only Geoff is still interested in pursuing it. In part there has been a recognition, as someone put it that 11it is silly to train people who will never use video anyway, its simply not worth putting the effort into it".

            Albany training sessions have largely been of the familiarisation type and over time clearly become repetitive and perhaps uninspiring for the trainers.

            Over time other organisations, like V.E.T., have sprung up who concentrate more fully on training and are therefore, to some extent, better at it. If Albany is to continue training it would have to invest time and resources into the activity but more importantly, everybody would have to be enthusiastic about it.

      6. Hire of Equipment

         This activity falls into two parts; firstly, the 'dry' hire of low level video production equipment like cameras and sound recording; secondly, the hire of a low band edit suite for the editing of finished productions.

         If we deal first with the equipment that leaves the premises we can see that:

         1. It is fairly low level and at a low price, consequently is probably loss making.

         2. It is badly organised and administered. No administrative systems exist to service it (eg. rate cards and hire order forms) and no­ one is clearly responsible for it.

         3. The use of equipment by people with often extremely limited or non existent production skills affects the utilisation of the equipment and creates maintenance problems.

            On the low band edit suite, there are plenty of other facilities of this kind in London and there is no clear reason, either on the grounds of costs or facilities offered, for people to use Albany Video. Internally, in the past equipment hire may have fitted into the notion of access for the local community-. At present, however, the effects of continually dealing with outside demands is probably damaging. Again if Albany Video is to move out of this field it should occur in a structured way by lining up a successor.

      7. Effects on the Office Environment

      Albany Video does alot of activities which require different kinds of concentration and have different demands on the office space.

      To take two extremes: Script writing requires detailed concentration, peace and quiet; being an open access video advice centre means being constantly available, flexible and personable.

      Equally hiring out equipment is a fairly disruptive activity.

      Whilst working at Albany we observed a continual flow of people coming in for different purposes, often unannounced; simultaneously the phone was continuously ringing. This problem is exacerbated

      

      because the central area where most of the 'quiet' work should take place effectively becomes a thoroughfare for people who want to reach the editing suite and distribution area. We do not understand how anyone can put in a sustained and concentrated level of work in this environment.

      It is crucial for the long term well being of Albany employees that something is done about this as soon as possible.

      How Existing Activities are Currently Run

      1. Key Underlying Themes

      From our interviews with the members of Albany Video, a number of key themes came up again and again.

      All members complained that they 'did far too much'; that 'nobody said no'; and that they were 'always responding' .

      In organisational terms the effect of this is that Albany is not controlling the manner in which the organisation develops. In periods of organisational stability and consolidation it may be justifiable to respond in this way. In periods of change, however, it is essential that as much as possible is brought

      · under a controlled structure.

      The reactive ethos of Albany has meant that the crucial planning function has been neglected; and there is the danger that the organisation is beginning 'to drift'.

      Clearly this reactive justifications, in that that it was responding allowing the community to

      process has had Albany could rightly to community needs participate.

      its claim

      and

      However at this stage in its development it is vital that Albany consider its "own needs first, before considering those of its wider community. Otherwise there is the danger that Albany will not be in the position to respond effectively at all.

      The second theme that ran through the interviews involved the question of geography and its relation to the causes and kinds of working patterns you espouse. As an organisation whose self understanding has been deeply embedded in the locality, there have been tensions as economic necessity has pushed you

      1. Contd.

         towards a more national focus. A 1damp tape• shown to a couple of tenants meetings and perhaps the Council simply is not economically justifiable. A 1damp tape1 on the other hand shown nationally can be justified. However, as the focus moves from the local to the national production values and methods of working may have to change. At its best your 1rootedness1 in the locality, can come across as a strength as in your successful videos such as 1Us Girls' or 1Beyond our Ken1; at its worst it can be a cover up for a lack of professionalism.

         Add to that, one has to consider, the fact that the majority of Albany members themselves increasingly have aspirations beyond the purely local as the ideology that seed bedded community video has become redefined. It is now clearly essential for a variety of reasons including the simply economic one of needing to sell more tapes that organisations such as Albany need a strong national dimension.

         Within Albany the weight of the history of community video appears to us, on the basis of our interviews, as yet not fully absorbed and worked through.

         A third problem area is that your self perception and the perception of outsiders does not fully match. Albany describes itself as a community based video production company. Whilst we did not undertake market research within your locality, we cannot confirm how you are seen there. However, on the basis of the interviews we had beyond Deptford you are known primarily as a nationwide video distribution company. This means that your communications to the outside world are somewhat askew.

         A final worrying problem is that with so many people leaving, Albany is effectively acting as a stepping stone or training base from which people move outwards to develop their career elsewhere. It can also mean that as individuals within Albany develop their skills and aspirations they do not feel that Albany as an organisational entity is developing in parallel. As a consequence a disjuncture occurs, between the capacities of the organisation and the capacities of the individuals who make up the organisation.

         Sections A.2.b) to A.2.f) below discuss the main organisational structures that are necessary to be grappled with and acted upon, if Albany is to thrive.

         Any organisation which grows beyond a certain size will need to consider the necessary managerial functions that are required to make it effective. This point is even more true of an organisation that seeks to work in a democratic manner, because to ensure that this occurs, these management roles need to be far more explicit and thought through.

      2. Decision Making Structure

         Formally the structure of decision making is collective. However given that Geoff and Tony have been there longest, decisions tend to go their way.

         The power that is clearly implied by length of service is not made explicit. So there remains perhaps a notion that the collective structure is in fact operational.

         Since, until recently, there have been no minutes of decisions taken it is difficult to institute monitoring processes that would ensure that the gap between decision and execution is narrowed.

         It appears that decisions are taken, but many are not followed through.

         A corollary of the lack of monitoring is that there is no check on the effective use of time. Aside from Val and Carol Jacobs, whose job descriptions are fairly clear, other Albany employees have wide ranging job descriptions. This makes the allocation of responsibility difficult and means that accountable structures are difficult to implement.

      3. Project Management

         Although there are budgetting procedures for the major video productions, there was little evidence of project management either •in terms of the broad job definitions within Albany training, advice, equipment hire etc., or for the smaller productions.

         In addition the notion of time management within the project does not as yet exist. This means that it is near impossible to establish whether someone is working effectively, to schedule and according to targets.

      4. Administrative Systems

         Prior to Val's arrival, administrative systems were underdeveloped. Many are now in place. However, as noted earlier, they have particularly been lacking in precisely those areas, training and equipment hire, which you have not undertaken with enthusiasm. This lack of corporate enthusiasm has clearly affected the way you undertake those tasks, and is an indication to the organisation that you should not be involved with them.

      5. Communications Systems

         Albany has not implemented many internal communications procedures that are essential for an organisation of its size. This stretches from not writing formal minutes (at least until recently) to producing broad policy documents or an annual plan. These issues are clearly often discussed, but without documentation to refer back to the gap between intention and execution is difficult to close.

         Albany has not thought through the confusion that is created by the mismatch of perceptions between what the outside world thinks Albany is doing and what your self perception is.

      6. Strategic Planning

      The managerial lacks outlined above all mean that one of the crucial management functions - planning - can only with utmost difficulty occur. If Albany is unable to plan, Albany will be unable to exert control over its future direction, it could become purely reactive like a small boat tossing amongst the waves without rudder or compass.

      Contd.

      Comments

      Even without the problems created by the withdrawal of the Channel Four grant, it would still be necessary for Albany to undertake a thorough re­ examination.

      Organisationally, Albany is at a transition from being somewhat 11amateur11 to needing to be professional. Many aspects of Albany's work are already of a high professional standard, but this has not been carried through into the management of Albany as a whole. As a consequence there are management and administrative weaknesses. Not surprisingly Albany did not spell these out in their own assessment of their weaknesses, because there is a lack of knowledge of what management is about.

      However, this is a very common problem as organisations grow from a small base to a larger entity with a turnover of over £100,000. In that sense we regard the problems that Albany is faced with as 'natural', and believe they can be overcome with application.

      In particular we believe Albany has major strengths in its brand name. Within a large section of possible clients you are already known and this represents a major··asset, which you have not yet capitalised upon.

      We feel that as a production house you in consequence have many opportunities open to you. This is very encouraging, as long as you learn how to grasp the possibilities. This is where marketing comes in. If that marketing skill is backed by sound management and planning there is no reason why you should not become a very successful company.

      Section c. NEW DIRECTIONS

      New Definitions

      As will be clear from Section A.l f), the range of activities which the organisation offers causes severe problems to the effectiveness of the organisation and this criticism would hold true whether the organisation was entirely grant funded or entirely commercial or any combination of the two.

      So it is clearly necessary to reduce the number of tasks the organisation does. To identify what priority was placed on different activities, all the members of the organisation were asked to prioritise the list of activities from those which they considered most important to those least important. The results of this were fairly clear cut.

      Production and distribution were considered most important by everybody and hiring of equipment least important. From this mapping of priorities and in discussing it is possible to redefine the organisation's activities as follows:

      1. Production

      This would include a large element of commissioned productions.

      C.l.b) Distribution

      Better marketed this can probably double its existing turnover. It would also include the possibility of hiring of a monitor and playback equipment to encourage hirings.

      c.1.c) Consultancy

      This would replace advice. The organisation seek to provide high level strategic advice on training, equipment acquisition in the community context and an appropriate distribution system for organisations.

      would video local video

      This means that the giving of low level advice and the hiring of equipment should cease. It equally applies to training, apart from when isolated exceptions can be made when training serves clear cut strategic purposes of the organisation.

      From the above, it is possible to provide a clearer primary definition of Albany's activities.

      1. Contd.

Albany Video is a marketing and distribution led production company.

By this we mean that Albany should capitalise on the large reservoir of market information it derives from its distribution activities to spot production gaps which it can pursue.

However, if Geoff in his central role within the organisation considers that some of the activities excluded by the above definition should be continued; then it would be worth considering splitting off those activities in a separate organisation (say, Albany Video Advice and Training) in a separate office, which Geoff would run.

Clearly this would be a predominantly funded activity, since the revenue possibilities are far from extensive.

The point is that it is time for both individuals within the organisation and the organisation itself to make hard choices about the precise direction they are going in.

Whatever the choices, the motto of the organisation in the corning period needs to be:

Do less things better.

Section D. TRAINING NEEDS

We consider that the training needs of Albany break down as follows and we list these in order of priority.

1. Management, Administration and Planning

2. Marketing and Communications

3. Production Techniques

4. Computer Skills

s. Legal Aspects of Video and Film

6. Other - Typing, Public Speaking, Report Writing

D. 1. Management, Administration and Planning

It is essential that at least two members of Albany learn about basic management techniques. This should cover the following areas, the panoply from planning to budgetting and staff development.

We do not consider it essential for Albany members to attend formal long term - say, year long courses in management.

We propose that members attend suitable courses, for example, those run by the Management Development Unit of the NCVO or Research Training Initiatives.

Appropriate one or two day courses they currently run include:

1. Managing for the first time

2. Making meetings work

3. How are you doing: Techniques for evaluation

4. Managing conflict

Management cannot be totally taught through undoubtedly problems will remain even when attended courses.

courses, and members have

We suggest that Albany members create the space to absorb appropriate management literature in conjunction with any courses they may attend.

After a six month period it would useful for Albany to employ a suitable management trainer, for say a day, to help the organisation monitor how its management development has occurred .

1. •Marketing and Communications

   In the next phase of Albany's development, marketing is a pridrity and at least one person should attend appropriate courses. However, their knowledge should then be filtered through to the rest of the organisation.

   We recommend that one member attend The Institute of Marketing courses which have weekly meetings stretching over twelve weeks or half a year.

   Alternatively, the MDU, again, run some suitable courses. They include:

   1. Public relations and the media

   2. Communicating with the public

   Interchange, the Marketing Resource Centre, and RTI also provide courses on marketing and PR.

2. Production

   Albany has already outlined in detail the range of production skills required to project the organisation into a new phase. We agree with Albany's proposals that cover the areas of lighting, camera, documentary production, script writing and editing. Their attached 'training proposal' spells out the precise course details.

3. Computer

Albany is shortly to install a computer with word processing facilities. This has predominantly been seen as useful for the distribution side of their work. It will, h9wever, be equally useful for script writing and report writing. It is therefore essential that all members of Albany have basic word processing skills and at least two members can handle its mailing programme.

D.S. Legal Aspect

Further down the line it will be important for someone within Albany to acquire a sound working knowledge of the legal aspects of video.

Section E ACTION PLAN AND TIMETABLE

Clearly• not everything can be done at once. outlinelour suggestions for timing:

Development Plan

Below we

This is the primary task, which needs to be set in motion as soon as possible.

It involves clarifying and reaching agreement upon the core definition of the organisation and timetabling how the activities of the organisation should be orchestrated. This means drawing up budgets for the different activities of the organisation, and producing budgets and targets for each section.

We suggest you develop a plan till the end of this year; the plan itself should be prepared, discussed and agreed upon by the end of March 1987. During the year the plan should be monitored and at the end a new plan should be created for 1988.

Marketing Plan

As part of the development plan you will need to create a marketing plan both for the distribution side and that of production. Inevitably, there will be a blurring of activities needed to advance distribution and production since many potential production leads are likely to be met through distribution work.

This plan involves constructing and developing a 'master' mailing list for the distribution side; writing publicity materials and working out a programme of follow up visits.

This needs to be linked to marketing activity geared to getting production commissions in. Again appropriate mailouts need to be sent to your various target audiences, for example, local authorities, campaigning and voluntary groups and so on.

It is important for Albany to make sure that publicity is clear about the two main activities do - production and distribution, so that audiences are not confused.

any you your

This plan should be well under way by April and the bulk of the work for this year's 'Spring push' should be finished by the end of April.

Consultancy

Almost immediately you should begin making contacts ith local authorities and letting them know that you e available for consultancy work. In our view you re well placed to undertake certain kinds of pecialist consultancy. We do not foresee this as high pressure activity, and if there is too much to do, consultancy development should take a secondary role as compared to your primary task of production and distribution. Devolving your advice function,

however, needs to be settled soon:

A target date for this could be the end whether Geoff takes it over in a organisation or not.

of May, separate

E.4. Physical Environment

By the end of July/July, Albany should be in a position to have reorganised the office so that it fits in with your new definition. By that time an appropriate telephone system should also be installed that suits your needs, for example having a different telephone number for production and distribution.

E.5.

Advice, Equipment Hire and Training

By the end of March a decision about how these be stopped or devolved should be made. If were to set up a separate organisation to do

will Geoff these

tasks the promotion should be completed by the April.

end of

E.6 Training Needs

Steps towards and marketing possible.

dealing with your lack of management skills need to be taken as soon as

As far as production skills are concerned we do not see these as needing to be acquired until the summer lull.

The prime task is to stabilise the organisation in managerial terms, and then acquire the marketing skills to project Albany to the outside world.

Since you already possess some part of the necessary production skills, these do not need to be prioritised.