Overview:
This is a brief guide on suggested best practices and methodologies to facilitate successful and efficient supervision and direction of the teams affiliated with marketing projects (and most other departments) for both businesses as well as non-profit organizations.
Communication:
Heavy emphasis and priority should be placed on maintaining communication channels both between the organization / company and its “target audience” as well as between departments and/or employees. The communication should be respectful, courteous, and open-minded. Getting feedback from the “target audience” is crucial for determining project end goals and milestones as well as the development of products, content, marketing materials, etc.
End Goals and Milestones:
It is very important to have a clearly-defined mission and end goals. And with that end goal serving as a “north star,” then detailed milestones and objectives should be established along a “charted path.” These milestones allow the leadership and/or management to ensure that all departments and components of an organization are functioning as desired. If a milestone is not achieved, then it can be addressed as to why and an appropriate remedy can be introduced.
Organization and Efficiency:
Most companies and other entities (especially non-profit organizations) should focus more attention on developing these aspects. Many start-up companies and non-profit organizations literally hemorrhage money through inefficiency and disorganization, especially in the areas of budgeting and financial management (including bookkeeping). It is vital to get as much “bang for your buck” as possible from reinvested profit margins and/or funding raised from investors or donors.
Maximize Employee Strengths, Minimize Weaknesses:
In every professional team each employee will have strengths and skills as well as weaknesses and opportunities for growth. Teams and departments along with delegated tasks should be carefully assessed and then organized in a manner which utilizes these strengths and minimizes the impact of any weaknesses and/or professional deficiencies. Besides the fact that the team will generally be much happier with this arrangement, this approach drives operational efficiency and therefore achievability of milestones and end goals as well as profitability.
Use Your Data Tools:
Be sure to utilize as many tools and assets that gather and express data as possible. The old cliche` that “knowledge is power” still rings true, and it is imperative to know as much about your output and impact of products, services, content, etc., as possible. This data ranges from SEO performance to interaction with social media algorithms to financial budgeting and P&L reports, and much more. The point is that “ignorance is bliss” absolutely does not apply to any kind of business operations, and certainly not in a marketing sector.
Balance “Right-Brained” and “Left-Brained” Skill Sets:
Relating to the previous point, most teams (especially from a creative and/or marketing standpoint) will consist of both “right brained” creative types and “left brained” analytical types. A good practice is to work with the analytical team members to develop strategies and parameters to achieve the end goals and milestones of the company and/or organization, while the creative professionals work within those guidelines to reach those objectives. A practical example would be an operations director of a content writing team for a website working with the “left-brained” SEO analysts to determine what content is generating the most traffic and ad revenue, for instance. The SEO analysts explain that the website gets the most traffic from, say, women in their late twenties and early thirties who are new and/or youngish mothers and family-oriented. The operations director would then explain to the creative “right brained” content writing team, graphic designers, etc., that extra emphasis is now placed on mothers aged twenty-five to thirty-five, and that a certain portion of their content should be created with that demographic in mind. In simple terms that means that both the relevant content and format would appeal to that target audience in all aspects, including subject matter, imagery, fonts, color palettes, etc. And, getting back to the “left-brained” crew, such as a sales and business development team, the operations director could delegate the task of reaching out to businesses that sell products and services relating to motherhood, children, etc., for sponsorship opportunities, exclusive write-ups, etc.
Speak Nicely and Maintain Morale:
This point may sound like a nagging lecture your mother gave you in third grade, but speaking nicely goes a long way with the management of teams, especially in a marketing and creative sense. Expressing consistent gratitude to your teams maintains a feeling that their contribution is valued. Also, using the “sandwich method” of placing an element of constructive criticism between two positive comments is helpful. Personally, I have found that communicating consistent (and sincere) praise to my team for their accomplishments and contributions makes it much easier to express occasional constructive criticism. This aspect is especially true when working with creative and artistic types who are often very emotionally invested in their work output. It is often much more effective to give direction (and even constructive criticism) to an artist who feels that his or her work is always valued and appreciated, and only in a relatively rare instance is there an expression that he or she needs to adjust the artistic product. In practical terms, that means that if a graphic designer creates ten products, and nine of them are sincerely praised and gratitude is expressed, it is much easier to explain that the tenth item might need to be tweaked to achieve the desired result.
(Bonus: If your organization is Jewish in nature, it should be noted that according to Jewish values gratitude is essential and speech has immense power. The term “Jew” comes from “Yehudi,” which is based on the Hebrew word for being thankful. And the very first passages of the Torah describe the Almighty “speaking” the universe into existence. The implication is clear: speech is so powerful it can literally build or destroy entire worlds.)
Conclusion:
The concepts discussed here are just a few of the methodologies that have proven to be effective in the optimal management of marketing teams and/or other departments in both a business and a non-profit setting. These practices will help ensure that objectives are met, deliverables are achieved, and that success and profitability is maximized, which is a fancy way of saying everybody wins. Want to take your marketing to new heights? Twin Peaks Communications can help. Reach out to us for a free consultation today!
