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Deb Lee, a Digital Productivity Coach, Certified Professional Organizer, speaker, and Evernote Certified Consultant, shares the top tech tool features small businesses need to boost productivity and be more competitive. Here are her tips on what to look for when searching for the best apps for your company.
According to a study by Aon Hewitt, nearly 50% of millennials plan to actively look for a new job in 2015. With 80 million millennials in the U.S. alone, it’s time to start strategizing around how to attract their talent, meet their needs, and keep them engaged. Global research firm Gartner found these interesting facts about the current state of the workplace: Employees are only spending about 40% of their time at their personal workstations Non-group tasks have decreased to about 20% of the working day With larger percentages of this generation joining the workforce every day, the work environment is changing. The millennial generation grew up on collaboration, and they expect that in the workplace. So if you really want to attract and tap into their talent, you’ll need to reconsider your office setup to support collaboration and creative thinking. Removing Cubicles in the Office Traditionally, employees would withdraw to their private space and work as human silos. This is the opposite of what millennials desire; they crave collaboration. And the first step to satisfying that hunger is to say “Rest In Peace” to cubicles. Interior design and research firm Knoll ran a workplace study and discovered some remarkable results after companies moved from cubicles to an open-floor design: Performance increased by an average of 440% There was a 5.5% reduction in business process time and cost When you think about it, walls physically block communication. They separate people, and they prevent teammates from conversing with one another. So why are organizations still keeping them up? Try this out for size: group desks together in pods or line them up in rows so employees are in close contact with each other. Make sure teammates can easily verbally communicate with one another without having to shout or move too far from their desks. Designate Collaboration Spaces for Work Once you’ve said goodbye to the cubicles, the next step is to create spaces that encourage casual collisions and collaboration. According to this survey by IdeaPaint, millennials reported that only 30.8% of their ideation meetings are planned. Here are four solutions that foster both spontaneous and scheduled brainstorming: Open meeting areas: Scatter tables and chairs in various spaces around the office. This allows employees to quickly gather when they need to brainstorm, instead of having to wait for a meeting room to open up. If you hang a whiteboard on a nearby wall, then you’ve got a fully functional meeting space. Break rooms: Idle chitchat around the watercooler isn’t always a time waster. In fact, the majority of watercooler conversations revolve around work. You never know when a brilliant idea will pop up. Genius bar: Meant for eating lunch or teamwork, these long stretches of counter space allow employees to just step right up to the bar and work together. It creates a more centralized space for collaboration where multiple teams can gather in one area. Meeting rooms: You obviously can’t forget to keep rooms that people can schedule for formal meetings. They’re still necessary when you need to discuss a sensitive topic or gather a large party. A Work Environment for the New Way to Work Out of respect for fellow colleagues, collaboration can’t always be done at people’s desks. So to encourage open, unbridled teamwork that appeals to the millennial generation, create these collaborative spaces so people can feel free to brainstorm and let loose their creative ideas. Create a work environment that matches the new way people are working — with spontaneous, open collaboration. Author Bio: Sabrina is a Content Marketing Specialist at TINYpulse, writing about and researching new ways to make employees happier. A Seattle native, she loves her morning (or anytime) coffee, spending her weekends on the mountains, and of course, the famous rain.
As an entrepreneur, you pour your heart and soul into your business and do everything you can to help it grow. Building your product, team, service models and customer base takes all your focus, and it can be difficult to know what to prioritize. But whether you’re a brand new startup or an established business, continuing to build your brand is always of vital importance. At amoCRM, we rely on marketing efforts to cut through the fierce competition within the Bay Area. Finding the right marketing agency, however, turned out to be a challenge. We needed an agency that tended to each and every lead, like we do with our own customers. We’re sharing the lessons we learned on our quest to find the perfect marketing agency, to save you from conducting your own wild goose chase. Starting Our Search Living in the Google era, we started our search for marketing agencies online, selecting 20 agencies with the best Google Ads. We knew we’d ultimately have to narrow our search to 5 agencies, but selecting 20 to start with gave us a nice pool of options. We began with Google Ads for a very pragmatic reason: agencies that allocate funds to quality Google Ads are more invested in pursuing every lead. We reached out to each and every one of these 20 agencies, either by direct mail or via their web forms. We provided them with a short introduction to our company and shared our brand strategy and development plan. We had a very rough notion of our marketing timeframe, goals, and budget, but we were far from a concrete marketing strategy. 30% of the agencies we reached out to never replied, either because they didn’t consider us a valuable lead, or they simply hadn’t invested in CRM software to help them track potential leads, we’ll never know. But that helped us narrow down our search and come one step closer to our perfect partnership. We also disqualified one agency due to the fact that their web form was disabled, and their contact details were difficult to find. Evaluating Marketing Agencies The remaining 70% of agencies that did answer our inquiry actually responded pretty quickly. Within a week, client directors and CEOs were reaching out to us, which really fluffed our feathers, so to speak. They all wanted to set up phone calls or face-to-face meetings. No generic proposals attached to a price list were thrown our way—we were genuinely impressed by their desire to get personal and find out all the details of our business goals before coming up with a plan. They all demonstrated the detailed attention to leads that we were searching for. In our own business, the follow up is as important as the first contact. Unfortunately, we never heard back from four of our “impressive” agencies. We can’t be sure if they forgot about us, lost track of their leads, or simply deemed us unworthy of future efforts, but as the saying goes, every kick in the butt is a step forward. The next step involved a lot of phone calls, talking to each and every agency that was still in the race and even meeting with some of their representatives. We wanted our vision to be perfectly reflected in the brand strategy and development, and after all our questions were asked and answered, we were able to move forward with 6 agencies. This number represents 30% of our initial “Google Ads” list. Each of these agencies presented us with an exceptionally creative and well-executed marketing proposal, Three out of these 6 actually pursued our decision within a week. This is the level of dedication and attention that we were looking for. Two agencies followed up more than twice to learn our decision, and soon after, we found our perfect match with one of these agencies. 4 Tips for Finding the Right Marketing Agency for Your Business 1. What’s their track record? Past results say a lot about a business, so the more you can find out about what the marketing agency accomplished for others, the more you can envision what they can do for you. A marketing agency that’s proud of its work and results should make case studies, analytics, or other metrics available to potential clients. 2. Communicate your budget from the start Marketing is a creative industry, and developing a marketing plan without a clear budget in sight can be the downfall of any partnership. Don’t be ashamed of your budget, not matter how small it is. You never know where lighting might strike! You could always be referred to another agency that turns out to be your diamond in the rough. 3. Get ready to talk …and talk and talk and talk! Keeping the lines of communication open is critical to enabling a marketing agency to design a proposal customized to your needs and goals. Look for an agency that’s just as curious about you as you are about them. 4. What’s their commitment? A marketing partnership is not a short-term relationship. Therefore, you don’t just want to partner with an agency that you like and does great work, but also an agency you can rely on to take your calls, answer your questions, and address your concerns about your marketing strategy plan. You can evaluate their level of commitment by paying close attention to the effort the agency puts in during the sales process. Are they quick to respond to inquiries? Do they follow up with you? Finding the right marketing agency can be a lengthy process, but remember: settling for less is not an option. Your brand is the key to your business’ success and what distinguishes you from competitors, which is why you need a marketing agency that understands where you’re coming from. Finding the right agency might just be the most important business decision you make. Author Bio Jen Anders is a marketing manager at amoCRM, a web-based CRM tool for small businesses.
Whoever started the office trend of cubicles and fluorescent bulbs clearly didn’t understand how real productivity happens. Natural light, privacy, physical comfort, and the freedom to personalize your space foster inspiration and efficiency—feeling simultaneously trapped and exposed in a beige den does not. Since technology opened the door to remote work, the benefits of a flexible workspace have become increasingly apparent. But the freedom to customize your work environment can be easily squandered if you don’t know what helps evoke creativity, and what stalls it. Get Innovative with Organization Storage solutions may be the last thing you want to focus your creative energy on, but if you don’t make an effort to stock up supplies and arrange them in a sensible way, you’ll end up wasting time hunting for a lost notepad, tripping over cords, or dashing to the store to refill your paper tray on a busy day. Consider using wall storage for supplies so that they’re in sight and within reach, but out of your way. Run your cords along the wall or feed them through a box to keep them organized. Use a large writing medium like a chalkboard or whiteboard so that your goals for the day or week are always visible. Confer with Nature Staying in touch with coworkers and clients is a given. But what about staying in touch with the great outdoors? Sunlight can help inspire you and keep you from feeling isolated, while fresh air keeps you healthy. According to the EPA, indoor air is two to five times more toxic than outdoor air. If you don’t have direct access to a window that opens, keep houseplants in your office to help purify the air. Choose a Color Palette that Soothes and Inspires It’s true that white appears to maximize space and make a room feel well lit. It’s also true that deep, saturated colors tend to be overly stimulating. But there are countless shades in between that can help you focus. If you like neutral tones, look into ivory, or dove gray. If vivid colors are more your style, consider going with softer shades for the wall and saving saturated tones for small accent pieces. Let science prevail over personal style when you’re trying to create a space where you can concentrate. Accommodate Conversation Even professionals who work remotely may need to meet with clients or work on certain projects with a co-worker. Make sure your environment can be conducive to teamwork when the need arises. Provide a comfortable place for another person to sit, and make sure basic office supplies are at their disposal. Store beverages in a mini-fridge to offer visiting clients. Optimize your office for video conferencing by investing in a second monitor that will allow you to toggle between programs more easily. Invest in Back Comfort Standing desks may not work for small spaces, and ergonomic chairs can be pricey, but back problems can also come with a pretty big price tag — from making you less productive to actually requiring medical treatment. Invest in whatever is going to keep your posture healthy and ward off the aches and pains. I hope some of these tips have inspired you to create the perfect remote office space that will foster creativity and drive productivity! Author Bio: Bryn Huntpalmer is a mother of two young children living in Austin, Texas. She currently works as an editor and writer for Modernize.com,with the goal of empowering homeowners with the expert guidance and educational tools they need to take on big home projects with confidence. More Articles on Motivation & Productivity Find more tips and resources for improving your productivity, honing your focus, and finding your motivation in these articles: How Writing Down Your Goals Helps Increase Productivity How to Set Up Your Workspace for Maximum Productivity (Infographic) 10 Gadgets to Keep You Healthy and Productive at Work
As the Industrial Revolution swept America in the late 1700s to the early 1800s, managers started to become more interested in productivity. Over the coming decades, Congress passed safety regulations that sought to improve working conditions and put a cap on the amount of hours that employees could work each day. At the same time, sociologists began studying exactly what influences productivity — and their experiments continue to shape the way we work centuries later. All of this research has revealed some timeless insight into human behavior, motivation, and how these factors affect productivity. The Hawthorne Effect One of the most famous studies on productivity set out to pinpoint exactly which variables influence individual performance. Researchers began with two groups: a control group, and a group whose environment they adjusted. Over time, the researchers improved lighting, altered working hours, moved break times, and shuffled other environmental factors. What they found was that whenever they made a change, productivity increased — while the control group held steady. Perhaps more interesting was the fact that any change, whether positive or negative, led to greater productivity. This held true even when all the environmental factors were returned to their original state. As it turns out, worker morale was boosted by the simple fact that the company was interested in making changes and showed concern about their work environment and well-being. Even if employees didn’t necessarily like the changes, they were bolstered by the fact that managers were trying to make improvements, which directly improved their productivity. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow published a paper that outlined a 5-level hierarchy of individual needs. The idea was simple: if a person’s simplest and most basic needs weren't being met, they wouldn't feel motivated to achieve at a higher level. You have to start at the bottom and meet every need along each rung of the ladder in order to encourage high performing employees. The 5 Levels Physiological: in the workplace, this means food, water, and a comfortable place to work. Safety: this goes beyond immediate safety concerns and also involves financial security, health, and well-being. Belonging: feeling connected to others in the workplace and forming friendships. Esteem: feeling confident in their abilities and respected by others. Self-actualization: feeling that they can achieve anything and reach new levels of success within the company. Addressing each level of this hierarchy creates a happier and more productive employee. Expectancy Theory The Expectancy Theory takes a close look at motivation and what drives workers to try and reach their full potential. In 1964, Victor H. Vroom theorized that people make choices based on whether they think the results of their behavior will lead to desired outcomes. Essentially, all our choices come down to three basic elements: Expectancy: the belief that the effort you put in will result in your desired outcome. This is often influenced by individual confidence levels and the perceived difficulty of the desired goal. Instrumentality: the belief that you will be rewarded if you meet expectations. Valence: how much value you place on the reward. Workers need to believe that they will be acknowledged and rewarded with something valuable if they meet or exceed productivity expectations. Employers have to determine what rewards employees truly want, clearly communicate what those rewards are, and be consistent in handing out rewards for excellent performance. Higher Pay Doesn’t Increase Productivity It would be easy to assume more money equals stronger incentive, increased productivity, and greater work satisfaction — and more recent studies tend to focus on that relationship between money, rewards, and happiness. Somewhat surprisingly, however, the research shows that while happiness does affect productivity, money isn’t a large part of the equation. Some compelling statistics to consider: 87% of workers are disengaged at work Unhappy workers are 10% less productive Unhappy, unproductive workers cost companies around $500 billion a year Happiness improves productivity by 12% So how can companies create happier employees — and boost the bottom line in the process? The answer is to invest money in employee support programs instead of just raising wages. We are seeing this trend across the nation as more employers offer benefits like paid family leave, unlimited paid vacation days, health and wellness centers, and work from home opportunities. Essentially, this is another example of the Hawthorne Effect at work. When employees feel like their well-being is a priority, they are more productive. All of these theories distill down to a single simple truth: workers, no matter what industry or century, want to feel safe and appreciated. If companies make an effort to invest in their workers' happiness and well being, they will improve productivity. Investing in better benefits, increased employee support, and improved workplace conditions rather than simply handing out raises yields a bigger return on investment, because time and time again, studies prove that happy employees are more productive employees. Author Bio: Mike Hanski writes for Bid4papers. His productivity secret is simple: do what you like. And ear plugs. In that order. You can find Mike on Google+. Productivity Tips for the Modern Workplace Browse our collection of research-backed productivity tips, then put them into action and boost your team's productivity with a free trial of Wrike. Related Reads: 50 Productivity Tips to Boost Your Brainpower (Infographic) 20 Top Productivity Apps For Your Mobile Device How Writing a Journal Helps Increase Personal Productivity
Building a remote office culture is not an exact science. Much of it relies on your remote employees interacting with each other, communicating, and collaborating of their own accord; it's not something you can force. That's not to say there's nothing you can do, however: there are a few techniques that can give your team the best possible remote work culture to bring out their personality and make remote work both enjoyable and productive. At Process Street, we run a completely remote ship. With employees in America, England, Latvia, the Philippines and more, we’ve had to work around multiple time zones, potential communication barriers and (the killer) potential isolation that remote work can bring. Thankfully, with the right practices, tools, and ideology, we’re running a well-oiled, productive machine. It all starts with onboarding. Onboard Your Employees Thoroughly Building a remote office culture starts before your new team member ever logs in. You need to have a plan of action to ensure that they don't encounter roadblocks, such as login details and incorrect permissions. First impressions are everything! Not only do you need to have all of the correct resources ready for employee onboarding, you should also make sure that the employee is introduced to everyone else on the team their very first day. Make their new environment as supportive as possible by initiating introductions and encouraging your team to be welcoming. For example, one of the first steps in our employee onboarding process is to introduce new members on the general Slack chit-chat channel (our virtual water cooler, if you will) with a shower of funny gifs to put them at ease. Nothing says “welcome” like rolling the Giphy dice, after all. [inlinetweet prefix="" tweeter="" suffix=""]“[When onboarding, you’re] setting the stage for a career’s worth of productivity and achievement” - Chris Byers, CEO of Formstack[/inlinetweet] Communicate and Collaborate Culture is created by the people who constitute it, so you need to encourage communication and collaboration as much as possible in a remote team. Part of this should have already been achieved by your onboarding introductions, but by keeping regular contact with your remote employees you can get to know them beyond their employee ID and ensure there are no gaps in your communication. This is vital: if they feel like nothing more than a cog in the corporate machine, there’s very little incentive to keep talking with their peers. We have various Slack channels for each team, such as content creation and customer support, along with a general channel where we all say “Hi” every day and talk about how things are going. We also have meetings (generally on Skype or Google Hangouts) twice a week with the rest of our teams and the CEO. This allows us to stay in contact, report on progress, and get help with anything that’s frustrating or blocking us. As with any meeting, however, the key is to keep it interesting. We generally chat casually for the first few minutes of each call, which allows everyone to relax before giving their progress reports and makes the rest of the team more approachable for day-to-day communication. Host a Friendly Competition Another great way we’ve found to inspire camaraderie and a little friendly banter is through gamification. Each week, we take turns recommending a hilariously bad movie for the rest of the team to enjoy. You’d be surprised at how many gems we’ve managed to dig up, and it’s a fantastic way to form stronger bonds with co-workers. Note: the last thing you should do is create a cutthroat contest. Nobody likes to lose when the same people win a sales race every month, for example. Alternatively, if you’re a little geeky like us, you could host a company Hearthstone match (or other online game). We’ve just completed our first round, limiting everyone to basic pre-made decks to ensure that the veteran players can’t engineer their own success. This gives employees a chance to directly interact and have some fun outside of work, which does wonders for morale. Get Everyone On Support With all of our success encouraging employees to interact with their teammates and managers on a personal level, we still had one problem to overcome: how to encourage different teams to collaborate with each other and strengthen ties even more? The answer is customer support. Although it may sound like a chore, we’ve taken to rotating our employees through customer support duties in order to encourage collaboration and help them learn our product inside out. As a result, our devs have a running conversation with the content team, the VAs can comfortably talk to sales and everyone understands what is happening with the product. As an added bonus, our varied time zones are now becoming a huge positive — we can have at least one employee on support duty almost 24 hours a day, and we have a huge number of backup technicians if one of our support team members isn't available. Building Culture on Your Remote Team Remote work can be difficult for both employees and managers. Communication isn’t as natural, and new hires are often more reluctant to voice their problems, as they can’t just stick their head into their neighbor's cubicle. If you can pull off creating the right remote office culture, however, those problems soon melt away in a sea of productivity and co-operation. If you've worked as part of a remote team, how did you go about building company culture? Share your experiences in the comments below. Author Bio Benjamin Brandall writes about SaaS, productivity, and technology at Process Street and Writerzone.net. Find him on Twitter here. Simplify Remote Collaboration for Your Team Help your team overcome the challenges of remote collaboration with Wrike's award-winning app. Start a free trial today.
The general trend these days is toward open office plans, where cubicle walls and office doors don’t impede communication. In fact, the International Facility Management Association reports that 70% of offices in the US now have an open floor plan. But tearing down the walls so we can yell across the room at one another doesn’t necessarily improve collaboration. In fact, a study in Finland found that employees on average waste 21.5 minutes a day getting distracted by overheard conversations, the top roadblock to productivity. It takes more than just moving the furniture and hoping it will get people talking—it takes planning, intentional policy changes, and just a little hint of the unexpected. These five unusual strategies for improving team collaboration will get your teams to work together in ways that make people feel comfortable sharing ideas. 1. Put the Walls Back Up Conventional wisdom says that open work spaces and shared offices get people to talk more, but the ambient noise and visual distractions can actually mean a loss of productivity. We cycle through the open-office-closed-door argument every decade or so, probably because the pendulum swings way too far in one direction or the other, leaving employees either isolated or distracted. When employees have a quiet, comfortable place to work distraction-free, they feel more comfortable coming out of their shells when they need to work together. Cubicles, conference rooms, and separate offices help define meeting times and let employees choose when they engage with others, rather than the open office layout that stifles quiet time. 2. Build an Asynchronous Communication Policy Many workplaces have implemented instant messaging apps, crowd-sourced employee documents, and project management tools that increase the opportunity for collaboration. But that’s not enough—you also have to create expectations around how employees use those tools. Communication apps like Skype and Slack, can and should be used with an understanding that communication happens at your discretion. Asynchronous communication models the sort of communication that happens between parts of a computer: information is sent when it’s convenient for one part of the system, and the other part of the system receives and responds at its convenience. This way, the receiver’s current process isn’t interrupted, which helps team members stay focused on important work. Offices that use wikis, email, chat tools, Kanban boards, and project management tools that let users view notifications and changes on their own time show respect for the individual’s flow of work. Users can set "do not disturb" hours so they won’t receive distracting notifications, and use a batching system to take care of all secondary communication outside of their focus times. Asynchronous communication gives employees the freedom to focus without that fear of missing out on important decisions. When companies empower employees to communicate within dedicated time frames, they send the message that they appreciate when employees focus on single tasks, rather than splitting their attention between communication and assignments. 3. Implement: "No Agenda, No Meeting" It’s many people’s worst office nightmare: a meeting with no plan. Requiring that all meetings — no matter how trivial or informal — have at least a bullet point outline puts both planners and attendees at ease. Agendas also keep your teams focused on outcomes. Teams that plan in advance and share agendas stay on track and reduce distractions that can devolve into lost time and unhelpful disagreements. Build policies about tangential discussions and how to deal with disagreements, so your employees know how to handle new and uncomfortable situations. Meeting agendas protect meaningful individual work time, and helps the group stay on task. This reduces friction due to off-topic talking, lets attendees collect their thoughts and ideas before the meeting, and defines the scope of work so all participants understand what’s expected. Collaboration is much easier when everyone knows what’s required. Once the group completes the agenda, release employees to check off the items on their personal to-do lists. You can always schedule follow-up meetings to resolve new issues. 4. Build an Inclusive Remote Work Infrastructure Finding top talent is harder than ever, and ensuring that your employees have a good work-life balance is an HR necessity. The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 24% of employees worked from home at least part of the time in 2015. Working remotely from a home office or co-working space in a different city can increase employee happiness and productivity and limit distractions from office shenanigans (looking at you, Sales Departments). Companies that allow remote work or work from home policies need to build communication and collaboration into the lifestyle of the company. Use video conferencing, chat programs, screensharing & remote desktop access, and project management tools to bring employees together virtually around your goals. Ensure that not only workers but also managers and executives understand how to use the remote technology, and are comfortable engaging with the crew. Use your video calls for 1:1 weekly meetings to check in, and build chat channels where your whole team can hang out. Allow teams to build their own chat channels around shared interests (Trivia, Fantasy Football, great restaurants, etc.) to cultivate a connected culture and engage employees during downtime. These connections remind us that our colleagues are more than their work projects, they are people too. Humanizing remote teammates helps to foster empathy, which in turn smooths out whatever rough patches you'll hit during collaboration. 5. Build Relationships via Tough Conversations Whether collaboration takes place in the office or remotely, in real time or asynchronously, in a conference room or in the middle of an open office, it’s important to build communication policies that promote openness and honesty. Conflict and criticism are inevitable, but collaboration doesn’t have to suffer: the whole team can communicate with emotional intelligence. By planning for the inevitable, you can ensure that tough conversations happen with sensitivity—building relationships among team members, instead of eroding them. Designate mediators for teams, plan regular communication skills workshops (quarterly, not just once a year), and discuss different communication styles. Collaboration is More Than Seating Arrangements Improved team collaboration takes more than sticking everyone in a room and hoping individual genius will compound in a group setting. Real business-oriented collaboration requires careful planning, investment in technology, and breaking down outdated ideas of what teamwork and productivity look like. About the Author: Tamara Scott is an analyst at TechnologyAdvice, a research company that connects buyers and sellers of business technology. She writes about project management, marketing, sales, CRM, and many other technology verticals.
What's the one main challenge for anyone trying to create a world-class creative team? Finding the time to develop the team into an internal powerhouse that can compete with external agencies for the best and most inspiring work. According to a 2016 Paychex survey, 53% of employees claim they left their previous jobs because their "employers didn't care about employees," and 29% left due to "lack of skill development." . On top of that, survey responses from the 2014 In-House Creative Services Industry Report show that managers typically do not have the time to step away from the firehose of production work to identify career paths for the best and brightest. . Without the proper attention from managers, staff turnover increases, creating a vicious cycle where the team loses its star performers and remains too junior to compete for the best work. . We spoke with some of the most successful internal creative agency leaders in the business about how they're helping improve employee retention by focusing on career growth and development. Here are four of their tried-and-tested strategies for developing and coaching creatives: 1. Commit to Developing a World-Class Agency People development does not happen by accident. Creative leaders must embrace an existing company-wide commitment to people development, or form their own programs. This means finding ways to develop contract/freelance workers as well. This is one distinct advantage of being an internal agency within a larger organization: leaders must communicate this commitment. . Find out what your creative team is interested in, both together and individually. Help them strengthen their skill set by promising to cover the cost of an online course or creating a sandbox where the team can go in and play around with a new tool. Investing in their interests will benefit both their career and yours as a leader. 2. Know the Nature of the Work A prerequisite for structuring a talent development program is finding the time. The best leaders have a thorough, up-to-the-minute understanding of all production work and all true development work in the pipeline; including the people doing that work day in and day out. Creative management software solutions become invaluable when it comes to visualizing a team’s workload and efforts. . Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. When your team needs design or production support, jump in and assist where needed. Make sure you're agile enough to shift workloads around or call for all hands on deck when there's a hiccup in a project or deadline approaching. At the end of the day, your objectives are dependent on them meeting theirs. 3. Create Opportunities to Flex Creative Muscles All production work and no development work makes Jane an unhappy designer. Great managers address staff fatigue by moving people across teams as necessary to ensure they are exposed to the right mix of development and production work. Allowing your team to gain experience in all aspects of creative will help them not only build out their skill set, but provide you with a well-rounded, talented team (not to mention a force to be reckoned with). 4. Use Work Clusters to Build Career Paths Identifying large "clusters" of work helps you recognize the superstars within your own team. . For example, if the majority of your team's work consists of event marketing, sales region support, and web development, you've just identified three main clusters. This means you've now created opportunities to raise your top performers to team/cluster leads. . By delegating leadership and trusting your team members to step up and shine, you've addressed their need for career growth and given yourself time to focus on the strategic aspects of building your world-class creative team. But First, Check Your Vantage Point None of these four strategies are possible without a clear view into the work coming through the pipeline. . Creative management software solutions offer this view with the click of a mouse. By implementing software solutions, there is less time spent on weekly reports, email updates, and management check-ins. And it gives leaders the tools they need to properly assess the development of each person on the team. . When we invest time and effort to understanding the work process and its patterns, we build the scaffolding for proper talent development, and the career satisfaction of each member. 4 Biggest Challenges for Creative Teams from Wrike Download our comprehensive eBook to discover a thorough process for building a world-class internal team from scratch: The Definitive Guide to Building a World-Class Internal Creative Agency. Author Bio:Kate Thome is a writer and consultant. In over 15 years in banking and payments in various marketing, analytics and risk-related roles, Kate developed a keen understanding of the internal workings of marketing and creative organizations. At Visa, she served clients as the Head of US Risk Services. Also at Visa, she was a Consumer Credit consultant supporting clients in developing their card product strategies and in managing their marketing cost structures. She led direct marketing teams at HSBC and Capital One (formerly Hibernia National Bank). Kate was a participant in the Management Development Program at MBNA. She holds an M.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from the Freeman School at Tulane University and a B.A. in Philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross. Her writing appears on LinkedIn, Mutha Magazine and Talking Soup. She blogs about her memoir in process at http://irememberthatnight.blogspot.com. Kate lives with family in Northern California. Follow Kate on Twitter @kthome219.
My successful friend Robert always talks about a study he read that links happiness to goals. The main point he took from this particular article is that people are happiest when working toward their goals; even more so than when they actually achieve them. It seems to be true, but there’s one thing his familiar motivational speech on seems to miss every time: The magic really happens when you take the time to write down your goals, when productivity and happiness collide. Here’s how writing down your goals increases productivity at work and in your personal life. What You Need to Know About Your Goals Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching published an article on goal setting wherein they define the term as “the process of establishing an outcome (a goal) to serve as the aim of one's actions.” The benefits of goal setting include higher achievements and increased motivation. Those with clear written goals are more likely to succeed than those without. Additionally, Harvard says that you may want to consider recording how you plan to get to the final destination. Those who write the “whys” and — more importantly — the “hows” of attaining their goals are more likely, over time, to internalize them and develop more “goal-relevant” skills. For long-term, measurable productivity spikes, be sure to write out what you want to achieve along with the steps you anticipate taking to get there. How to Categorize Your Goals for Optimal Productivity The next step is to divide your goals into two categories: Procedural Goals: Cross-situational strategies to help you achieve something, such as learning a problem-solving skill. Outcome Goals: Task-specific goals, such as creating 7 advertisements or sending an email to a certain colleague. The best way to promote self-efficacy and achievement is to combine the two. You will be most productive if you begin with procedural goals, and then shift the focus to outcome goals. So, rather than just focusing on one specific type of goal writing, combine these two in a way that shows development. Here’s an example: Research the available tools for sharing multiple files at one time, weighing the pros and cons. Choose a file uploader for the project. Or… Find a course that covers all topics related to basic SMM marketing. Enroll in SMM course. Being as specific as you can when writing out your goals, transitioning from the procedure to the outcome. Don’t Write Out Goals that are Too Easy Research shows that challenging goals lead to personal growth. When tracking the progress of your goals, what you really want is to be able to see your progress. If you are simply writing out daily tasks in a way that is monotonous and uninspiring, all motivation and productivity go right out the window. The goals you set should really reflect the feelings you’re hoping to attain. So, set goals that are a little demanding of you. They should be realistic, but still inspiring. Look at examples of others’ work that influences you, and choose goals that make you feel energized. Your goals are a reflection of what you aspire to be and do; if they are mundane, your life will be too. Do You Already Write Down Your Goals? When you write clear, concise goals, you will become more productive. Include the steps it will take to reach the finish line, merge both procedural and outcome goals, and set your sights high to stay motivated. Start implementing these ideas into your short- and long-term plan today. If you already write down your goals, share your advice or tips with us in the comments below. How did you successfully turn this practice into a permanent habit? Eva Creerson is a student career and productivity consultant at Master Papers writing company. She is always on the lookout for new ways to optimize work.
