Live Action Reviews

Poor leadership: some in leadership refuse to even listen to their direct reports and interrupt/shut down the conversation if anything remotely critical is said; others solicit feedback, only to dismiss any feedback that doesn't support their predetermined conclusions as "just not getting it"; still others make a good show of listening to staff concerns, promise to address those concerns, but never actually follow through on their promises. There is also no clear hierarchy of decision making authority, which exacerbates overall levels of chaos (which are already high). Poor communication across departments/within departments. The right hand never seems to know what the left hand is doing. Clarity of mission is lacking: too many projects don't seem to advance/support the alleged mission; there is also an overemphasis on metrics, without any apparent concern for whether those metrics actually serve the mission. Excessive emphasis on fundraising to the detriment of content quality and org integrity; meanwhile, spending is unchecked, with money being wasted right and left on things that are unnecessary or even extravagant. Unbalanced focus on style over substance: team members who produce slick/glossy content are rewarded, even if their content is superficial or fails to serve the mission, while more thoughtful/serious team members with substantive ideas are routinely sidelined and ignored. Lack of uniform onboarding process for new employees: people are added to the team without sufficient training in the org's messaging and mission. Lack of follow through: ideas/programs are routinely announced to the team as "coming soon" items, only for those things never to be mentioned again, much less implemented. It is a running joke that nobody takes the announcements made on team calls seriously, because they generally don't materialize. Raises are few and VERY far between.