The board op., the weekend guy, the part-time promo girl, the intern. Don't just talk though. Get to know them... actually listen.
Did you know amazing ideas can stem from simply having a meaningful conversation with your staff?
Picture this... you work in promotions and you're constantly told, "we don't do stickers because bumper stickers are outdated" by the people who never step foot onto your events. Meanwhile, someone asks you for a sticker "for my water bottle" almost every time you're out.
Your board op. is actually an excellent gamer who has been on Twitch for a while now. They know the ins and outs of the platform and even have an idea they'd been thinking about for your sports station!
That part-time weekend guy edits videos on the side. See, he's got a food blog that he supports with YouTube content, so it's easy for him. He's been doing it for a while now, so he can edit a videos pretty quickly.
The intern? She's an artist with an Etsy store!
Why does this matter?
Having a conversation with the promo person might lead you to come up with some great ideas together! Maybe you conclude that your station should get a smaller version of their sticker that fits on water bottles and not brand them as "bumper stickers". If people want to rep your logo, why wouldn't you cater to that?
The idea your board op. had for the sports station? Actually ended up being a highly marketable one. It's already been sold to a brand new client! On top of that, the board op has helped teach much of the staff how to use Twitch, which has now inspired more ideas within the building.
The weekend guy with the YouTube channel... You realize he's able to create amazing social media videos for your station at his hourly rate. You no longer have to pay out the ass for those freelance services. You feel foolish that all this time, you didn't know that someone in the building could handle video production for you.
The intern drew up a really cool version of your station's logo. Now your station is selling her design on T-shirts to raise money for a charity event. She's really proud to see her work on dozens of T-shirts and she goes to bed that night feeling pretty damn good about herself.
Make your employees feel like a valuable contributor to the team. Don't just look at their skills on the surface. Take a deeper dive. If you find yourself saying "well if they had this amazing idea, then they should bring it up", then ask yourself why they haven't already?
How is your line of communication? Do you empower your staff? When you empower, support, and communicate with your team they become more motivated. Motivation creates better product because it comes from passion, and with that passion you can create amazing ideas for your brand!
Don't sleep on the amazing talent that might be lurking in your building.
Go talk to the board op...
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