How can I transform my yearbook staff into a team?

Changing the Staff Status Quo

How to transform an unmotivated staff into a dedicated team

When I took over as yearbook adviser, the staff was comprised of mostly senior girls who signed up for the class because it gave them an opportunity to relax and gossip with their friends. Needless to say, the resulting book was more a scrapbook of their friends and less a true representation of the school year.

Not satisfied with the status quo, I wanted to transform the book into something of which all students and staff could be proud. I knew in order to achieve this goal, the class culture needed to change.

The first step in this process occurred over the summer when four returning staff members attended a workshop. Those five days of instruction resulted in the creation of strong editorial leadership because the girls returned to school armed with the confidence to implement their ideas and enough excitement to motivate the other staff members to embrace the ideas as their own. The result was a group that set goals and held each other accountable for meeting them. Instead of one girl doing all the work while everyone else wasted time, all members became active participants.

While this increase in leadership made a huge difference, some of the staff members still chafed at the idea that they actually had to do work. Though I could find no magic solution to this problem except perhaps graduation, I determined that these students needed more of an extrinsic motivation to meet the expectations. This is where celebrations and food came into play. It was amazing how effective the lure of food and a day off could be in motivating change.

These celebrations helped inspire and empower active staff members but did nothing to combat the decrease in the number of students who applied for the program once word spread that yearbook was no longer a hangout. To combat this, the returning staff members recruited new members by personally inviting them to apply. Though not all accepted the offer, those who did, joined the staff with a sense of prestige that later translated to a willingness to meet expectations.  

Though it has taken four years to establish a new status quo, now instead of accepting mediocrity, the staff commits to working days, nights and even weekends to create a journalistically sound yearbook that tells an accurate story of our entire school each year.

...makes yearbook less fun. (top to bottom) The staff’s summer workshop included brainstorming and instruction in design and  photography (including this exercise with flowing water). Planning celebrations into the schedule ensures that the staff has time to bond and has traditions to look forward to. Teamwork helps make deadlines easier. A completed deadline meant the staff got a day off from class, and they walked to a local ice cream shop to celebrate. (top of page). Club members participate in interviewing exercises.  A team of volunteers aids the staff in production.

Contributed by Beth Ann Brown, yearbook adviser
Northeastern HS, Manchester, PA
Yearbook Discoveries Volume 16 Issue 2