Managing rolling deadlines

In the video above, you’ll see the steps that the staff of El Estoque takes to manage deadlines for its online publication. Here’s a condensed version of the process:

  1. Before class on Monday, head editors send a Google form to all staff, which is used to pitch stories.
  2. In class on Monday, the staff sifts through pitches and section editors keep track of stories for their sections.
  3. Section editors meet with writers, who take stories and projects for the upcoming week or so.
  4. After assignments are out, section editors update the master spreadsheet with stories, writers, an “in edits by” deadline, and a publish deadline.
  5. When a writer has a story ready for edits, she starts it through the process by marking the “peer edit” column green for her story. She also notifies the peer editor of her choice.
  6. After the peer completes the edit, he goes to the spreadsheet and changes the box back to white. In it, he will mark the date he completed the edit and his initials.
  7. After the writer finishes the revision, she then goes on to mark the next column green. This process continues until the story has moved through the peer, section, two copy, and one copy/adviser edit.
  8. After the final editing is complete, the writer publishes the story on the site and marks the story row gray on the spreadsheet.
  9. The process begins again.

Written By: Michelle Balmeo