How do you build a podcast team without it turning into a never-ending group chat?
Getting people to join a podcast is easy. Everyone’s got an opinion, a mic, and at least one “you know what would be cool?” idea. The hard part is building a team that can hold a conversation without falling apart mid-sentence or mid-season.
The Grumpy Old Gamer podcast wasn’t built through casting calls or brand pitches. It started from conversations that didn’t suck. I looked for people who had something to say and could say it without turning every discussion into a monologue. People who could disagree without taking it personally. People who didn’t need their ego massaged every time they spoke.
Even with that, it takes work. One person wants structure. Another wants chaos (I’m looking at you, Wayne). Someone just wants to wing it. One person will say they’re happy with whatever, but then push back on every decision. Add time zones, work schedules, life stress, and a rotating set of hardware problems, and you start to see why most podcasts don’t get past episode five.
The trick isn’t harmony. Harmony is boring. The trick is friction that doesn’t explode. You want a bit of pushback. You want perspectives that don’t line up cleanly. You want someone to say, “I don’t get the hype,” just to keep it interesting. But it only works if everyone knows the conversation is the point, not winning it.
And there has to be trust. Trust that everyone is here for the same reason. Trust that no one’s going to sabotage an episode to make a point. Trust that if someone cuts a segment, it’s because it didn’t work, not because they’re playing favourites. Without that, it stops being a team and turns into a passive-aggressive editing nightmare.
This only works if someone takes the lead. In our case, that’s me. I handle the planning, scheduling, content management, file organisation, guest coordination, and everything else no one really wants to do. I don’t mind doing it, but I do expect people to show up prepared and take it seriously. If the rest of the team coasts, the whole thing dies.
You don’t need your podcast team to be best friends. You need them to be reliable. You need them to care about the format and the tone. You need them to know when to speak and when to shut up. That’s the bar.
This podcast isn’t about hype or performance. It’s about honesty, mixed with a bit of seasoned cynicism. That only works if the people on the mic actually believe what they’re saying, and can handle being challenged without storming off or sulking.
If someone needs to be agreed with to function, they’re not a good fit. If they need airtime just to hear themselves talk, they’re better off streaming alone. What you want is a mix of strong opinions, low ego, and basic consistency. That’s how the team came together. It took some digging. But it works.
What kind of personality ruins a podcast faster than bad audio?
