get your team a podcast
Ever think about how much collaboration has changed over the last 15-20 years? When I started leading a geographically dispersed team in 2004, my only collaboration tools were an AT&T conference bridge, a mapped drive, email, and an airplane. Today, I have more tools than I know what to do with, and I am always looking for the best one. Which tool is going to keep me the most organized and the most productive? When I migrated to Google workplace two years ago, I thought I would never get used to it. Today, I can’t imagine working on a presentation without it; still, I like task management better in Microsoft Outlook. When it comes to tools, everybody has their own preferences or that one piece of technology they can’t live without.
My team is spread across the United States, and we always look for better ways to collaborate. Better ways to build relationships, creative ways to promote career development, and innovative ways to improve the employee experience. One of our latest tools is podcasting. From fears of working in the hospitals during the early days of the pandemic to situations of inclement weather that required snowmobiling to work, we have been seeking to fully understand the more challenging aspects of the job our team members are doing. This year, we started “The Ping.” The Ping is our internal podcast, and we use it to connect and hear the stories of our team members across the ministry. We have used this newer communication medium to distribute information and hear some wild stories from those on the front lines. I often hear people say, “I heard about this or that on The Ping,” OR “John and I both grew up in the same town, I didn’t know that until I heard it on The Ping,” OR “That is a great best practice, let’s roll it out everywhere.”
I believe love is essential to having a high-performing and highly engaged team. If you have known me for a while, you have probably heard me say that leaders are called to love their people. Part of loving your people is knowing your people. Through “The Ping,” our team members have gotten to know each other. We have gotten to know the story behind the technician. We understand what motivates and frustrates them, and we can see and hear the human behind the numbers we see in reports. I hope that it is helping our team members not only see that they are part of a broader community but know that they are part of something bigger. Our team members are on the front lines, and I want them to know that we not only see them but also love them and value them. Amazing things will happen when your team can trust that you are with them, listening to and guiding them. We trust our team to take care of our customers, and they trust that we are with them. The highest level of trust in the workplace comes when your colleagues know that you are with them in the trenches of their job and you are FOR them in their life.
If you are looking for new ways to connect with your colleagues or team, consider a podcast. Here are some of the benefits we planned for and some we have discovered along the way:
The podcast is on-demand. People don’t have to sit in a meeting simultaneously to hear the information; instead, it can be listened to when it’s convenient for them.
When it’s interview style, it’s personal. Podcasts tend to create intimacy between the participants and enable the listener to be in on it.
Everyone will hear the same thing when disseminating information, and people can go back to it for reference.
It’s efficient. There is no need to prepare or read a slide deck extensively.
It creates connections between participants and listeners
We often give examples that tie our team’s work directly to the company mission, which helps keep our purpose central to our team members.
If unscripted, the podcast demonstrates authentic leadership, which increases trust and workplace safety.
It creates joy. Use humor in your podcast to cultivate happiness and laughter in the workplace.
Our last Ping of the year was a video podcast. In it, we discussed ups and downs, celebrated successes, laughed, and even cried. I pray that as our team watches this over the next couple of days, they will know that we are grateful for them and amazed by them, but above all, I hope they know that we love them and we are FOR them.
Thank you to all of our guests on this first year of The Ping. Special thanks to Jason Marsh, who has carved time out of his day to be our host and producer. (He also named the Ping) Lastly, Faith Romasco, we couldn’t do it without you!
