Finding the balance: Friendship and Professionalism in the workplace

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“A Princess” – Four-year-old me.

Working for a dress-up company may sound like a fairy tale dream come true, but it’s not all fun and magic. The reality is that working behind the scenes can be a challenging act. By navigating the world of performance and crew management, I faced the unique challenge of maintaining professional and personal relationships with a team of passionate individuals who share the same love for bringing fantasy to life.

This blog will evaluate these challenges using Boud’s reflective model (Boud & Walker 1985) as a framework for managing these experiences. Through reflection, I have gained a deeper understanding of developing strategies for navigating these challenges positively and productively.

Experience

As a performance manager for a princess party company, I had the responsibility of supervising the rehearsal of performance processes for all actors and performers in the company. This included many of my colleagues who had become good friends along the way. However, it was challenging to switch from a casual and friendly dynamic to a more professional one, where I had to provide constructive feedback, set goals, and enforce company standards.

Maintaining a level of professionalism and authority that does not come through in a friendship was one of the biggest hurdles. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, or in this case trying to find a glass slipper in a sea of princess shoes. While I wanted to be supportive and encouraging, I also had to ensure that everyone was delivering their best performances.

It was important to find the right balance between being a supportive friend and a competent manager as it could be tricky to provide feedback without coming across as bossy or authoritative. This would cause tension in personal relationships as similarly for them it was challenging to adjust to seeing me as their manager rather than just a peer and a friend.

In the lead-up to a recent event, ‘Princess Pyjama Party’ aboard The Belfast Barge, it was my duty to ensure that the princesses selected for this performance were well briefed and prepped on the character role they would embody that day.

Reflection

13th April 2023 – Singalongs, movie viewing and games galore! What’s not to love? Well, it’s safe to say that after two very long weeks of gruelling rehearsals, it was a welcome relief to bring the magic of princesses to life for the children who were aboard.

Managing performance rehearsals for a group of five princesses, including Ariel, Moana, Anna, Elsa and myself as Belle, was no magic bullet as there were several challenges I had to tackle up to performance day. The list was as long as Rapunzel’s hair, but unfortunately, she was not around to lend me some of her magic.

Finding a rehearsal space and schedule.

Finding a suitable rehearsal space was no easy feat as it was challenging to find a space that was accessible and convenient for everyone. Additionally, figuring out schedules that worked for everyone was equally challenging as trying to please everyone with the location and time. This was difficult as I did not want to set anyone off on the wrong foot at the beginning of rehearsals.

If there was a prize for the biggest empath, I would have a whole trophy cabinet full of them as I can understand the feelings of impending commitments outside of party events. Balancing work, family, social time and education can be mentally exhausting and the last thing you want to think about is putting on a smile for a four-hour event surrounded by children.

Despite this challenge, I had to give myself a reality check and stop feeling sorry for myself as in life we cannot afford to people please everyone as sometimes we just have to make that sacrifice and make do with what we are given. Tickets were being booked and I had a job to do.

Thankfully The Belfast Barge was kind enough to allow us to rehearse in their location. I mean it was perfect as we would be performing there in two weeks anyway. This was central and easily accessible for most of the team, but it was not the perfect solution for everyone. Although I can understand that it is frustrating to have to figure out transport on top of scheduling it was the best compromise that allowed us to continue to work towards our goal of delivering enchanting performances.

Perfecting Performances.

Get ready to witness the magic of practically perfect performances – test your physical and mental stamina and wonder why anyone would willingly subject themselves to such madness.

Trust me, it was all worth it in the end.

As a performer who has the qualifications of a level 4 DipLCM in performance and will hopefully graduate with a degree in Drama, I felt it was beneficial to share advice and techniques with the rest of my colleagues on how to perform as the character they would be portraying. This opportunity to teach was exciting as I felt that it would support and motivate them to embody their character and convince the audience of little ones that we are the real deal.

The last few rehearsals were a rollercoaster of emotions, and not necessarily in a good way. As I began to meet with my colleagues/friends it quickly became apparent that some were struggling to balance their enthusiasm for the project with the seriousness it required. I knew this would be a challenge as I understood that they would view me as the Sarah on a Saturday night who drunkenly sings all the Disney songs that they were beginning to learn.

However, as someone who takes their work seriously, this was anxiety-inducing as over time the giggles were becoming distracting. I started to notice in the later stages up to performance day that complacency was kicking in. The characters were beginning to settle for a “good” performance rather than a “great” performance.

There were tears, anger, nausea and an overwhelming feeling of the possibility that the show would need to be cancelled due to stress levels.

Outcome

Thankfully the turnaround in this mindset was a positive structure in praising the actors for a job well done as I discovered that positive reinforcement is highly effective in strengthening and increasing behaviours (Dr Rashad Yazdanifard 2014). As someone who has been on the side of negative reinforcement, reminding them in a positive way of the importance that this event for the children whose parents had purchased this wonderful experience, had a productive impact.

The performance proved to be effective as on the show day they began to understand the gravity of the situation, with a few stern (but loving) reminders, I was able to whip everyone into shape and get down to the business of creating something truly magical.

References

Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985) Promoting Reflection in Learning: A Model. Reflection: Turning Refection into Learning. London: Routledge.

Event Heroes. Available at: https://www.eventheroesni.com/

Dr Rashad Yazdanifard 2014 ‘The impact of Positive Reinforcement on Employees’ Performance in Organizations’ American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 4, pp.9-12, p.11. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2014.41002