When an organization like ours is at full staff, when everyone is healthy and motivated, the work almost seems to do itself.
Our content department 鈥� we used to call it a newsroom, but we do so much more than news 鈥攄elivers breaking and in-depth stories, insightful interviews and all manner of useful and entertaining news and information on radio, television, social media channels and our website.
Fully staffed, we do it with lots of urgency, but little stress. It feels more 鈥渉ardly working鈥� than 鈥渨orking hard.鈥�
But when is any organization at full staff and 100% healthy? Look around your office (or Zoom call) and see who is missing. There鈥檚 always a need to pick up the slack.
People take vacations, have babies, leave for new opportunities, or get to where we all hope to arrive one day 鈥� retirement.
And sometimes they get sick.
That鈥檚 when you learn what it means to truly be a team.
We deal with paid time off all the time. A reporter has a child鈥檚 eighth-grade graduation to attend and will miss a day. A producer is off on a two-week cruise with her young family and all of her in-laws. An editor awakes with a sore throat and needs some rest.
A slight adjustment here, a redeployment there, and we鈥檙e covered for the short term. It鈥檚 not exactly 鈥渉ardly working,鈥� but it鈥檚 not the heaviest of lifts.
Then along come major illnesses that stretch the limits of hard work, to the point where 鈥渘ext to impossible鈥� starts creeping into the consciousness.
We鈥檝e been experiencing that lately here. Our 鈥淎ll Things Considered鈥� host Amanda Rabinowitz has been laid low by an illness that required hospitalization and recovery. She鈥檚 on the mend, thankfully. This came right as Josh Boose, the supervising producer of newscasts, had major surgery that may necessitate a weeks-long, and perhaps months-long, leave. He鈥檚 on the mend, too, which is such a relief.
Josh usually fills in when one of our hosts is off, so he鈥檇 have been on the air instead of Amanda.
You may have heard Glenn Forbes instead. He used to have Josh鈥檚 job, but now is one of two deputy editors of news, helping reporters tell important stories.
Without hesitation, he jumped right back into his old role, filling in for Josh, who would have filled in for Amanda. That meant other editors have stepped up to help with Glenn鈥檚 reporters.
Tomorrow, Glenn is scheduled to be off for a week, meaning Andrew Meyer, another deputy editor of news, will fill in for Glenn, who was filling in for Josh, who would have filled in for Amanda. And the rest of us are ready to help fill the gaps his temporary move will leave.
Next week, reporter Anna Huntsman will fill in for Andrew, who was filling in for Glenn, who was filling in for Josh, who was to fill in for Amanda. And if Anna runs into traffic on her way in from Akron (actually, if she is on any Northeast Ohio highway, that's a possibility), someone else will have the skill and resilience to step into unfamiliar territory and host the show.
We adapt because we care so much about our mission, our audience and our colleagues. Our bench is deep because we train to be ready for the unexpected, even when the unexpected approaches the unprecedented.
The audience is always on our minds, but so are our colleagues. A grassroots collection led by two of our reporters brought in a bounty that should ensure meals are delivered to Josh and Amanda while they concentrate on their one and only job at the moment: healing.
I was thrilled to tell them via text that they were big winners at the Press Club of Cleveland's All Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards ceremony, which they had to miss. Josh won for best essay in Ohio. Amanda won for best podcast, "Shuffle," and best on-air personality in Ohio.
The messages on the cards set out for signing on our community table don鈥檛 reflect taxed coworkers hoping their award-winning colleagues will return to lighten the load. It shows concerned teammates whose foremost worry is the wellbeing of their friends.
There鈥檚 a phrase I often use at 精东影业 when we鈥檝e come together to do extraordinary things, and it is more fitting now than ever:
鈥淭eamwork makes the 鈥檚tream work.鈥�
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