Rachel speaks!
Rachel, please, a few uplifting words
By Rachel
Oct 16, 2009 - 1:02:44 AM

Rachel,
I'm sure you hear this all the time, but we here at our agency are just sick of how bad things have gotten over the last two years. When will it end? We've lost good people, friends we worked with for years, and everyone has sour faces anymore. We'd all like to work to lift the mood around here but don't know where to begin. Can you help? Sign us-- Been Down Too Long.

Dear Been,
Yes, I do hear it all the time, and so does everyone else in the media business.

I can tell you it helps if you have been through it before--to know in your heart that it will end some day--but that's little consolation when you see friends walking out the door because management can no longer afford to pay them, good workers though they are.

What always seems to make it worse, in my opinion, is that one person, or several people, who exhale words of doom each time they open their mouths.

They are the first to notice the latest negative indicator and the first to bad-mouth management when the agency loses an account or fails to win a new one. They behave as if they are owed a personal apology for having to work longer hours because of staff shortages.

There is no single piece of advice I can offer you and your fellow staffers, but I can suggest some things to consider.

First, I'd get everyone to agree on talking up the agency, the department and their team. Talk about the good work that is being done, and what you are all learning from the experience of working under these tougher conditions.

That doesn't mean spreading false joy. That never works. People see through it.

It means simply maintaining a balanced attitude that weighs the good along with the bad. The economy is bad, people are out of work, and we must do more with less. Yet we're getting the job done, we are taking home paychecks, if smaller paychecks, and we, the agency, are doing the best job we can to navigate through these hard times.

It means not letting the naysayers dominate the conversation, so to speak.

But I would also work to steer the conversation in the direction of innovation.

It's precisely in hard times that new businesses and great ideas are born. This is history's one enduring lesson. People making do with less get to thinking, and in the process they come up with smarter, better ways to get the job done.

Ask yourselves, what can we do to make this a smarter agency? What loops can we cut from the process to make things run more smoothly, better serve our clients, and make our lives easier?

People have a horrible time accepting change. We want to look back on how things were two years ago, or a decade ago. But change in itself isn't bad, it's the worries and fears we attach to it. Once we can accept change, it's amazing how well and how quickly we adapt.

The big question you should all be pondering is where will the agency be once the recovery comes. If you are real smart about how you deal with these tough times, you'll be way ahead.

Think about that day and how you can get to that place.