How can be more pro-active/enthusiastic in my collaboration class?

[Marund]

Hey all.
I don't know where else to ask this. I keep asking questions but i never get answers.
I'm in this important collaborative class. Everyone takes it seriously. I've been in two yet still feel treated like a newbie. This is frustrating me.

I keep on top of everything they tell me to keep on top of, but i don't feel as obsessed as other people there. I feel like i could be doing so much more, but the work i want; the projects i want, aren't coming my way. no one pushes much of it in my direction unless i ask for it; i dont understand. I guess i guess i expected to be learning the ropes more or something. Even when i ask for the work people give me (at least what i think are) menial tasks and i dont feel as in control as enthusiastic as the others. I don't have their momentum though. They have so much work on their plates! I want that too! but I don't know how to get it.


Thing is this: Its kind of complicated. Just fyi there is no way of teaching the people who act as "coordinators" in the class the ropes of what i do. Its like they expect you to know or already be on-top of it. Or make it happen somehow on your own. -- which is frustrating as hell. i have asked the other coordinators for advice -- they always answer me vaguely in class and don't answer my emails.

now i feel like im acting like a ***** for asking questions.
also wonder if i come off useless?
when i ask for work i get the most menial tasks which makes me think they don't trust me to be able to handle much, but then again, they never gave me much.


My teacher harrasses me sometimes in front of everyone for little things. its annoying and makes me not want to approach her, or anyone. i stick it out and ask for more work~ but its like i start feeling repetitive. also like im sucking up too much.

how can i ask for more serious work ? how can i get MYSELF more serious work instead of asking for it? How when people don't teach me the ropes? i know i have to be pro-active on my own. I just feel like there are a lot of things i dont understand how to do (this is a film collaborative btw; we mostly manage shots.). And trying to understand without the senior coordinators help is difficult.

Anyhow i feel like im stagnating.

Ii usually appear cheerful and ready for anything, but maybe i'm too quiet? Maybe they don't even know im dissatisfied and think im content being what they think is "lazy"?

I wouldn't know why though. They tell me im good at the things i do~

i don't know who else to ask these things. No one ever seems to know how to answer my questions. the director of the program talks kinda aimlessly. he's really hard to follow.

If anyone can understand where i'm coming from, or has tried to learn and become better in a situation like this, lemme know what you think ?


TIA.

[truant]

Sorry to hear that you're so frustrated, Marund. Yours is an interesting problem because it seems to be based on a variety of factors.

For starters, let me say that it's good to see that you have the initiative and motivation to want to do more, and confidence in your ability to do it. The main issues I see you presenting in your post have to do with three key areas: information, communication, and enthusiasm.

I'll tackle the easiest one first: information.

Now, I don't know anything at all about what it is that you do; that's completely outside of my experience. But I do know a couple of things that might help you. For starters, on the information/skill side, if the people in your class won't help you, you need to get your information somewhere else. I recommend that you find a forum for professionals (or amateurs) who do what you're trying to do and ask them for help. The great thing about the internet is that it is overflowing with people (like myself) who love to give advice, solicited or otherwise. You can probably learn a bit from books and online articles, but in my experience, the fasted way to learn the most crucial elements of any discipline is to spend a couple of weeks hanging out in a forum filled with people who are obsessed with whatever it is you're trying to learn. I guarantee you will learn the basics pretty quickly if you listen carefully to what they say.

The second thing you need to do is make yourself a resource. If you have something people want (information, products, skills), and people know that you have it (advertise), they will come to you for it. Start by doing whatever jobs you get as well as you can and then expand on that by picking some area that interests you and learning everything you can about it. (This is where the forums come in handy.) Once you feel comfortable in that area, ask for those jobs and do the best you can. You can build confidence this way and people will start relying on you to do those new jobs, just as they rely on you right now to do the jobs they don't want to do.

The second area where you express dissatisfaction is in communication. If your coordinators and teacher don't want to help you, that may be their problem, but it might also be something related to the way you communicate with people. There is a famous quote from NLP that goes: "The meaning of your communication is the response that you get." A good communicator can get the responses they need by changing how they communicate. These are skills that anyone can learn, so I encourage you to explore the subject a little more thoroughly. This forum is filled with lots of good information about this subject and if you can't find what you're looking for there, just create another thread. I'm guessing you need a bit of work learning how to assert yourself a little more effectively, so that might be a good place to start.

I also recommend that you try to build a little more rapport with your collaborators. Try complimenting them on the work that they've done or ask them how they came up with the solution to a problem. Try to avoid polarizing the situation into a 'me and them' scenario and start building your own bridges. Be the better man.

As far as your enthusiasm or 'obsession' goes, that's something you have to figure out for yourself. All of my preceding advice depends on your willingness to pursue this particular line of endeavor. Do you really want to do what you're doing? Maybe you need to re-evaluate your plans. There is an equally good chance that your lack of enthusiasm is based on your frustration with the environment you find yourself in, though, so don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I know this is a long post, but I hope I've at least given you a couple of things to think about. At the very least, you can't say that you never get answers. If you have any more questions or would like to clarify my understanding of your situation, please just let me know.

Best of luck.

[Marund]

Originally Posted by truant

Sorry to hear that you're so frustrated, Marund. Yours is an interesting problem because it seems to be based on a variety of factors.

For starters, let me say that it's good to see that you have the initiative and motivation to want to do more, and confidence in your ability to do it. The main issues I see you presenting in your post have to do with three key areas: information, communication, and enthusiasm.

I'll tackle the easiest one first: information.

Now, I don't know anything at all about what it is that you do; that's completely outside of my experience. But I do know a couple of things that might help you. For starters, on the information/skill side, if the people in your class won't help you, you need to get your information somewhere else. I recommend that you find a forum for professionals (or amateurs) who do what you're trying to do and ask them for help. The great thing about the internet is that it is overflowing with people (like myself) who love to give advice, solicited or otherwise. You can probably learn a bit from books and online articles, but in my experience, the fasted way to learn the most crucial elements of any discipline is to spend a couple of weeks hanging out in a forum filled with people who are obsessed with whatever it is you're trying to learn. I guarantee you will learn the basics pretty quickly if you listen carefully to what they say.

The second thing you need to do is make yourself a resource. If you have something people want (information, products, skills), and people know that you have it (advertise), they will come to you for it. Start by doing whatever jobs you get as well as you can and then expand on that by picking some area that interests you and learning everything you can about it. (This is where the forums come in handy.) Once you feel comfortable in that area, ask for those jobs and do the best you can. You can build confidence this way and people will start relying on you to do those new jobs, just as they rely on you right now to do the jobs they don't want to do.

The second area where you express dissatisfaction is in communication. If your coordinators and teacher don't want to help you, that may be their problem, but it might also be something related to the way you communicate with people. There is a famous quote from NLP that goes: "The meaning of your communication is the response that you get." A good communicator can get the responses they need by changing how they communicate. These are skills that anyone can learn, so I encourage you to explore the subject a little more thoroughly. This forum is filled with lots of good information about this subject and if you can't find what you're looking for there, just create another thread. I'm guessing you need a bit of work learning how to assert yourself a little more effectively, so that might be a good place to start.

I also recommend that you try to build a little more rapport with your collaborators. Try complimenting them on the work that they've done or ask them how they came up with the solution to a problem. Try to avoid polarizing the situation into a 'me and them' scenario and start building your own bridges. Be the better man.

As far as your enthusiasm or 'obsession' goes, that's something you have to figure out for yourself. All of my preceding advice depends on your willingness to pursue this particular line of endeavor. Do you really want to do what you're doing? Maybe you need to re-evaluate your plans. There is an equally good chance that your lack of enthusiasm is based on your frustration with the environment you find yourself in, though, so don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I know this is a long post, but I hope I've at least given you a couple of things to think about. At the very least, you can't say that you never get answers. If you have any more questions or would like to clarify my understanding of your situation, please just let me know.

Best of luck.

Thank you loads.
I also think I just need to request to do new things; honestly i came in here thinking i was going to learn something without having to ask to learn...But guess not~ whatever.

I have a feeling its something to do with communication too. To be honest I just go in there, get my work done, and get out. I'm not chatty accept with the people I work directly with.

Maybe I should explain my situation a little further. I want to learn to coordinate for animation, but i am taking a film VFX collaboration and acting as coordinator in there because they do not have many animations at the moment.

So I am working with different types of artists than I'm used to. A lot of what they do is different from what i've seen. I figure I'm just there to keep track of shots; plan a master schedule~

There have been other coordinators before me; people who did animation and VFX. So I don't feel TOO strange.

But yeah.

Will think about that. Thanks.