We were able to catch up with the team at their office in San Francisco, CA and learn about the highs and lows of running a creative agency. Watch the video below to learn more about their creative journey from rock band to film production, and how Wrike plays a role in their success
One of the basic fundamentals of managing a team is scheduling regular one-on-ones. These meetings are meant to check in on the individual and see what they're working on, right? Wrong. If this is how you are running your one-on-ones, you're not optimizing that time spent with your team members appropriately. One-on-ones shouldn't be treated as open-ended "office hours" for your team to come in and update you on ongoing projects (you shouldn't have to meet with them privately to know the status of a project), or gossip about office politics (that's for HR to handle). Instead, one-on-ones should be scheduled with a purpose—utilizing that time to discuss personal growth and give your team member your full, undivided attention. Treating the private time as a status update, or putting your team member on the spot to come up with abstract questions, can make the personal encounter ineffective. Why are one-on-ones important? One-on-ones have been ingrained in the managerial process for so long, it's easy to forget why we even have them in the first place. The purpose of a one-on-one is to build a trusting relationship amongst your team at an individual level, by devoting time to listen to their individual concerns and helping them grow and reach their personal objectives. As cliché as it sounds, this is how you differentiate yourself from being a boss to being a leader. It's easy to just sit down with the members of your team and go through what they're working on each week. But a leader uses this precious time to address personal concerns and discuss individual growth. Believe it or not, these occasional meetings set the standard for how work gets done on your team. It's as simple as this: if you trust your team, your team will trust you back. And that is the foundation of a healthy work relationship that leads to employee retention and higher engagement. What are we doing wrong? Simply put, bad one-on-ones are leading to disengaged employees, and these disengaged employees are leaving. You've probably heard the phrase, people leave managers, not companies. This is directly related to how managers are handling (or NOT handling) the issues and concerns brought up by their team. Gallup data reveals that around 60-70% of employees are simply not engaged at work—in other words, not working as hard as they could be—costing U.S. companies $450 billion annually in lost productivity. Victor Lipman, management author and former Fortune 500 executive, argues that disengaged employees and lost productivity are correlated to the relationship they have with their manager. "There’s no question that a chronically high level of employee disengagement represents both a failure of management and a fundamental challenge to it: a challenge to do what is needed to keep vast numbers of individuals interested in their work, feeling good about their organizations, and working as productively as they can," says Lipman. Does this sound familiar? If so, all is not lost. Holding consistent and effective one-on-ones can improve employee engagement by discovering what motivates your employees to work harder—both intrinsically and extrinsically. Outlining personal goals, talking through the steps to achieve those goals, and making a promise to reward hard work (and following through!) are all crucial to re-engaging your employees. 7 secrets for mastering your next one-on-one Secret #1 - Actually have them This may seem obvious, but there have probably been times where you felt like you didn't need a one-on-one and cancelled. It's OK to cancel them once in a while, but make sure you're having them often enough to discuss progress with each individual. Even if you believe there is nothing to talk about, your employee may think otherwise. If your employee has specific talking points they would like to bring up, do everything in your power to not cancel that meeting. Your team needs to know they're a priority to you, and you put that at risk by abruptly canceling your one-on-ones. Secret # 2 - Come prepared Having a one-on-one with no agenda just wastes everyone's time. Come prepared by building an agenda of topics you want to go over and questions you want to ask, leaving room for them to talk as well. Share this agenda with them prior to the session so they're aware of your expectations for the meeting and not caught off guard. This will show your employee that your meetings with them are a top priority and you put effort into making them successful. Secret # 3 - Record meeting notes If the conversation turns personal, steer clear of taking notes. Otherwise, write down the big items your employee brings up—especially if they require follow-up. Assign rough due dates to the follow up by saying, "I'll have an answer for you by the end of the week" or "Let's check in on that during our next one-on-one," so your employee knows that you will get to it by a certain date. Secret # 4 - Avoid gossiping If you're fairly close with your employee, it might be tempting to use this time to gossip about office politics or share company secrets with them. This is highly discouraged as it spreads negativity and is unprofessional. There is a reason why organizations aren't 100% transparent, and as a manager, it's your job to maintain the discretion of the company and only disclose information that is necessary for your employee to do his or her job. Secret # 5 - Establish OKRs Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), a performance measurement process made famous by Google, is an excellent way to track and measure success. OKRs are used to set aggressive goals and to outline the steps required to obtain those goals. They’re typically used to set quarterly goals, but can also be used for annual planning. You can set OKRs at the team and individual level, which make them a great talking point during one-on-ones. Discuss OKR progress and goals during this time, so your employee can make sure they stay on track. Encourage them to open up about their OKRs so you can gauge their workload: are they feeling overwhelmed? Do any projects need to be deferred due to an upcoming vacation? Are they running into any roadblocks? Learning this upfront allows you to address any problems early on so there's time to make adjustments. Secret #6 - Change up the setting No one's saying you need to sit down with your employee in a stuffy room with no windows. Switch it up a bit! If it's a nice day, go out for a cup of coffee or a walk. Michael Affronti, VP of Product at Fuse, claims his most productive one-on-ones were held outside the office. "Sometimes after meetings I would share the step count graphs from my Fitbit profile with my employees to celebrate that we hit funny milestones like 'longest meeting of the week in steps' or 'fastest meeting in mph,'" says Affronti. Secret #7 - Get feedback, don't give it There's a time and place for giving feedback, and dishing it out to your employees every week can feel overwhelming and hinder their confidence. Provide feedback when something big comes up or when they specifically ask for it, and always compliment them on a job well done. You always hear teachers learn more from their students than students learn from their teachers. The same can be true for managers. Try asking for feedback once in a while, but make sure you word it the right way. Asking, how am I doing? is vague and can make your employee feel uncomfortable about being honest with you. Try asking for feedback by referencing specific areas, such as: How can I help you reach your career goals? and What can I be doing better to help you in your job? This will show your team you are looking to improve as a manager just as much as they are as a team, and also that you care about their career trajectory. Putting it into practice One-on-ones don't have to be this boring, tedious, and awkward discussion you have with your employees each week. By putting a little bit of time into preparing for your one-on-ones and switching up the scenery every once in a while, you will see immense improvement in meeting productivity. Building a healthy work culture and retention starts by building trust amongst your employees. Putting effort into your one-on-ones and making your employees a high priority will boost overall mood and satisfaction across your team. Making those changes to improving culture and ensuring overall team happiness is what transforms a boss into a leader. FREE 1-on-1 Agenda PDF: Download our free agenda template that will show you exactly how to run your next meeting using the secrets from this post. Here's a link where you can download the PDF.
If you love food as much as I do, then you're always looking for excuses to eat throughout the day. Bored, stressed, nervous, happy... all very legitimate reasons to head to the kitchen. I'm here to share with you another reason to eat: greater productivity. Hard work requires a sharp mind and plenty of energy, and eating the right foods can boost productivity. . You're probably thinking: No way, this is just a fabricated excuse to eat more. Allow me to explain. Glucose is what provides our brain with the energy it needs to stay alert and focused. Just about everything you eat is converted to glucose. When we're running low on glucose, we tend to lose focus easily. This is why it’s hard to work on an empty stomach. . Great, so I'll just stuff my face with spaghetti and I'm golden. Not so fast. According to Harvard Business Review, not all foods are processed by our bodies the same way. For example, foods that are high in carbohydrates or sugar release glucose quickly, so we get an immediate burst of energy followed by a lethargic crash. So it's important to assess the consequences of your food choices when productivity is on the line. . Snacks to Maximize Productivity The next time you're looking for foods that boost productivity, put down that greasy bag of chips and reach for one of these options instead: 1. Almonds Almonds are the go-to when looking for foods that increase focus. They are easy to store and packed with lots of healthy fats and necessary calories to get you through your day. Not only that, but the protein in almonds helps curb your appetite without feeling sluggish. . 2. Green Tea Ok, this isn't really a snack. But it's a healthy, caffeine-packed alternative to coffee and guaranteed to provide you with nutrition and productivity. Green tea contains an amino acid called L-theanine that improves focus and helps the brain stay alert. L-theanine mixed with just the right amount of caffeine is the perfect recipe for a productive day. Other benefits include boosting metabolism, lowering cholesterol, reducing blood pressure, and improving skin health...who can say no to that! . 3. Bananas Remember how I said glucose gives you the energy to stay focused? A single banana is packed with the daily amount of glucose your body needs to stay productive throughout the day. Bananas also have a sufficient amount of carbohydrates, so they'll keep you feeling full longer; preventing you from making multiple trips to the kitchen. . 4. Eggs There's a reason why breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eggs are chock-full of a B vitamin called choline, which is known to help improve memory and speed up reaction times. Not to mention, there are so many easy ways to prepare eggs: scrambled, hard-boiled, egg salad, etc. Little time needed for preparation, and lots of EGGcellent benefits. . 5. Dark Chocolate Yes, you read that right. Dark chocolate has an abundance of nutrients that contribute to your work performance. The sugar and caffeine in dark chocolate gives you just the right amount of energy to get work done without getting the post-coffee jitters. The magnesium in chocolate also helps relieve stress and anxiety. I just provided you with another excuse to eat chocolate, and for that, you're welcome. . . 6. Water Not only does it effect your overall health, water and hydration play a big role in productivity. Made up of 80% of water, your brain highly depends on you staying hydrated. drinking lots of water (recommend 8 glasses or 2 liters a day) can not only boost energy levels significantly, but improve your mental flexibility by 14%. . Because I like to mix it up a bit, here are few dynamic duo combinations that will keep both your stomach and your brain happy: 7. Apple & Peanut Butter Apples are very rich in antioxidants and have about 13g of sugar, which make them a more effective source of energy than coffee. Pair them with a tablespoon or two of your favorite natural peanut butter and you have the perfect combination of energy + protein to keep your mind sharp and your tummy full. . 8. Yogurt & Granola The amount of sleep you get is also directly related to what you eat. Lack of sleep or insomnia is often caused from hunger pains. If you tend to eat dinner early, having a small snack a few hours before bed helps improve sleep so you are recharged and ready to start your day. Yogurt and granola are great snacks to curb those late-night sugar cravings and ease hunger pains so you can be well rested for the day ahead. . 9. Carrots & Hummus Ah, there's nothing like the perfect combination of creamy and crunchy. Carrots are delicious and you can pair hummus with pretty much anything. The luteolin found in carrots helps improve memory, while hummus contains Omega 3 fatty acids and amino acids which help improve intelligence and boost your mood. Hummus also packs lots of protein and calories that help curb your hunger longer. . Snacks to Avoid 1. Sweets Of course, the sugar rush is great for a brief burst of energy — but what goes up must come down. Instead of productive creativity you'll find yourself struggling to keep your head up and eyes open. Reach for more nutritional high-energy snacks such as apples, nuts, or green tea. . 2. Salty foods Salt may be your best friend, but is also your worst enemy. Every salty food — whether it's chips, pretzels, french fries, sushi (check out the sodium on that soy sauce bottle) — will leave you feeling bloated and thirsty. Try to snack on something lighter, or if you are in the mood for sushi, opt for the light sodium soy sauce and steer clear of the deep fried rolls. . What healthy snacks do you reach for when you're looking to boost productivity? Share your snack ideas in the comments. . Ready to eat healthy and reduce stress? Check out these 7 Exercises for Reducing Stress (Infographic)
"Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value. It is a process; it's not random." —Ken Robinson Using your imagination can sometimes be easier said than done. As a kid, being creative comes with ease and encouragement. As an adult, it becomes more of an expectation. Sometimes, that creative block can get the best of you and you're stuck thinking in circles. You seek inspiration but just find yourself retreading the same boring ideas. As a writer, I've had to (ironically) be creative about being creative. I came up with the B.U.I.L.D model to help me break through creative blocks and soldier on with the typing. Take a look at the infographic below for all the details on B.U.I.L.D. and start using it yourself: Share this infographic with your creative colleagues using this embed code: Infographic brought to you by Wrike What other ways do you use to jumpstart your creativity? Be creative in the comments! Related Reads: 16 Simple Motivation Tips to Get More Done (Infographic) 5 Ways Creative Teams Can Boost Productivity How to Better Foster Creativity on Teams
One of the most telling questions you can ask a software company is: "How do you use your product internally?" If they quickly throw out several compelling ways they use it, great! But often you hear: "Well, we use it, but we use lots of other tools too" and they can't give specific examples of how they're using their own tool. Why don't companies use their own product? Or why don't they use it well? Is it a question of belief or reliability? To customers and potential buyers, using your own product is a way of saying, "Yes, we love our product (and we hope you do too)!" Here at Wrike, not only do we believe in our software, but we're bona fide fanatics who use it every single day. Yes, We Use Our Product Everyday! We get the question, "How does Wrike use Wrike?" all the time. To answer that question, I'm sharing my example of a big project we completed using Wrike when I first started: I joined the marketing team at Wrike in January 2015. As a marketer, my team and I live and breathe in Wrike. Brainstorming, writing, editing — you name it, it's done in Wrike. And one of my first projects was part of the effort to develop example pages on our site. My priority was to provide customer stories, so people could see our product in action. During my first week, our international creative team was in town, and they had a huge role to play in the development of our new pages. We had a quick kick-off meeting with our Head of Creative and the project lead, our VP of Product Marketing. Within minutes we had created a task in Wrike to collectively brainstorm which example pages we wanted to develop and which took top priority. We used Wrike to schedule when each example page would be published, and created subtasks delegating to our teams what needed to be completed for each page. Then, we created a template from our first task structure, so we could use the same workflow for the rest of the example pages. The entire project planning meeting took only 30 minutes. Although the kick-off meeting consisted of only 4 people, the whole project required input from 15 team members. Since all my initial meeting notes were in Wrike, everyone could see our detailed project plan without needing to call me or tap me on the shoulder to ask a question. My teammates could add questions or suggestions to the kick-off task, and then simply @mention the appropriate person to get their answer. 3 months later in March, we had completed all five example pages on time without ever having to jump on another call or schedule another meeting. Everything between our content marketing, product marketing, design, and development teams was done through Wrike. This was an "A-ha!" moment for me as a new employee; I saw the power of our product in action. After our project was completed, our VP of Product Marketing sent out a congratulatory message. Always making a little time to celebrate our wins! "This is an amazing example of Wrike in action. In January, we laid out the project plan in a 30 min meeting and here we are today delivering exactly on time with 10+ people involved in these pages and 0 status update meetings. There were at least 5 individual pages created as part of this project. In the typical creative process, this would have required at least 3 rounds of review for each, and we did it all in real time through Wrike." — Brian Thome, VP of Product and Product Marketing at Wrike ...And Here Are Our Wrike Tips: 1. We take notes in Wrike so project plans are accessible in real time We don't wait until the end of the meeting to record next steps or primary goals. Instead, we open up Wrike right when the meeting begins and take notes in real time. This allows us to document every detail and create/assign tasks appropriately. Since everyone involved in the project has access to these notes, it helps keep the meetings short and only requires key players to attend. 2. We assign tasks to document accountability Since all the information is in one location, assigning individuals to tasks helps us track accountability. In the example above, each example page required a number of tasks to be completed by different team members. In Wrike, everyone saw who was responsible for which task, so if there was any delay we could comment on the task to see what the hold up was. There was never confusion on who was responsible for any work. 3. By receiving daily updates on projects, we cut out meetings Whenever there is a change to a task, everyone on that task is notified immediately. So while creating the example pages, all project tracking was done through Wrike. There was no need for status meetings or conference calls. If our director was curious about our progress, he could just glance at Wrike to see what was still in motion and what had already been completed. 4. Consolidating project data in Wrike allows us to plan around the clock With our team spread across the globe, we use the "follow the sun" technique, allowing the U.S. team to get tasks done during our work day, and then pass off the work to our international teammates to keep progress moving as we sleep; the project never stops moving. And since we keep all our progress and work in Wrike, there's no need to send emails asking for updates or documents, and then wait day (or more) for a response. Our teammates' work is always accessible. 5. We create templates to save time We love creating templates and copying folder structures in Wrike so efforts aren't duplicated. For example, we created five example pages — all with different content, but developed using the same process and with similar components. We duplicated our tasks and subtasks structure, so the process for the individual pages stayed consistent. It helped us prepare for the next step on each page and reference what worked last time. Want more on how Wrike uses Wrike? I hope you enjoyed this account of how we use Wrike internally! Check out some of our case studies to see some examples of how our customers are successfully using Wrike! You can also see How I Run a Marketing Team, 8 Lessons in Increased Productivity from Wrike Customers, and How Wrike Uses Wrike... for Fun! for more examples, or see other examples of Wrike use cases. Are you a big Wrike fan? Tell us your favorite reason to use Wrike in the comments!
Hard work requires a sharp mind and plenty of energy, and eating the right foods can boost productivity. The next time you're looking for foods that boost productivity, put down that greasy bag of chips and reach for one of these options instead:
