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Understaffed & Still Getting It Done ...
September 17, 2019
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Earlier in my career I programmed a station where several departments were laid off and the work duties fell into my lap. Therefore, these days I can empathize with programmers operating with smaller air staffs.
Over the weekend I spoke with a PD so understaffed and overworked (does PM drive too) that he stopped having music call days. His Promotions Director was let go months ago and he's taken on those responsibilities too. He's in a market rated twice a year and maintaining a level of proficiency has become a time crunch.
If you're an OM or PD in a similar situation, I've put together some tips that might help.
5-Promotional Tips ...
- Over Organize: Every aspect from day one should be organized up until the end of a promotion - including a recap. If you are confused, the promotion (even simple giveaways) will be confusing and chaotic. Follow up on all e-mails and paper trails.
- Communication: With a smaller staff, it's especially important to keep everyone in the loop -- air staff, sales, traffic, business manager, interns, the website content person, engineering, and the receptionist. Don't just send e-mails, talk to people.
- Delegation: Don't be afraid to assign responsibilities and empower others. You cannot go it alone; just keep tabs on what everyone is doing. Delegating will allow you to focus on all aspects of a promotion or an event.
- Preparation: Have planning meetings with those you deem necessary to the process. The day of the promotion (sales or programming generated), can provide unexpected situations, good and bad; always be ready to adjust or mediate. If it's a promotional event, have a staff meeting a couple of days prior to double check everything. Try to keep your meetings to 30 minutes or less.
- Dedication: This is the final and most important key element that will keep the troops happy --whenever an on-air promotion or an event is over; lavish everyone with praise and follow-up thankyou memos for personnel files.
Work Smarter ... Not Harder ...
Put together a playbook for every possible promotional scenario - everything from on air contests to sales/marketing promotional events. You need to create "fill-in the blank" paperwork to lessen the burden of having to create everything from scratch all the time. Except for changing the subject line heading and a few details important to a new task, you won't have to use as much energy to get things done. A station is like a car or a truck engine, all the parts must work in harmony for optimum performance. Working shorthanded is hard but not impossible.
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