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Stop Trying To Do It All Yourself …
August 23, 2022
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To manage others effectively, you must master the art of delegation. These days the leap from air shift to PD can happen overnight. Throughout your life you’ve been trained for a position of responsibility, but you didn't know it. The lessons were all around you. Going from "If I was in charge," to being the boss without formal training in management skills can be overwhelming. The key is delegation. I recently communicated with a newbie PD going through managerial growing pains.
PD: It’s been pretty crazy. A few weeks ago, I went from doing afternoons to Program Director and Music Director. They cut out a salary by eliminating the OM/ Program Director who worked off air. There’s just so much to do. And I only started learning how to schedule music earlier in the year.
Coach: What size market are you in and how many people do you have on your air staff?
PD: This is a small to medium sized market. We're somewhere in between. We're part of a small company that specializes in markets like this one. I do afternoons, I have a midday person, and an evening personality. On the weekends I have two part-timers.
Coach: Tell me about what you're dealing with.
PD: I'm the most experienced around here. My midday and evening people are pretty new. They replaced two of the finest people I’d ever worked with, and they had years of experience. These two have limited experience. It’s just been easier to do things myself rather than explaining to them what I need done.
Coach: I know you think what you’re doing saves time, but as you’re probably finding out, it doesn’t. And I assume that’s why you reached out to me.
PD: You nailed it. I'm wore out. Anything you can tell me will be of help. I read your column all the time and you always manage to simplify things.
Coach: You’re already burning out and you can’t afford to do that. First and foremost, you need let go and start delegating. How's your air staff ever going to learn unless you give them opportunity to do some things? Delegation means you’ll have more time to concentrate on positioning the station creatively and potentially put the station in a more profitable position for your market manager.
PD: Oh, I'm tired already just thinking about what you just said.
Coach: It’s better to put the time in now and assign those two things that are in their wheelhouse.
PD: What’s the best way to start? What should I watch out for?
Coach: I’m not trying to be a smart ass, but you start from the beginning. And what you have to watch out for is learning how to accept that someone else might get something done differently from how you would have done it. Keep in mind the goal is to accomplish without you having to do it. Rigid managers have a hard time with this. What's most important is the end result and this approach does wonders for staff morale.
PD: Anything else?
Coach: You want your staff to feel like they're working with you as opposed to for you. It's never easy, but it will be easier if you delegate.
Work Smart ...
Put together a playbook for every possible scenario you're handling. It should cover everything from on air contesting to sales/marketing promotional events. I suggest that you create "Fill-in the blank" paperwork templates so you don't have to create everything from scratch all the time. Except for changing the subject line heading and details for a new task, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and energy. A station is like a vehicle; all the parts must work in harmony for optimal performance. -
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