Board Blog: Getting ready for the new year

Last Updated on January 24, 2018 by askcbiorg

Jamie Lynn Gilbert, CBI Treasurer

It’s nearing the end of January, which for many of you means gearing up for the new year. Not the new calendar year, but the new staff year. At WKNC, applications for our 2018-2019 general manager are due Feb. 1, with hiring in early March and a whole new staff scheduled to take over by the end of April. That means NOW is the time to go over a few things to get ready for your new staff.

Reflect on the old year

Chances are, one or more things didn’t go perfectly with your current team. Don’t play the blame game, but instead focus on areas for improvement. Do you never have January giveaways because your promotions team forgets to ask for them before leaving for winter break? Are you not getting new music into rotation regularly? Are your events not getting the attendance you want? What can your team do in the future to ensure better programming, promotions and production? Now is the time to ask those questions so you can …

Revise job descriptions

The time to revise job descriptions is before you hire anyone. Take a look at everyone’s job description each spring and make sure your staff is doing what you need them to be doing. If they aren’t, do those tasks need to reemphasized, reassigned to someone else or removed altogether? Do you need to add an assistant or reduce hours for a position? Making sure everyone has clearly defined responsibilities will ensure things don’t fall through the cracks when transitioning staff.

Plan for training

For the second year in a row, College Broadcasters, Inc. is part of the College Media Mega Workshop this July 12-15 in Minneapolis. I was fortunate to be able to send my current general manager in 2017 and I saw a huge benefit from the added management training. CBI will also be in Seattle Oct. 25-27 for the National Student Electronic Media Convention. My pool of general manager candidates come almost exclusively from convention attendees, which shows the value the convention has in preparing students for top management roles.