Editing, Leadership, and Team Building
From hiding behind the black box in a zoom meeting to standing and leading a class of 35 every day, becoming Editor-in-Chief has taught me invaluable lessons about what it means to be a leader. Leaders can come in many forms; to me, the only requirement is the drive to improve and cultivate a culture of collaboration.
Newsroom Morale
Weekly Traditions
To foster staff morale throughout the week, we started to dedicate different days of the week to different traditions: Mentor-Mentee Monday check-in, Tasty Tuesday, Wellness Wednesday, and Fun Friday Presentations. My personal favorite day is watching the Fun Friday Presentations when staffers can create a presentation about anything they want. Oftentimes these activities turn into some comedic relief, and we get to learn more about the newsroom.
Improv with Krish
Over the Summer, I had the unique opportunity to take an improvisation class. I was apprehensive at first, but as the lessons progressed, I learned that more than improving my acting skills, these classes taught me to embrace my interests, seek discomfort, and create support in communities. As a Fun Friday alternative, I created “Improv with Krish” to get staffers more familiar with each other and remind the newsroom that a successful team needs to take breaks.
Turkey Day
During our 3rd and longest cycle of the year, my Co-EIC, Katherine, and I wanted to incorporate Team Building into a workday. Coming up on fall break, I decided to organize a “Thankful day.” I created an activity where everyone decorates a hand turkey and goes around to write why they are thankful for each person on staff. Additionally, I brought in a couple of my favorite board games and encouraged staffers to play a game with people they don’t typically work with.
Communication
Discord
Our main form of communication is Discord. With the help of our “Discord Czar” Defne, every cycle, we create channels for each spread to have direct communication with each other. Discord also allows staffers to communicate with us separately if needed.
As Co-Editor-in-Chiefs, Katherine and I put extra effort into making sure we are on the same page about spreads. We have created DMs with each staff member, including both of us, to promote communication with both of us, instead of just one.
Writer-Designer
Communication
This year, we noticed that writer and designer communication was decreasing in quality. Oftentimes, my Co-EIC or I became the middlemen that regulated the conversations for spreads. Although this worked, we saw the lack of communication causing a disconnection between the writers and designers. Additionally, small issues ended up taking double the time to get resolved. Here are some things we did to promote communication and rebuild collaboration:
Writer-Designer Checklists: Before round deadlines, we typically designated 10 minutes of class for writers and designers to update each other. To make this experience more impactful, I created a checklist of questions for staffers to cover to make sure their page is on track and to reveal any possible issues.
Pre-proof checklist: As an EIC without much design experience, I made it a priority of mine to understand the design process and how writers and designers can work in harmony. Before the school year started, WSS’s design editors, Sachiko and Sila, mentioned that designers had a lack of solidified writing before the proof deadline (the last deadline before printing). To remedy this, I thought of creating and writing out a proof checklist for writers to complete for this deadline. Building on top of the thorough checklists created in previous years, we made the modifications that best suited the needs of our staff at the time.
Seating Chart: After assignments are released, my co-EIC and I create a seating chart. Although this is a seemingly simple task, putting in a little extra time to make sure editors are near the reporters in their sections and corresponding designers are close by, miscommunication is minimized.
Growing Together
Weaknesses
into Strengths
1-on-1 Meetings: In past years, WSS used circle discussions post-cycle to recap strengths and areas for improvement as a staff. Although this method promoted open communication, we felt like staffers were stopped from sharing more personal experiences that could benefit the group. My co-EIC and I started 1-on-1 meetings with staff members. In these meetings, we recapped their past cycle, any areas of struggle, how we can best support them, and future goals.
One of the most admirable qualities in leaders is the ability to reveal weaknesses and turn them into strengths. By prioritizing honest communication between staffers and looking for solutions to strengthen skills, I have seen the quality of our work and experience improve.
Flashcard Fridays: In a couple of our meetings, editors brought up how some simple grammar issues were hindering them from focusing on more structural changes to their articles. Grammar is a crucial skill for all types of journalists, so after talking to WSS’s Copy Editor, Heidi, we created a game plan to promote AP Style grammar skills. Heidi took the lead and created Flashcard Fridays -- a 5-minute presentation on grammar tips and tricks.
Editing
Comments
Comments on Google Docs for writing and design are our main pathways to providing feedback. Here are some of the comments I have made on work, and different techniques I have found impactful to get my thoughts across.