Tim McDermott “How to Improve Your Station’s Internal Communication”

“I didn’t know we were doing that.  I am always the last to know.”  How many times have you heard that at your radio station?  Let’s face it. Like the plumber who has the leak at home, broadcasters are not always good at communicating – internally. It’s true the grass is always brown around the sprinkler head.  While we spend time on the air telling thousands of people all kinds of things, we forget to tell the receptionist at the front desk.   

Does your ministry have a great internal communication plan?   If you don’t have one, you need to have one.  The first step is to think about the key stakeholders who need to know – The Board, The Leadership Team, The Staff and The Listener Entry Points.  Here are my recommendations.

The Board

This is normally the sole responsibility of the CEO/President since they are the only real employee of the board.  Boards can be a challenge.  I remember talking about some on air promotions we were doing, and I assumed the board knew – because that promo had been airing a lot for four weeks.  As I told the board about it, it was like I was sharing brand new information.  (At times, I would think, “do they even listen to the station?”)  So don’t get discouraged if this happens to you.

I recommend communicating with the board chair at least once a week.  The Board Chair/CEO relationship is the most important relationship in the organization.  The communication might be an email, a phone call or an in-person meeting, but keep the board chair informed.

At least once a month, prepare a brief report to the board.  Let them know what’s going on.  Hit the major highlights, update the execution of the plan you are carrying out and provide key financial insights.  It shouldn’t take them more than five minutes to read it.

The Leadership Team

I recommend meeting with them at least once a week for at least a half hour.  Make it a time of not just informing, but also relationship building.  Keep them informed of things you’re doing as a GM but also give them an opportunity to hit highlights of what they are working on so that other leaders can be informed.  My leaders had a lot of things they were working on, so I asked them to provide a list of details of other items which could be shared with the other leadership team members.  These were normally sent to my assistant to compile the lists for everyone.  At the meeting, only the highlights were shared and other items were there in case others had questions.

The Staff

 I recommend having at least weekly staff meetings (every two weeks at the worst). I prefer a staff chapel/devotional time where the major items can be shared. It shouldn’t take more than three to five minutes to share those big items.  If you are a large organization, then additionally I suggest at least quarterly general sessions where you go into more detail about where you’ve been and where you’re going so they know and can see the entire organization. Sharing the station’s mission every time you do this is essential.  At that meeting, give them an opportunity to ask questions.

The Listener Entry Points

 The listener entry points to your organization are the places where your listeners engage with you. This includes the reception desk, social media, on air, prayer and other key entry points.  Wherever a listener actively engages with a person, make sure they’re equipped to know what’s going on.   Although there are lots of ways to accomplish this through technology, one simple way is to have a shared document through Google Docs or OneDrive where the main departments (programming, marketing, leadership, etc.) add information in real time to the docs.  The info should be concise but complete along with the name of the person who provided the information.  Also, make sure there is a kill date for the info so the doc doesn’t become stale.

If you don’t have a plan, start one this week. I can say that even with all of the above, things still get missed.  So you still may hear “I didn’t know we were doing that.  I am always the last to know,” but it will be said a lot less.

Tim McDermott has been in broadcast leadership for over 40 years.  He can be reached at Tim@TMcDermottCPA.com