One major thing my mentor has taught me so far is the importance of morale. If people don't like what they're doing and how they're being treated, they won't want to put effort into their work. I've also found a significant amount of research supported the idea that staff morale is one of the most important aspects of a successful... anything (crazy, huh?). She showed me a decent list of ways that I could raise morale in my own staff, but one of the most basic (and important) is to use icebreakers.
“But Elijah, what’s an icebreaker?” I’m glad you asked, reader.
An icebreaker is what it sounds like... something to break the ice. They may or may not involve puns. Even though they sound relatively simple and unimportant, icebreakers are necessary to establish an early connection between you, your editors, and your staff. They’re especially effective when you gain new staff members. Every year in yearbook, we get a small group of freshmen who don’t exactly have the best idea of what to expect in the class. The icebreakers are a fun way to ease their nerves, and get them to bond with the experienced members. It’s always good to strengthen the bond of your current staff, too.
This is an example of one of the icebreakers we did on the first day of Yearbook (we adapted the colors a bit, but this is the gist):
Note: I'll be applying the lessons I learn in mentorship to Yearbook
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