Everyone likes to work in a fun environment. Creating that for your yearbook staff at the beginning of the year will be one of your most important jobs.
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Staff Management
Remember your first year as an adviser? Your memories of the ups and downs and the wisdom gained from that year might just help out the rookies.
Master class schedule, School calendar, List of page submission deadlines….
At least one quality point & shoot camera and one 35-mm cam- era system with an interchangeable lens system for sports events. Buy as many cameras as possible because good photographs are the first ingredient of a good yearbook.
A variety of distribution methods exist – from simple to flashy – no matter whether yearbooks are handed out in the spring, summer or fall. Advisers and administrators opposed to summer/fall delivery cite obstacles to distributing yearbooks, especially to seniors, for staying with spring delivery.
Nothing is quite as frantic as a badly organized yearbook room at deadline. Usually, most advisers have more than enough staff and more than enough time to make deadlines manageable. However, advisers’ main problem seems to be not having time to sit down and develop a plan for optimum staff efficiency. Therefore, with apologies to David Letterman, I would like to share my top 10 ways to improve staff development.
Unlike the horse that will move forward only when he sees a carrot on a stick in front of him, there are many ways to motivate people to accomplish tasks. Different people are motivated by different enticements. For yearbook, some staff members like prizes; most like food. With some, peer pressure and being invested in the project are enough. Consider some of these inducements, both lighthearted and serious, to get your staff to perform when the pressure of a deadline is not enough.
When people work together as a team, it shows in the finished product. Without a yearbook “team,” it would be impossible to produce a book. However, it is up to you how tight your team is. The tighter the team, the better the book. Below are some suggestions for bringing your staff together, and creating a family atmosphere inside (and outside) the yearbook room.
The staff could not contain their excitement. They showed me their cover design and said it would look “really cool” in neon orange with a bright green alligator holding our school mascot protruding from the wide open jaws. Such is the life of a South Florida yearbook adviser. When I awoke from this nightmare, I thought again about who actually controls the book. While some advisers control every step of the process, from cover to endsheets and everything in between, others hold to the philosophy that this is a student production and decisions should be made by the editor and editorial staff members.
Tasks that will make deadlines easier on you and your adviser.
