Q + WORK CULTURE

Working Document
We are all very proud of what Q has achieved to this point, and want to work with show leaders to ensure the show can continue
to be the best it can be.
We want a work culture that is productive, creative, respectful, and lends itself to feeling good about one's work and to creating
great radio. This should support a healthy work-life balance, because we see that feeds positively back into the show and makes
it sustainable. We want a work culture where there is good communication, and where people feel valued and like they can
openly discuss any work issues.
This is not the work culture we have. Our current work culture is unsustainable. While we are proud to go the extra mile when
warranted, going the extra mile has become the expectation, and we feel pushed to our limits under regular circumstances. The
aim of raising the goals below is to make our current work culture a healthy, sustainable one, so that we can repair the core of
the show before attempting to further raise our goals, profile and scope.
Areas for improvement have been divided into four broad sections. Each includes the main problems we currently have, and
possible solutions to repair those problems.

SHOW VISION / GROWTH

While the vision and ambitions for the show continue to grow, the resources required to fulfill do not. This directly
results in all staff members taking on significantly more work, beyond a reasonable capacity. This is an unsustainable
model for growth.
Possible Solutions:
- Hire more staff members to correct this imbalance.
Decisions about show growth are made with secrecy, little/poor communication, and without consulting the people who
must execute the decisions. Examples include remotes, the Redesigning America series and the live studio audience.
This results in confusion about projects, ignorance of overall plans and operational problems that must be solved
immediately.
Possible Solutions:
- Involve all team members from the beginning of any new projects to obtain a realistic understanding of their requirements,
with an openness to ceasing development if the project cannot be completed using the resources we have.
- Involve all team members on special project debriefs, to honestly assess what worked, what didn't, and how to change going
forward.
Staff members are given consistently greater responsibility and perform duties that fall outside their job descriptions in
order to accommodate for the show's ambitions.
Possible Solutions:
- Reassess job descriptions of the current team, so each member receives the title and compensation he deserves,
considering the tasks they execute that fall outside their original job descriptions.

MANAGEMENT / WORK FLOW

Staff members feel they cannot honestly express criticism or speak up for themselves without being blamed.
Possible Solutions:
- Leadership fosters a safe space for staff members to express concerns and problems as they arise
- Leadership honestly acknowledges problems raised by staff, and helps address them.
- Leadership actively sets boundaries to help and protect staff members.
Staff members do not feel like they have the power to ever say no to requests from show leaders.
Possible Solutions:
- Leadership helps develops a culture of compromise.
Staff members do not feel like they have career mobility within CBC or opportunities for development outside Q.
Possible Solutions:
- Leadership takes initiative to help foster individual career growth, and works to facilitate secondments
Staff members feel decisions are often made in the interest of the host, without regard to the team's opinions and
feelings.

Possible Solutions:
- Leadership honestly communicates with host on staff's behalf, so he knows the realities of what is possible and reasonable in
all situations.
Staff members are often held at the whim of the host. If we don't do what he says, we will be punished in some way. If
we try to communicate with him to obtain answers we need to proceed, he is often either not available or evasive, which
directly impacts our ability to do our job.
Possible Solutions:
- Leadership holds host to account, rather than operating out of fear of "stirring the beast".
Feedback on our work is rarely given. If it is, it is usually specific and negative. When it is positive, it is usually broad
and unhelpful. This leaves producers without a sense of their progress or how to improve, and a general feeling of low
morale.
Possible Solutions:
- Begin an ongoing dialogue that provides constructive feedback. For example, a daily show debrief (in person or by email) in
which all staff members are included.
- More regular acknowledgement and celebration from show leaders of what we do well, rather than only accentuating what we
do poorly.

WORKLOAD
Staff members are not compensated for working overtime.
Possible Solutions:
- Allow staff members to claim overtime hours, to receive the payment they deserve.
Staff members complete "invisible work", which includes consuming media (books, movies, music) in off-hours, and
completing core show work in off-hours.
Possible Solutions:
- Implement a trackable mechanism by which this work can be made visible, and fairly compensated (for example, working
half-days, allowing full days off to perform this work, earn time in lieu, collect overtime)
New projects, remotes and series are not adequately staffed.
Possible Solutions:
- Assign two producers to all remotes.
- Reduce the amount of stories producers working on special projects must complete, or temporarily remove them from story
production altogether (depending on scope and duration)
Story production becomes an afterthought to other competing expectations (web, special projects, "invisible work"),
discouraging producers from pitching certain stories they do not have sufficient time to properly research, and
degrading the potential quality of the stories we produce.
Possible Solutions:
- Hire more staff, in particular a web producer who would oversee all aspects of Q's growing digital presence, to allow producers
to re-shift focus to stories
- Evaluate assignments and procedures that unevenly burden one person and change them to relieve that burden (similar to
how we've attempted to do with books and the website)
- Introduce a number of "work from home" days per person (for those whose jobs permit) to allow distance from our busy work
environment, reduce stress, and provide time to complete work in a more quiet, focused environment
Most days, staff members are unable to leave on time due to work load. If they are, they often feel guilty for leaving on
time.
Possible Solutions:
- Work together to make sure we are all able to get out of work on time, and leave early when additional time has been spent
elsewhere. Leadership and staff members develop a culture of support to help people leave on time or early.
- Develop a culture in which staff members can communicate clearly, without guilt, when they are overburdened, and help the
senior producer to redistribute their work (which would become a larger conversation about tasks that could be dropped or
backfilled if work exceeds available staff hours)
- Empower staff members to arrive early if they need or want to leave early for personal reasons, to foster better, guilt-free
work-life balance.