How to Set Up a Podcast Team and Workflow

Launching a podcast with a team of 1 is straightforward. Scaling to 5 contributors, 3 approvers, and a production calendar across departments is where most workflows break down.

This guide walks through the exact structure you need to build a podcast team that ships consistently, whether you are producing 2 episodes a month or 20.

Define your core podcast roles

Every podcast team needs 4 functions covered, even if one person wears multiple hats:

• Executive producer — owns the editorial calendar, approves topics, and manages stakeholder expectations. In a corporate setting, this is often a VP of Marketing or Head of Content.
• Content lead — researches topics, writes outlines or scripts, and ensures each episode aligns with the broader content strategy.
• Audio producer — handles recording setup, editing, mixing, and final export. With AI tools like Jellypod, this role shifts from manual editing to prompt engineering and quality review.
• Distribution manager — publishes to RSS feeds, coordinates social clips, writes show notes, and tracks analytics.

For solo creators growing into a team, start by delegating distribution first. It is the most repeatable function and frees you to focus on content quality.

Build a 4-stage review workflow

The fastest podcast teams follow a linear pipeline with clear handoffs:

1. Brief — The content lead submits a 1-page episode brief covering the topic, target audience, key takeaways, and estimated runtime. Approval takes 24 hours maximum.
2. Draft — A full script or detailed outline is created. For AI-generated podcasts, this includes the source material upload and prompt configuration in your team workspace.
3. Review — The executive producer and any subject-matter experts listen to a draft render. Comments are tagged inline rather than buried in email threads.
4. Publish — Final audio is approved, show notes are attached, and the episode enters the distribution queue.

Teams that skip the brief stage waste an average of 3.2 hours per episode on rework, based on data from agency production workflows.

Set up your collaboration tools

Your tech stack should match your team size:

• 1–3 people — A shared project board (Notion, Asana, or Linear) plus a single AI podcast platform with shared login credentials is enough.
• 4–10 people — You need role-based permissions, version history on scripts, and separate staging and production environments. Platforms like Jellypod offer team-level access controls that prevent accidental publishes.
• 10+ people or multi-department — Add SSO integration, audit logs, and department-scoped workspaces. Content governance becomes as important as content creation.

Regardless of team size, establish one source of truth for your episode pipeline. Scattered Google Docs and Slack threads are the top reason podcast teams miss deadlines.

Create episode templates that reduce bottlenecks

Templates cut production time by 40–60% after the first month. Build templates for:

• Episode briefs — Pre-filled sections for topic, audience, sources, CTA, and deadline.
• Script formats — Standardized intro/outro blocks, segment transitions, and ad placement markers.
• Show notes — Consistent structure with timestamps, links, guest bios, and SEO metadata.
• Social clips — 3 clip formats (15s teaser, 60s highlight, 2-minute deep cut) with caption templates.

Store templates inside your podcast platform rather than in a separate tool. When templates live where production happens, adoption stays above 90%.

Scale from solo to multi-department production

The transition from solo podcaster to team operation typically happens in 3 phases:

Phase 1: Delegate distribution (month 1–2). Bring on a part-time distribution manager. You still own content and production.

Phase 2: Split content and production (month 3–4). Hire or assign a dedicated content lead. You move into the executive producer role, focusing on editorial direction and stakeholder alignment.

Phase 3: Department expansion (month 5+). Other teams (Sales, HR, Customer Success) want their own shows. Create a shared services model where your core team provides templates, brand guidelines, and platform access while department leads own their editorial calendars.

At phase 3, governance matters more than creativity. Document your brand voice standards, set publishing permissions by role, and run monthly cross-department syncs to prevent content overlap.

Measure team performance, not just downloads

Track these 5 metrics to evaluate your podcast team's health:

• Brief-to-publish cycle time — Target under 7 days for a weekly show.
• Review revision count — More than 2 rounds per episode signals a brief or alignment problem.
• Template adoption rate — Below 80% means your templates need updating, not your people.
• On-time publish rate — 95% or higher. Missed deadlines compound into audience drop-off.
• Cross-department requests — Rising demand is the best signal that your internal podcast program is working.

How Jellypod supports podcast teams

Jellypod's team features are built for exactly this kind of scaling. Role-based permissions mean producers can create drafts without publish access, reviewers can approve without edit rights, and admins maintain oversight without bottlenecking production.

The platform includes built-in templates for episode briefs, scripts, and show notes that live alongside production tools. When templates and production happen in the same workspace, adoption stays high and teams move faster.

Final thoughts

Podcast team structure is not about headcount. It is about role clarity, workflow stages, and collaboration tools that match your scale. Define the 4 core functions, build a linear review pipeline, use templates to cut production time, and choose a platform that grows with you. The teams that ship consistently are the ones with systems, not just talent.