Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to include new folks in featured roles.
Speaker 1: Make the most of the enthusiasm of newcomers to your team.
Speaker 1: This will invest them more deeply in the team and
Speaker 1: build their skills while also lightning everyone else's loads. So
Speaker 1: I recently heard of a precinct where an enthusiastic young
Speaker 1: adult was tapped to be the poll worker, helping to
Speaker 1: direct folks where to go. Voters were accustomed to seeing
Speaker 1: their older neighbors helping in this role, but this new
Speaker 1: face changed the dynamic. It was a reminder that voting
Speaker 1: isn't just something you do because you always do it.
Speaker 1: It is an exciting privilege. Tapping someone new can help
Speaker 1: show that at work and in volunteer contexts, Giving new
Speaker 1: people important responsibilities that they can in fact handle does
Speaker 1: many good things for starters. There is no better way
Speaker 1: to fold people into a community. When a new hire
Speaker 1: is asked to collect everyone's feedback on a proposal or
Speaker 1: to write a draft of a document that will include
Speaker 1: everyone's notes, she will get to know everyone on the team.
Speaker 1: Such delegation can also save other people time. You can
Speaker 1: always edit the document your new hire produces, but not
Speaker 1: being the one to create it from scratch can free
Speaker 1: you up for other things. You may also find out
Speaker 1: that you have untapped resources, particularly in volunteer contexts. People
Speaker 1: might have skills that compliment what you already have, or
Speaker 1: people may see ways to do things differently. Institutional memory
Speaker 1: is important, but pairing a new volunteer with a veteran
Speaker 1: one can allow you to give the new person significant
Speaker 1: responsibility without worrying about things going awry. The new person
Speaker 1: might also bring new enthusiasm to something that could probably
Speaker 1: use it. If you are a teacher or a parent,
Speaker 1: the same logic holds for kids as it does for newcomers.
Speaker 1: I know of an expert teacher who liked to remind
Speaker 1: his novice colleagues to ask themselves. Would my students be
Speaker 1: better served by doing this for themselves? This is such
Speaker 1: a helpful question for anyone to ask. Can your preschooler
Speaker 1: pick out his own clothes? Can your twelfth grader call
Speaker 1: the college admissions office to schedule an interview and doing
Speaker 1: so build her confidence? You can invite the young people
Speaker 1: in your life to contribute to shared endeavors too. For example,
Speaker 1: older kids can prepare a dish for family gatherings, be
Speaker 1: the lead on day to day care for pets or plants,
Speaker 1: and take on other important, rewarding household responsibilities. When you
Speaker 1: are hosting a family gathering, even younger children can understand
Speaker 1: and fulfill the responsibility of making sure everyone feels welcome.
Speaker 1: Giving responsibilities like these two young people honors them while
Speaker 1: also spreading around ownership and responsibility. When you aim to
Speaker 1: give responsibilities to new people, you engage more hands to
Speaker 1: make lighter work well also welcoming people. You will reap
Speaker 1: the benefits in the short term and for the future.
Speaker 1: If you try offering an important responsibility to someone new,
Speaker 1: you can tell me how it goes at Laura at
Speaker 1: Laura vander Kam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
Speaker 1: before Breakfast pod that's b the number four then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com
Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters
Speaker 1: thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows. Yea.