It’s not easy. But if it was, it would not be fun.
Public Affairs troops are smart. Too smart sometimes. They are creative. They are often very confident at a young age. Like all of us, they have a bit of an attitude. A little attitude is fine if they are professional and complete the task.
They are skilled at a job that we as officers are often not- photo and video storytelling. And we sure expect a lot out of them despite our little training in their craft.
Often as young enlisted public affairs specialist, they are tasked to capture strategic messages and efforts at a tactical level. As a leader, you must make sure your E-3 understands what the commander wants and can make it happen wherever they are because likely, you won’t be with them. Exercise, combat or crisis response, you may find yourself sending two to 10 or more troops out a day or night on a mission. We put a lot on them. We expect a lot of them, so let’s set them up for success.
“Airman Snuffy, you’re going out with a team tonight. They are going to this really strategically important location to do these really strategically important things. I need you to make sure you get photos of all those thing we have been talking about in order to meet the commander’s communication goals. I need 10-12 photos and at least 30 seconds of video. Make sure they don’t have any unauthorized patches on. Oh, remember, I know you have been up for a while and this mission is all night, but I am going to need those images by 0830 or else we can’t use them.”
How can we set them up for success:
- Make sure they understand the mission, goals, line of efforts, communication objectives, etc. If you know it, share it with them. As a leader, it is your job to figure out how much they need to know to do their job. Give them enough to be successful.
- Set expectations. Leadership 101, y’all.
- Show them examples. What worked before? It might not work again, but it’s a starting point.
- Give them feedback. What you did worked. You adapted to the situation and got the mission done. Do that again. OR because you did not get you images in on time, and did not communicate why, you will need to complete this exercise and show that you understand the requirements (or worse, you can come with me to explain to the boss why this was not done so we can both learn).
- Open communication. You make sure they understand the guidance and expectations. They tell you when something works or doesn’t. They should do the same for you. They see it from a different perspective. Feedback works both ways.
- Train constantly. Got a new team? Same team but change in priorities? Run them through an exercise to test their knowledge, skill, and ensure they know what’s expected.
- Show them the impact of their work. Great job, team! Your images were used by the 4-star to explain the terrain of that one location to Congress. CNN picked up your video, said it was the best combat footage they have seen highlighting the current efforts in location X.
- Encourage them to do more. Something wrong? How do we fix it? Let’s make this better as a team.
I love leading photographers, videographers and journalists. They always amaze me with what they do. They are the subject matter experts. Respect them for their trade and experience and set them up for success.
Photo by: Airman 1st Class James Crow
