Tag: team - Page 2

Wow! I mean wow! I have recently travelled to the US and have arrived in our Atlanta office and I am completely and utterly amazed at the talent and sheer determination of our Marketing Eye team in Atlanta.

They are not only the best looking team in all of Atlanta, they are also the smartest and most competent.

Who would have thought that they could put together a team like this all by themselves and start running the business like I always dreamed it would be run.

It's been a mammoth month in so many ways. End of financial year in Australia is always draining. As a marketer, there is no fun in fulfilling your obligations as a business owner for the taxation department.

It was a small project that I knew the result of even before it started. It had something to do with our company so it was experimental in every sense of the word. But I knew deep down it would fail, and I knew why.

Normally, I would be the first to say "that won't work". However, this wasn't the time. It was a small project and it wouldn't harm anyone by being a failure. Instead, it would be a lesson learned and I was willing to pay the price.

I cannot describe enthusiastically enough how excited I am to be in Melbourne today, the 12th day of January.

Still calling hotels my home, but albeit for only a short time more, I woke up excited for what the day will bring. Today, I will re-engage with my Australian team and work together with them to build Marketing Eye in Australia by 40 percent over the next 12 months. We have everything in place ready to go - and its incredibly motivating.

The next 12-months is going to be incredibly different for people who work at Marketing Eye. After years of working hard at establishing a product and service that is unsurpassed by industry standards, driven by technology, systems and processes, we are now working tirelessly on how to build the right culture going forward.

There have been many hit and misses and lots of unnecessary frustration, but finally I think as a team we have hit the nail on the head and I am about to test it to the nth degree.

Flat Organisational Structure

Weaning employees off hierarchy-driven decision making has been a test of both patience and perseverance. Gen-Y's have been told that they need leadership in order to be successful, yet some of the most successful companies in the world, like Google, are saying quite the opposite. Their investment in a flat organisational structure has not only shown dividends on the balance sheet, but it has created a workplace and culture that the world-over admires and respects.

For smaller companies that have an established organisational structure, driven largely by an entrepreneur, it is more difficult to adapt to a flat organisational structure with the primary reason being that both parties; the entrepreneur and the employees, find it difficult to let go.

I have been travelling the world growing "my small business" and have found that it is almost impossible to be the leader I would have hoped to be, living the life I do. I certainly am no role model in this department, nor do I follow the many books I have bought over time on "how to be a good leader" no matter how much I try but ultimately fail in my pursuit.

Let’s be honest. Generally, businesses are happy to celebrate their wins, and sweep their losses under the rug. We drink champagne when our marketing strategies work, and suck lemons when they don’t. But the minute we stop running from our failures, we can stop and examine them to find solutions and refine our approach.

Not every marketing campaign comes to fruition; sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Let’s get very honest and face the five possible reasons yours flopped:

When a business starts a new calendar year with have a business strategy in place, supported by a sales and marketing plan - CEO's expect results.

But what if the results are not forthcoming? What if key people have read the strategy yet are not "making it happen"? As we near the end of January, many companies are realizing that targets are not being met, and while some may scratch their heads, the real leaders are taking action.

It's that time of year where companies are back hiring new recruits.

As someone who is always too busy, I have left the on-boarding to our previous CEO and Area Managers, with my role being minimal other than an introduction.

However, like most entrepreneurs, January is a time to re-think your business in every way; finance, recruitment, human resources, marketing, sales, products/services etc.

This has given me an opportunity to see just what is going on and I have to say, we have some gaps. As a marketing and communications based company, Marketing Eye plays a pivotal role in communicating a company's brand and culture to employees of our clients. We develop and design on-boarding manuals, podcasts, corporate videos and interactive presentations on the company, people and history.

What I have realized is that we are not dissimilar to a mechanic who never finds time to fix their own car. 

With that, off came the gloves and I rolled up my sleeves to have a better insight into our on-boarding processes. 

Here are some clever best practices that we teach our clients and implement on their behalf:

THE INTERVIEW

• When writing an advertisement for a position, include a link to your website which talks about the company culture and the type of person that will fit in. This is great for the applicant and even better for your company as it sends people to your website and drives traffic and engagement.
• Ask applicants to like your company on social media. If they don't want to do this, then they are definitely NOT interested in your brand, culture or the future promotion of your company - so strike them immediately off the list.
• When an applicant comes for an interview, ensure that someone from your team rings them the day before, introduces themselves and talks to them about a normal day in the office. It's a great way to give the applicant an idea what it is like to work for your company and also shares with them an insight into the culture and type of people that they need to fit in with.
• Do something clever to get the applicant to remember your company like sending them an inspirational email with a famous quote. Ensure that it is written on a picture to give your brand  a "lift"
• On arrival at the interview, give them an iPad with a presentation and video of what it is like to work for your company and what type of people perform best. 
• In the interview, present your company like you would present the company to a client. Then ask for the applicant to talk about themselves; share insights that do not come across clearly in their CV's and ask them to explain why they think that they would be a good fit.
• When they leave, give them a company brochure and any literature related to your company that may be of benefit to them.

Humbled by an employee discussion in our US office, I was pleasantly surprised that given the hypothetical situation of winning the lotto, all employees said that after a brief holiday, they would want to come back to work at Marketing Eye.

As an international business owner, I have come to the realisation that my company culture is different in each country in which we have offices. The engagement level on a day-to-day basis in our Atlanta office is very high – not to say, other offices are not the same. Company culture is everything and there are many reasons why it has a direct impact on bottom line.

There are a number of lessons learnt from having a start-up in Atlanta that is inherently different from other offices we have. 

The first being that all employees have chosen each other

Usually, a senior manager or myself makes the ultimate choice on who is going to join the team and in what capacity. Instead, in Atlanta, I have been over-ruled twice, and both times, I had to put my hand up and say that my choice would have been wrong for the team.

As a business owner and entrepreneur, there is nothing more apparent than when you sit in a room full of other like-minded individuals, that you are a little different. 

If one of my "normal" friends were sitting there, in that room, they would be terrified. They would have ran out as fast as they can, without looking back. Everyone was talking, almost all at once. They all had their ipads, iphones and pens and paper ready to hear - you are not going to be believe this - JACK DALY. Not that you wouldn't believe that someone would go and see Jack Daly, but because most of the people in the room had seen him speak on sales, not once, not twice, not even three times - but more than 5 or 6 times - BECAUSE he is that good and everyone in that room knows that to build their businesses, they need good management, strong marketing, and SALES. And, when it comes to SALES there is no-one more qualified or better at giving small businesses insight, than Jack Daly.