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Student’s Critically Reflective Analysis
Learning Target: Improve project management skills and timekeeping.
Description
During my placement at Artist Management company Bold Management, Liverpool I was part of
the administrative team and, from the outset, was given a range of challenging tasks - often doing
multiple tasks for different people at the same time – on occasion, I was assigned and undertook
up to six tasks in one day.
As Bold manage a range of people including musicians, talent acts and reality television stars, a
large part of my time was spent undertaking a range of different tasks in relation to all their
different acts. On a daily basis I was involved in such things as:
1. Researching potential venues,
2. Checking the availability of acts;
3. Contacting people in relation to booking venues;
4. Updating databases and
5. Carrying out general administrative duties such as organising their client’s receipts.
Critical Analysis
“Project Time Management includes the processes required to accomplish timely completion of
the project.” (Project Management Institute, 2008, pg. 412) The Project Management Institute
(2008) states that there are six processes that define Project Time Management. These include
defining the activities and actions that need to take place to complete these activities, sequencing
these activities and the control schedule, monitoring the status of the project. After reading these
stages I knew that I would have to be organised if I were to be successful in completing all the
tasks I had been allocated.
Prior to starting my placement I envisaged I would report to one person and be able to structure
my day and time manage myself through the use of a spreadsheet or of a diary listing all the
activities I need to complete, the outcome of the activity and its completion date.
This, however, did not come to fruition as I quickly learned that the workings of this particular
management company tended to be ad-hoc and spur of the moment. The two Directors therefore
allocated me work, as and when situations arose that needed addressing and also reported to an
Office Supervisor. I was happy to work in this way as it meant that I would need to use my
initiative and set my own deadlines in order to stay ahead of the game in I was given another task
by either Director or the Supervisor; and this in turn helped enrich my work experience.
As “planning and organising is wasted if it is not communicated effectively” (Horn, 2009) I knew
that communication with my supervisor and the Directors would be vital to my success in my
placement. Without an open dialogue between us I would not have been able to carry out the
tasks that were asked of me. My understanding of what was needed or wanted of me during
these tasks was therefore of primary importance. In addition, communicating my findings to my
supervisor and being able to discuss the results with him meant we could enter discussions
about the best way/s to finalise any plans as a result of my research.
To maintain open communication links, I regularly kept my supervisor and the Directors up
dated in relation to progress made on each task I had been assigned. I did this via emails and
direct conversation throughout the day as well as giving them an update at the end of the day.
Speaking to them at the end of the day enabled a review of each day’s progress to be undertaken
which, in turn meant they would be in a better position to allocate tasks to me for completion the
next day. Such daily reviews meant that as soon as I went in the next morning I could get on with
work rather than waiting to be told what to do. I enjoyed this as it meant I had a good idea of
what lay ahead each day and could plan my schedule accordingly.

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Conclusion
“Artist managers spend much of their time planning and organizing on behalf of their artists.”
(Allen, 2007) In order to excel within the music industry I will need to have a firm grasp on
timekeeping and project management and the practical theories, such as Critical Path Analysis
and Gantt Charts, as well as People Management.
I believe I have shown that I have the basic necessary skills to produce work in a timely and
effective manner, however I need to widen this skill to incorporate more paper based time
management strategies. I can use these methods in everyday life to practice the most effective
way to produce them.
Further Actions
 Use Critical Path Analysis or similar methods to help keep track and time manage such
things as university deadlines to gain experience of using timekeeping methods.
 Create something, such as an event, that will require me to improve both my project
management and time keeping skills in order for it to be successful.
Learning Target: To improve research skills, both online and contacting relevant people
Description
While at Bold Management, Liverpool I became part of the officeadministration team. I
was allocated administrative tasks, whichwere pertinent to the management of acts on
their books.One such task was to source and contactsuitable venues fortheir acts to
perform in. In addition, I liaised withthe staff of appropriate venues and other relevant
people whowould be willing and able to publicise these acts.
The first act I was given to undertake such research for was a parody act called “Queens
of Pop”.I was briefed by my supervisor on what was required and was asked to lookfor
venues in Manchester and Liverpoolthat could comfortably accommodate
approximately a 300-person capacity.An additional requirement was and to try and
avoid having to pay the venue forthe event.
Simultaneously, I had to search for and contact, viaphone or email, any people who
would be able to promote the act. I was given access to the general business email for
Bold Management and left to contactpeople and businesses to try and negotiate terms
for the use of their space.
Critical Analysis
“Research is…a problem solving activity…successfulresearchers are those who possess
the knowledge and skills that enable them to overcomethe problems inherent to the
process of research.” (Thomas, 2004, pg. 1) This was the main skill I wanted to acquire

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while at placement. My main aim was to build skills that wouldenable me to undertake
research effectively andovercome any obstacles that may have arisen.
At first, I was apprehensive to contactvenues as I wanted to create a good impression to
both my placement and also to the businesses I was contacting on behalf of Bold
Management. I decided to do some academic reading beforehand on research
approaches. One of the worksI read by Dainow and Bailey (1988) states that skills, such
as communication, can only really be learned through a trial and error process. The
person needs to make mistakes in order to master the skill even though this can be
disheartening. With this in mind I dived into the task of contactingrelevant people to try
and develop the communication skills I already had obtained through hosting an event
as part of my EventsManagement course. After speaking to the contactsand reporting
back to my supervisor, my supervisor asked me some questions in relation to the
conversation I had just had. This made me realise I had failed to ask some important
questions such as if there was a fee available for the talent act. This meant that I had to
spend more time contacting the person again and if contactedby email, wait fortheir
response. This wasted time as certain things could have been confirmed and therefore
move forwardin the same day, howeverI was having to wait sometimes a day or more
for people to respond to a question I should have had the initiative to ask originally.
This error proved to be a key learning point forme and one whichI was keen not to
replicate in future negotiations with people.
Overthe first week I learned whatinformation I needed to gain fromthe people I
contacted and my confidencein contacting people increased. Dainow and Bailey (1988)
declare that confidencecomes from a person having a sense of personal power, they can
deal withtheir surroundings in a competent and appropriate manner. Having this
confidencehelped me to reduce any mistakes I made and therefore enabled me to work
effectively.
Once I’d mastered the technique of effectively contactingpeople, my success rate for
securing venues and publications was much quicker. After twodays at placement I had
secured a feature in a national student magazine – StudentTimes forthe “Queens of
Pop”.I achieved this by emailing and calling the editor of the magazine. Partof my brief
was to try and get publicity forthe act,in addition to securing a venue for them. As they
are a drag act, I used my research skills to specifically source relevant student
newspapers, blogs and magazines whichcatered forthe gay market and would therefore
get me a higher success rate when approaching the different avenues of promotion.
Conclusion
Overall, I believe my research skills, in particular my telephone skills, grew throughout
my placement. I became more confident and efficientwhen researching. I was able to
research more than one project at a time, on an on-going basis and produce meaningful
results – whether they were information-based or confirmationfrom contacts by the
end of the workingday.

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Reflecting on my time at Bold Management, I am now fully aware that if I want to work
within an Artist Management company I need to be mindful of the most suitable
research methods and use them accordingly,dependent on the nature of the project.
This knowledge can only really be built on by undertaking regular research to ensure
I’m confident and competent in all aspects. I believe that if I approach any future work
experience or employment where research is a major part of the job description, in this
manner, and then the probability of my success willincrease.
Being able to research effectively willalso help me stay one step ahead fromthe rest of
the industry. It will help me realise what has been done before to help artists become
noticed and forme to put that into play.
Future Actions
 Source any workexperience opportunities that willallow me to further my
research skills and develop new skills that I was unable to gain during my
placement such as using statistics and focus groups.
 Further reading of relevant text, such as industry magazines as wellas
expanding my knowledge of research.
 Keep up to date with what other Artist Management companies are doing, such
as any events they are holding, to see how they are marketing and what they are
offering.
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References
A guideto the projectmanagementbodyofknowledge(PMBOKguide) (4th ed.). (2008).
NewtownSquare, Pa.: ProjectManagement Institute.
Allen, P.(2007). Artist managementforthemusic business.Amsterdam: Elsevier/Focal
Press.
Burke, R. (2013). Projectmanagement:planningandcontroltechniques (5th ed.).
Chichester, England: J. Wiley.
Dainow, S., & Bailey, C. (1988). Developingskillswithpeople:trainingforpersonto person
client contact. Chichester [England: Wiley.
Horn, R. (2009). Thebusinessskillshandbook.London:Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development.
Thomas, A. (2004). Researchskillsfor managementstudies.London:Routledge.