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February 8, 2022November 20, 2023

30 Bad Boss Characteristics Every Manager Should Be Worried About

If you’re a manager, it’s important to be aware of the bad boss characteristics that can hold your team back. A bad boss can create a toxic work environment and increase staff turnover. They can also impede business growth by not trusting their employees or delegating tasks properly.

You need to understand how your management style can affect your team. If the boss isn’t the model team player, how can they expect the same of their team? Leading by example is one of the core responsibilities every leader needs.

While there are many different bad boss qualities, some are more common than others. In this article, we will discuss 30 bad boss characteristics that every manager should be worried about. We’ll also provide advice on how to do better and tips on being a better boss!

Micromanaging

One bad boss characteristic is micromanaging. This happens when a manager gets too involved in the minutiae of their employee’s tasks and responsibilities. Instead of focusing on big-picture goals, they focus on every little detail.

While it might be tempting to get hands-on with your team, this bad habit can hold everything back. Your employees need to feel trusted and empowered – not like you doubt them or don’t think they are capable! By micromanaging your staff, you’re creating a toxic work environment that will lead to high churn rates over time (and maybe even some legal problems!).

If you want to get better at micromanaging, you’ll need to exercise more trust in your employees. As long as you set clear expectations and hire the right people for the job, you should end up with the results you love.

My Way or the Highway

Another bad boss trait is “my way or the highway.” They want things done exactly how they want it, and there is no other way. This bad habit creates a bad boss environment where employees are afraid to try new things for fear of getting fired or punished in some way. It also makes people feel like their ideas don’t matter at all – which can lead to low morale as well as high churn rates over time.

If you’re a manager who likes things done just right, then you might want to rethink your management style! Try being more flexible with how tasks get accomplished while still maintaining high-quality standards (and avoiding micromanaging). You’ll find that letting go of this bad habit will help improve productivity levels across the board too!

No Feedback

A bad boss characteristic that helps absolutely no one is not giving feedback. The lack of feedback can leave employees feeling lost and uncertain about their job performance. It can also lead to confusion about company goals and objectives.

On the other hand, bad bosses who give too much feedback can be just as bad. This is because it takes up valuable time that could be spent on tasks, and it can also be overwhelming for employees. Feedback should be specific, actionable, and timely – not excessive or non-existent!

An easy way to improve how you give feedback is to ask your employees if there was any information missing. Feedback on your feedback may sound like it’s going in a circle, but good communication is key.

Poor Feedback

Speaking of giving feedback, another bad boss habit is giving poor feedback. This happens when bad bosses don’t take the time to properly assess an employee’s work or they communicate in a way that isn’t helpful.

For example, some bad bosses might simply say “Good job!” without explaining what was good about it. Other bad bosses might give vague feedback like “You can do better.” This is unhelpful and frustrating for employees.

To be a good boss, you need to be able to give helpful feedback that will actually improve an employee’s work. Take the time to assess their work, explain why something was done well or poorly, and suggest ways they can improve in the future. Feedback should always be specific, timely, and actionable!

Being a Pushover

Being a pushover means that bad bosses are too afraid of confrontation and they don’t want to upset anyone – even if it means letting them get away with bad behavior.

As a result, they never hold employees accountable for their actions. The bad boss’s staff knows they won’t get in trouble no matter what they do, so there is no incentive to perform at a high level or work towards company goals.

This bad habit of being a bad boss can lead to higher turnover rates and low morale among your team members because they know you will let them get away with anything!

To be good at managing people requires understanding that sometimes difficult conversations need to take place – even if it means upsetting someone temporarily while still maintaining cordial relations over time (and avoiding micromanaging).

Poor Delegation

Bad bosses have difficulty delegating tasks and responsibilities because they feel like they need to do everything themselves. This bad habit creates a bottleneck in the workplace and it can also lead to employees feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

In order to be an effective boss, you need to develop the skill of delegation! By delegating tasks, you’re freeing up your own time so you can focus on important things, and you’re also giving employees a sense of ownership and responsibility for their work.

When done correctly, delegation can help improve productivity across the board. If you struggle to let go of tasks, you may find yourself micromanaging and your employees will not be grateful for that. Take a deep breath and exercise trust with your staff.

Taking Credit

A bad boss characteristic that’s common among narcissists is taking credit for others’ work. This happens when bad bosses claim credit for ideas or tasks that were actually created by someone else.

This type of bad behavior results in bad bosses stealing the limelight from their employees, and it can also lead to low morale among team members because they feel undervalued or unappreciated.

A bad boss is someone who takes credit for others’ work is outright stealing from their employees. This bad habit results in bad bosses feeling entitled and thinking that everything should go their way at all times. It also leads to bad behavior, such as micromanaging tasks so much so that no one else gets any recognition whatsoever…

No Trust in Employees

Having a lack of trust in your employees happens when bad bosses fail to give them autonomy over projects or decisions (even though you know they’re capable of doing so). This bad habit creates an environment of mistrust and it can also lead to a lack of creativity among team members.

When bad bosses don’t trust their employees, it’s because they’re afraid that something might go wrong if they’re not in control all the time. As a result, bad bosses tend to micromanage tasks and decisions which ultimately stunts employee growth.

To be good at managing people, you need to develop trust by giving your employees autonomy over projects and decisions. When employees feel trusted, they’ll be more likely to take ownership of their work and put forth their best effort!

No Empathy

Bad employer traits include having no empathy for their employees’ struggles or challenges. In fact, some bad bosses even go so far as to badmouth their employees behind their backs and ridicule them in public.

If you’re a bad boss who doesn’t show any empathy for your employees, then you may find yourself losing top talent because they feel like they can never do anything right!

This lack of caring about others’ well-being creates an environment where people don’t want to work with each other or help one another out when needed most.

Gossip Culture

A bad boss is someone who talks about their employees behind their backs and badmouths them in public. This bad habit creates an environment where people feel afraid to go to work or that they will be picked upon. If this sort of behavior is filtering down from the top, you’re going to lose the faith of your employees.

Gossiping is a natural human instinct but it is undeniably a bad habit, especially in the workplace. Managers need to know better than to engage in such practices, people’s private life is just that – private. There may be reasons when an employee needs to confide in you.

When this happens you have a duty of care to protect this information from getting out. If you’re found out to be the perpetrator of spreading personal information, you could be opening yourself up to a lawsuit. Just don’t do it.

Not Understanding Power Dynamics

Bad bosses often don’t understand the power dynamics at play in their relationships with employees. This bad habit can manifest itself in a number of ways, such as making inappropriate comments about someone’s appearance or even sexually harassing them.

There will always exist a power imbalance between a boss and their employees, it’s the natural way of things. Power dynamics underpin every interaction at work and managers need to know when they cross the line and how to avoid doing so.

If you’re a bad boss who doesn’t understand power dynamics, it means that you’re not aware of your own privilege and how it affects your interactions with others. As a result, you may find yourself crossing boundaries and engaging in inappropriate behavior which could lead to legal trouble.

Bad Communication Skills

Bad communication skills are another bad boss habit that can be detrimental to business. This bad behavior often manifests as a failure to listen, or not being able to effectively speak your thoughts with team members.

Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings and it can also cause employees to feel like they’re not being heard. When bad bosses don’t communicate well, it makes the workplace less productive and more stressful.

In order to be an effective communicator, you need to make sure that you’re actively listening to what your employees are saying. You should also avoid making assumptions because this can lead to further misunderstandings.

Anger Management

Angry bosses are bad for business. When bosses get angry, they yell and throw things, which creates a culture of fear in the workplace. This bad behavior also leads to lower productivity and increases employee turnover. Not only does this create a culture of fear, but you’re not going to hold onto those staff members. In order to be a good boss, you need to learn how to manage your anger effectively.

One way to manage your anger is to take a step back and try to understand why you’re angry in the first place. When you understand the root of your anger, it will be easier for you to find a solution. You should also avoid reacting angrily to small problems and take some time to calm down before addressing the situation.

Another way to manage your anger is by using positive reinforcement. When employees do something good, reward them with praise or other incentives. This will make it more likely that they’ll continue to perform well in the future. Encourage good behaviors and the bad ones won’t occur anymore.

Disorganized

Being disorganized often leads to tasks getting overlooked or forgotten about altogether. This bad habit can also lead to a lot of stress, as bad bosses are constantly scrambling to get things done at the last minute.

Team members look to you for guidance, inspiration, and knowledge. If you have bad habits like being disorganized this can easily spread throughout your team. It can also slow down projects if employees can’t make sense of your organization.

To be more organized, bad bosses need to start by creating a plan and sticking to it. This means setting deadlines and organizing your tasks in a way that makes sense for you.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

One of the worst bad boss qualities is when they do not walk the talk. This happens when bad bosses make promises they can’t keep or they set rules that they don’t follow themselves.

If you’re a bad boss who doesn’t do what you say, then your employees are going to start losing trust in you. This will lead to them not taking your directions seriously and could cause them to leave the company altogether. You can’t build up goodwill between your employees if they can’t trust you.

To be a better role model for your employees, bad bosses need to start by setting an example and following through with their promises. Being a leader means you have to lead and to do that well you need to be a positive role model for your employees.

Blame Culture

When bad bosses create a culture of blame, it can be extremely damaging to the team. This type of environment can make people feel like they’re constantly under attack and can lead to them feeling defensive.

People are quick to point the finger at others and no one is ever willing to take ownership of their mistakes. This type of atmosphere makes it difficult for employees to work collaboratively and can also lead to them feeling insecure about their job.

A blame culture is often the result of bad communication and poor leadership skills. If bad bosses are unable to take responsibility for their own actions, it’s going to be difficult for them to create a positive work environment.

In order to fix a blame culture, bad bosses need to start by taking ownership of their own actions. They also need to encourage their team members to speak up and take responsibility.

Pit Staff Against Each Other

Making staff compete against each other is one of the worst bad boss habits. This type of environment leads to employees feeling insecure and can cause them to lash out at one another.

When bad bosses pit their team members against each other, it creates an us-versus-them mentality that’s counterproductive to teamwork. This can also lead to employees forming alliances, which can further damage the work environment.

Remember, these are people and your team. They are not your playthings. Competition is a good way to drive innovation if you are pitting staff members against each other, the whole team will collapse. Competition and collaboration go hand in hand.

In order to fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by creating a sense of camaraderie among their team members. They should also encourage collaboration instead of competition. No one wins when staff are pitted against each other.

Favoritism

Do you ever feel like you’re not good enough? That’s the effect favoritism at work can have on employees. When bad bosses show favoritism to certain team members, it can make other employees feel devalued and unimportant.

Favoritism creates a toxic atmosphere at work and can be extremely demotivating. Employees who feel that they’re being ignored or left out are less likely to be productive and more likely to leave the company.

To fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by being fair and treating everyone equally. They should also make an effort to get to know their employees on a personal level. This will help them to identify which employees may feel left out or ignored.

Racism

Racism is a bad boss habit that’s been around for ages. If bad bosses treat people differently because of their race or color, then they’re creating an uncomfortable atmosphere at work and could be putting the company at risk.

Racism can also cause employees to feel devalued and unimportant. This will lead them to leave the company altogether, which means you’ll need to find new staff members who are willing to put up with this bad habit.

In order to fix it, bad bosses should start by treating everyone equally regardless of their skin color or ethnic background! It’s important that all employees feel comfortable at work so don’t let racism become acceptable behavior in your workplace either.

Sexism

Sexism is something else bad bosses do that creates a toxic atmosphere at work. When managers treat people differently due to their gender, they end up losing brilliant people and missing out on diverging viewpoints.

If you’re found to have been sexist at work you open yourself up to lawsuits which can end up in you losing your job and paying retribution out of pocket. Every member of staff deserves a safe place to work and if you’re creating a sexist atmosphere, it won’t go unnoticed.

Remember that all staff are equal no matter what their gender identity or sexual orientation is. In fact, this is rarely relevant at work and should not become a topic of conversation. Managers should also be sure to snuff out any sexist talk being perpetrated by their employees.

Inability To Take Criticism Constructively

Bad bosses are often bad at taking criticism. They may take it personally and become defensive, or they may not listen to what’s being said. Either way, this is a bad habit that needs to be fixed.

When bad bosses can’t take criticism constructively, it leads to employees feeling unheard and unimportant. It also creates an atmosphere of distrust, which will eventually lead to employees leaving the company.

To fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by listening attentively when someone is giving them feedback. They should also make an effort to see things from the other person’s perspective. This can be difficult but it’s important in order to grow as a manager.

Not Being On Time

Bad bosses are often bad at managing their time. They may come in late, leave early, or take long breaks. This bad habit can harm the entire team.

When bad bosses aren’t on time, it sends the message that their time is more valuable than everyone else’s. It also makes employees feel like they’re not important and can lead to decreased productivity.

To fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by coming in on time and staying until the end of their shift. They should also refrain from taking long breaks or leaving early. If there are unavoidable circumstances, they should make sure to communicate this to their staff.

Not Being Prepared For Meetings

Another common quality of a bad boss is not being prepared for meetings. Bad bosses may arrive at a meeting without having read the material that was given to them in advance of they might forget their notes!

When bad bosses aren’t prepared, it causes meetings to run long and reduces productivity overall. It also makes employees feel like they’re wasting their time because bad managers don’t seem interested in what’s being discussed.

In order to fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by reading materials before coming into work each day so that they know what needs discussing during meetings with staff members etcetera. Once again communication plays an important role here too – bad managers should make sure everyone on their team knows about upcoming events!

Lack Of Humor

Bad bosses often have a bad sense of humor. They may make jokes at the expense of others, or tell offensive stories. This can be extremely damaging to the workplace atmosphere.

When bad bosses have a bad sense of humor, it makes employees feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. It also creates an unprofessional environment that is not conducive to productivity.

To fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by being more aware of their audience when telling jokes. They should also avoid offensive topics and material altogether. Humor should be used sparingly in the workplace – only when it genuinely contributes to the conversation at hand!

Hitting on Staff Members

This is a bad habit that often goes hand in hand with bad bosses having a bad sense of humor. They may make sexual comments or hit on employees inappropriately. It’s the fastest way to come across as a creep and create a divide between you and your staff

When bad bosses hit on staff members, it creates an uncomfortable and unprofessional work environment. It can also lead to lawsuits if the employee feels they were harassed at work.

To fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by avoiding any type of sexual harassment. This means no flirting, making suggestive remarks, or touching employees in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable.

If there are any doubts about what constitutes sexual harassment, managers should consult their HR department!

Vanity

One ad boss trait to watch out for is a bad case of vanity. They may love to talk about themselves, their accomplishments, or how great they are at their job. This can be extremely off-putting for employees

When bad bosses are constantly talking about themselves, it makes employees feel unimportant and devalued. It also takes the focus away from the task at hand, which is not good for business growth.

In order to fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by listening more and talking less. They should also ask their employees for feedback on their performance so that they can get an outside perspective. Finally, bad bosses should remember that no one likes a braggart – modesty goes a long way!

Flashing Their Cash

Bad bosses often try to buy employee loyalty with expensive gifts or by throwing around their authority. They may think that giving employees what they want will make them happy and more productive

When bad bosses flash their cash, it creates a power dynamic in the workplace. Employees may feel like they have to do whatever the boss says in order to get ahead. This can lead to unethical behavior, low morale, and high staff turnover.

In order to fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by being less showy and being more respectful of their money. They should also focus on earning employee loyalty through respect and good communication skills – not bribery!

Using Staff for Personal Errands

A big red flag sign of bad bosses is when they use their staff for personal errands, such as picking up their dry cleaning or getting them lunch. This takes away from the employees’ valuable time and can be extremely frustrating.

When bad bosses use their staff for personal errands, it’s not only a waste of time but can also lead to resentment. Employees may feel like they’re being taken advantage of and that their boss doesn’t trust them enough to do their job.

In order to fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by delegating more tasks to their employees. They should also make sure that all requests are reasonable and within the employee’s scope of work. If there is a task that needs to be done outside of work hours, then bad bosses should always try to make it up to the employee in some way before asking again.

Manipulation

Bad bosses often use manipulation tactics in order to get what they want. They may threaten employees with layoffs, make them feel guilty, or play games with their emotions. Typically they will prey on younger, more impressionable employees who may not have the courage to speak out.

When bad bosses use manipulation tactics, it creates an unhealthy work environment. Employees may start to distrust each other and feel like they have to watch their backs. This can lead to low morale, high staff turnover, and even sabotage.

In order to fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by being more honest with their employees. They should also be clear about what is expected of them and refrain from using threats or guilt trips as a way of getting things done. Finally, bad bosses should try to focus on building trust-based relationships with their employees.

Overworking Employees

Another bad boss characteristic is when they overwork their employees or expect them to work long hours without pay. This can be extremely stressful for the employee and negatively affect their mental health.

When bad bosses overwork their employees, it creates an unhealthy culture of burnout which can lead to low morale, high staff turnover, and decreased productivity in the workplace.

In order to fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by setting realistic expectations for themselves and others around them. They should also make sure that there are clear boundaries between work-life balance so that no one feels like they’re being taken advantage of at any point during the day or week.

How to Tell If YOU Are a Bad Boss

People always have a blind spot when it comes to their own weaknesses so being able to tell if you are a bad boss is not always is. Unless you’re belittling your staff on purpose as part of some power trip, your areas of improvement may not be immediately obvious. Here are some signs that point to a bad boss problem:

Turnover is high

People often leave their jobs because of bad bosses. In fact, bad bosses are one of the leading causes of employee turnover. When bad bosses are in charge, employees often feel overworked and undervalued.

They may also feel like they’re being taken advantage of or that their boss doesn’t trust them. This can lead to low morale, high staff turnover, and decreased productivity in the workplace.

To fix this bad habit, bad bosses need to start by setting realistic expectations for themselves and others around them. They should also make sure that there are clear boundaries between work-life balance so that no one feels like they’re being taken advantage of at any point during the day or week.

Temper Tantrums

If you struggle to keep your emotions in check at work it can lead to a toxic atmosphere. A boss who shouts, shames, gossips, and gets angry frequently is not the kind of person anyone wants to work for. You may think only toddlers have temper tantrums but an emotional boss can seem impossible to deal with.

Once the anger subsides and you can see things with more clarity, you may feel a little embarrassed about the situation. It’s a good idea to apologize but that doesn’t always happen. Either way, employees remember these sorts of interactions and it definitely doesn’t make work a nice place to be.

Employees shut down around you

If you walk into the room and your employees all go quiet, hang their heads, and avoid eye contact – you have a massive problem. This is a sign that your employees feel belittled and uncomfortable around you.

No one wants to engage with a bad boss, all they really want is for you to leave so they can go back to enjoying their day. Bad bosses wrongly assume that employees who have a personal chat are avoiding work. If you come down too hard on people, they’ll shut down and you’ll end up with mechanical staff devoid of personality.

Employees go over your head

When employees go over their boss’s head with complaints and problems, it can create a lot of tension in the workplace. On one hand, the employee is trying to get help and resolve the issue, but on the other hand, the bad boss may feel like they’re being undermined and disrespected.

The only reason an employee would do this is if they are afraid of you or don’t trust you to act responsibly. If you have a track record of being dismissive, employees won’t bother with you. Alternatively, they may need to complain about you so they need to speak with someone else.

This can lead to a lot of bad blood between employees and managers, and can ultimately damage the business as a whole. It’s important for bad bosses to be able to listen to feedback and take criticism constructively, to maintain a good relationship with their employees.

Promoting your mates

When bad bosses promote their friends over more qualified employees, it creates a lot of tension in the workplace. This is often because the promoted employee may feel like they don’t deserve the promotion, or that they didn’t work as hard for it. And their colleagues will end up resenting them because they have been fast-tracked.

In order to avoid these sorts of problems, bad bosses should be transparent about the process of promotion and make sure that everyone is aware of what’s happening. They should also be fair when it comes to promotions and make sure that the best candidate is chosen for the job.

Conclusion

If you want to keep top talent, make sure that your bad boss habits don’t get in the way of productivity and growth! Bad Bosses are a common occurrence in any workplace, but there are ways for you to help them become better managers and leaders.

Managers need accountability so that they know their actions won’t go unnoticed – otherwise, it will only lead them further down this path of bad behaviors which ultimately stunts employee growth. You’ll find yourself losing top talent because they feel like they can never do anything right or worse yet, your company endorses bad boss behavior. Hold yourself accountable and gain the necessary skills and tools to help you and your team succeed.

February 8, 2022February 17, 2024

Seven Quick Steps to Effective SEO Project Management

The competition for winning Google’s heart is fierce.

More and more companies are investing in search engine optimization (SEO). And there is a good reason why. In fact, research shows that in 93 percent of cases, people start their online experiences with a search engine. Obviously, if companies manage to please Google, they boost their online presence and increase their profits.

If you’re searching for helpful tips to carry out a successful SEO campaign, most probably your first question is: “How do I manage SEO projects so that I can beat my competitors more easily?”

The answer is straightforward: you should incorporate project management techniques into the execution of your SEO campaigns. By doing so, you complete projects faster and achieve results with higher precision and efficiency.

What is SEO project management?

SEO project management is the planning, coordination, and monitoring of any project related to SEO.

The use of project management in SEO may not be self-evident, but project management is a large and crucial part of effective SEO campaigns.

With so much happening simultaneously, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. Just think about it. You need to connect teams and maintain full visibility across all aspects of the project while at the same time being crammed with minor tasks.
When you have project management for SEO, you bring much-needed structure and organization into your day-to-day activities.
Fine-tuning the processes enables your team to work within a set scope and access resources in a systematized way. This ensures proper management of your search engine optimization efforts and maximizes the results.

In a nutshell, project management for SEO means that you and your team can prioritize effectively, communicate better, and take the project to its successful completion.

What does an SEO project entail?

In essence, SEO entails three main tasks:

Handling the technical side of the website
Creating content
Acquiring links

On the more detailed side of it, an SEO project encompasses several crucial tasks: content strategy, keyword research, content creation, link-building, content optimization, strategic outreach for backlink opportunities, competitive analysis, and more. Beyond that, you need to take care of website analysis, technical SEO audit, UX design, etc. In other words, your SEO campaign covers all of the different factors that boost your online presence in search engine rankings. Exploring different methods to get backlinks is a pivotal aspect of enhancing your SEO strategy, offering diverse avenues to strengthen your online authority.

The role of the project manager in SEO project management

It’s the SEO project manager’s responsibility to oversee the entire process of implementing SEO efforts. They should have the skills to set clear goals, assign tasks correctly, and keep the communication flowing across teams and departments.

Deep technical knowledge in SEO is desirable but not mandatory given that the project manager is aware of the SEO best practices and can monitor the process effectively. They should see the bigger picture of the project and ensure teams can focus on their specific tasks. Knowledge and skills in using SEO tools and project management software are also essential.

Knowing how to manage SEO projects means mastering the art of communication and prioritization. Effective project management keeps all relevant stakeholders in the know and identifies the top priority tasks at the moment.

Who else is involved in SEO project management?

It’s your SEO team who shoulders the responsibility of overseeing SEO projects. But they aren’t the only ones involved. Depending on the project requirements, you’ll most probably have to engage the marketing and web development teams as well. These teams don’t and shouldn’t work in isolation; completing the simplest task may require their orchestrated effort. For example, if a website redesign causes technical issues, it’ll hinder any further marketing or SEO efforts.

With so many stakeholders involved, how to manage SEO projects effectively?

How to manage SEO projects like a pro

Step 1: Set your goals

We wish we could have it done all at once. But the path to staggering success isn’t an easy one, and it starts with setting actionable goals.

Outline your targets and then develop an SEO strategy that’ll help you get there. The targets should be broken down into tasks and subtasks. Start by answering the questions below:

What’s the number of site visitors you expect per month?
When do you anticipate seeing the first results?
Which keywords do you aim to rank for on Google (or other platforms)?
How do you define a ‘good’ conversion rate (i.e., how many people should make a purchase after visiting your website)?
How many backlinks do you want to secure by the end of the quarter/year?
Do you have existing blog posts you want to boost traffic for? By what percentage?

The list, of course, may go on, but the takeaway is that you should set measurable metrics to give you a clear vision in your SEO project management. Beyond everything, this will ease the process of tracking and reporting later on.

Furthermore, you may also want to answer the question: how do these metrics align with my business priorities or the client’s requirements?

Some of your priorities might be: attracting more leads, building a strong online reputation, acquiring repeat visitors, or increasing brand awareness. Always ask yourself how to manage SEO projects so that today’s task brings you closer to achieving the bigger objectives.

At this point, you can already design the tactics that’ll help you walk towards your end goal. Some of those tactics could be:

Optimizing and restructuring the already published content,
Using strategically chosen keywords that are focused on one specific aspect (for example, to yield conversions),
Simplifying the website and making it user-friendly,
Redesigning the entire website (on the backend, this means optimizing and cleaning up HTML and CSS codes),
Focusing on a link-building campaign.

Step 2: Bring in the right tools

Gone are the days of scattered spreadsheets and project management via email alone. Acquiring the right tools to pull off the SEO project can take a lot of stress out of your coordinating efforts.

SEO tools will open the doors to valuable data, help you build your linking strategies (both internal and external), collect information about broken pages, etc. And, by the way, when it comes to bragging about the hard-earned results, you can use the insights those tools have provided to show evidence for your work.

But how do you choose the right SEO tools? What are some of the criteria you should consider?

Keep in mind that there are no good or bad tools. It all depends on the type and size of your project and what specific needs your project has. Do your own research to find the perfect fit. Here are a few aspects you should look into when evaluating SEO project tools:

Having an intuitive and user-friendly design.
Offering custom workflows. These workflows can automatically assign a team member based on the task’s status.
Giving an option for various permissions. Stakeholders may want to keep an eye on the project without active participation in it. A platform with different permission levels should be quite handy in this case.
Offering file storage and organization. Make sure the tool allows you not only to collect information (which you’ll do intensively), but also to categorize and store them in an easy-to-access format.

Step 3: Specify roles and responsibilities

It’s time to figure out how to distribute tasks.

Part of being a successful SEO project manager is keeping all stakeholders in the loop and distributing tasks smartly. Your marketing team, outreach managers, IT specialists – everyone should have clearly defined responsibilities. You may even need to engage your legal team to ensure no efforts backfire because of compliance issues.

Train and educate everyone about SEO. Let them know what SEO is and is not so that your team can communicate more effectively with the clients and customers. For example, you might want to make it clear that SEO is a long-term competition. You don’t want to complete a single sprint; you aim to win the marathon.

Step 4: Communicate early and often

Seamless internal communication is key to SEO project management. Be open and cooperative. Your team members should have open channels to ask questions, request information, and share feedback. You’re never guaranteed from unexpected issues. You can, therefore, set up 10-minute daily meetings to discuss tasks and make sure everyone is on track.

Good communication is also the best way to understand what your stakeholders want. If you’re doing an SEO project for your client, you should also have processes to check, fix or revise something upon the client’s request. It’s helpful to ask them (and do it upfront) what their communication preferences are. The more specific the communication process, the smoother the project will run.

Step 5: Validate before launching

Take this scenario. Closer to the end of the SEO project, you or your client aren’t sure about the effects of SEO changes and need more input to move on. How do you proceed from here?

Not to mess it up, set up a validation process. Ask for early tests before proceeding to launch. You can also run a pilot project on one area of the website to test and confirm the effectiveness of the campaign.

For a seamless validation process in SEO project management, share checklists, Q&A, and cheat sheets to facilitate the approval of any new development. It’s also helpful to create short, to-the-point recommendations targeting a specific team or a single aspect of the campaign. Remember that no one reads long pages; create something that your people can read and implement.

For instance, you may decide to share a word document with your content writers, detailing the dos and don’ts of what you’re looking for in the final blog post. Anything related to the style and voice of writing, usage of internal and external links, certain things you want the writers to avoid or concentrate on should go into this document.

Step 6: Measure and report the results

Did your SEO strategy work?

To answer this question, you’ll need to collect information that’s accurate, valuable, and easy to understand. Some of the things you should keep an eye on are: monitoring organic traffic, tracking indexed pages, checking conversions, reviewing ROI, and assessing your rankings on SERPs.

The data will also pinpoint the areas for improvement. Once you’ve analyzed the performance of the SEO plan, you’ll be able to make adjustments to improve results and processes. By the way, it’s not only about discovering what went wrong; something can perform better than expected! That’s also something you should take into account and explore further.

Those who have years of expertise in how to manage SEO projects will attest that proper reporting also creates a sense of accountability and enables you to provide recognition and rewards whenever possible.

Step 7: Collect constant feedback

Even after the project is finished, you’re not done. SEO simply never stops. It’s evolving, thus urging you to constantly refine and revise your strategies.

To make matters worse, Google seems to be constantly busy launching new changes and updating its tactics for ranking content. Marketers and business owners have no other choice but to adapt. To stay on top of these revisions, make sure you have the latest information about the fundamentals of content creation, technical SEO updates, strategies for acquiring backlinks, and much more.

Challenges in SEO project management

Even if you’re equipped with skills, knowledge, and expertise to properly follow all of the above-mentioned steps, case studies indicate that sooner or later, you’re going to face issues. Read on to be informed about potential hurdles on the path to SEO project completion.

1. Creative (and unmanageable) team members

The content your team creates for SEO campaigns should be unique and creative. Yes, unique and creative. But these are also the qualities of the team who produces the content! Wait. Is it a boon or a bane?

Does your arts and design team respect deadlines? How do you persuade your designers and writers that creativity should go hand in hand with discipline?

The solution: First and foremost, you should have the timeline approved beforehand and make sure everyone follows the set deadlines. Despite the challenges, remember that creative workers are rare to find and are increasingly in demand. It’s smart to be patient and search for solutions to keep them motivated and engaged.

2. Rewarding team members can be difficult

One of the challenges of SEO project management is that SEO is a collective effort and requires a number of interdependent tasks for tangible results.

Therefore, sometimes it’s difficult to attribute a certain result to a certain action. This creates challenges when you want to reward certain team members for their efforts.

The solution: An effective solution is to recognize everyone’s input in the project. By doing so, you’ll create an atmosphere of trust and camaraderie.

3. Lack of knowledge about SEO

Inadequate knowledge about SEO and how it works can be quite a feat.

Aside from learning how to manage SEO projects effectively, you might also need to educate all parties about SEO.

Let’s take an example of you managing an SEO project for a client. Firstly, you should have a clear roadmap of what you can deliver in a given timeframe. For instance, it’s not possible to simply add keywords to a website and expect to immediately rank number one on Google. It’s not possible even if the client expects you to do exactly that.

Secondly, you can’t achieve reasonable results for SEO if your client doesn’t want to invest time and effort into their overall marketing strategy.

Furthermore, no one can give your client high ranking and tons of organic traffic through easy solutions. Successful SEO campaigns are, as a rule, carefully planned, meticulously executed, and thoroughly monitored. There are best practices, but no easy shortcuts in SEO.

Finally, your client should be present and take part in the process; continuous collaboration is important to achieve desirable results.

The solution: If needed, educate your clients about what SEO strategies you’ll implement and why. Clients will appreciate your thoroughness and will see that your services add value to their business. For instance, explain why you need to make an update on their website. Tell them that there is a new Google release, so you need to do an additional review. Rest assured that they’ll show gratitude for keeping them up-to-date with industry changes.

4. Lack of visibility for clients

Issues may also pop up because your team or your clients don’t have enough access to the SEO project plan, its execution, and monitoring.

The solution: Take the guesswork out of the process and keep all stakeholders informed about what you’re currently working on. Send them performance reports, quick summaries of what has been accomplished, and an outline of the next steps. By the way, that’s why it’s so important to set up an effective communication process right from the very beginning.

5. It takes time to show results

No secret that SEO is a lengthy process.

It may take 4-12 months for SEO to materialize. For high-competition keywords, the waiting time may even stretch to a few years.

The solution: Have a proper measuring and reporting system to track the progress and assess the overall efficiency of the project results. Despite the set goals, think long-term and remember that you need to win the marathon, not a single sprint.

6. Staying up-to-date on what Google wants

Google has more than 200 ranking factors against which each webpage is assessed. And these ranking factors are subject to frequent changes and refinements. One of the challenges of SEO project management is to stay up-to-speed with all of these changes and be flexible to make adjustments while the project is in progress.

The solution: Adopt a new habit. Try to stay on top of best practices in the industry. Luckily, you’ll find multiple online resources to keep at hand and consult periodically.

Takeaways

Managing SEO projects is not about acquiring cheap traffic.

It’s your commitment to creating an online presence that appeals to people and forces them to come back again and again. Eventually, it’s about propelling brand awareness, protecting your brand reputation, and gaining a strategic advantage in the market.

SEO project management is part of your business and marketing strategy; the more visionary and substantiated your strategy, the better your chances to make Google fall in love with you.

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022

Your Ultimate Marketing Project Management Guide – 10 Tips For Success

Updating and perfecting your marketing project management strategies and standards has become an essential aspect of any business. We live in a world that’s become dominated by the internet, drastically changing the marketing landscape. With the rise of social media marketing, and brick and mortar stores remaining steadfast, marketing projects look increasingly different and must be meticulously planned to get the desired results.

In order to stand out in the saturated marketplace, companies are redefining project management for marketers. But what does that look like?

What Is Marketing Project Management?

Marketing project management is essentially the framework a marketing team follows for the successful completion of their marketing projects. This framework relies on a strong marketing manager to oversee and effectively organize the marketing strategies their team is using. The framework a marketing team follows will aim to ensure that the project is completed on time, within the assigned budget, and make sure all product goals are met. Project management for marketing can vary depending on the methodology the managing team has adopted, and on the management tools they use (more on that later).

Why Is Project Management For Marketers Important?

The quality of a marketing team’s project manager will ultimately determine the success of the marketing efforts. They will keep the marketing projects within predetermined bounds, making sure budgets are not exceeded and goals are met.

A strong project manager will be up to date on current trends and marketing practices and will implement them in their team’s marketing projects as they arise. This is an essential skill marketing project managers should have. In the modern marketing world, trends change quickly. If the project manager is unaware of the current hot marketing tactics, a project can struggle to meet its expected goals.

When a marketing project manager is involved and highly knowledgeable of the changing marketing strategies, their projects will find higher rates of success and be more profitable.

Benefits Of Marketing Project Management

A strong marketing manager will positively influence their teams and projects in many ways. While benefits can vary based on the project and the skill of the manager, there are a few that are most commonly experienced among marketing team members:

Easier Collaboration Opportunities

When a project team is led by a knowledgeable marketing manager, they are provided with more collaboration opportunities. Marketing involves a variety of different roles that all must work together to be successful. Encouraging collaboration between these departments and individual roles is essential.
Better Team Coordination

As a marketing project manager, it is your job to guide your team through each step of the project. This requires you to have a solid working knowledge of all project requirements and foundational processes your company utilizes. When your team members know what to expect as the project progresses, they will be better able to coordinate their efforts with those of the team. This will also help them align their specific tasks within the project timeline.
Increased Efficiency

A project that is created through the lens of a marketing project manager, is influenced by specific expectations that are predetermined based on the current marketing climate. A well-informed marketing manager will be aware of these and plan according to them as they design the project with their team. These factors increase project efficiency because guiding factors are implemented by the marketing manager before in-depth planning begins.
More Advanced Project Planning

There are many ways a marketing manager can plan a project. Marketing managers provide a specialized outlook on projects and can help create more in-depth project outlines directly related to current marketing strategies.

A project is only as successful as the planning done before it begins. When managers ensure intricate planning and scheduling are in place, they can be confident their project will find success. This can be done using online tools (see below), through physical strategy boards in-office, or a mix of both. However you plan your projects, the more detailed you can be in your processes, task descriptions and assignment, and overall strategic approach, you’ll find it reflected in the success of your project.

5 Essential Steps For Managing Your Marketing Projects

When you take on any new marketing project, there are some vital steps that take place. Typically, there are five main stages of a project which can be more or less intricate depending on each one.

Define Your Marketing Goals Clearly

What does success look like for this project? Before you can begin planning your project and breaking it down into individual tasks, you need to determine and define its overarching goal. Often these main goals are agreed upon and defined by the key stakeholders of the project. Once this has been done, marketing managers will then break those goals down into smaller project goals for their team to work towards during the project lifetime.
Plan The Project

Before intricate planning can begin, there are a variety of aspects that must be determined first. The most notable are:
- Identifying project deliverables (ie. what you’re producing, such as a specific campaign)
- Agreeing on budgets
- The breakdown of the project into individual tasks, often working backward from the overall deliverables
- Assigning tasks to team members best suited to complete them. (Consider individual skill sets, and let the members of your teamwork within their most confident areas)
- Estimate of the project scope. An accurate estimate will help you avoid completing more work than is needed, creating a more efficient plan
Using these guiding factors to create your project plan will help you make more informed decisions and outlines. This is essential in ensuring your project stays within the budget assigned. Use this information to create a project schedule in line with the agreed-upon end date for deliverables.

During this stage, break the project up into milestones for your team to meet so that you can measure the progress of your project as it is being completed. This will help you ensure it is on schedule and intervene if it begins falling behind schedule at any stage.
Execute Your Plan

Assign the tasks you and your team decided upon in the previous stage and provide access to the required resources. Support your team in creating the deliverables and publishing the marketing materials once they are completed and have passed the editorial process.

This support is crucial to your team’s success in finishing a highly proficient project. Prioritizing your team’s needs promotes a healthy workplace, drives up performance, and creates a more capable team altogether.
Monitor And Respond To Red Flags

Once the project has been launched, you will have to closely monitor its progress. This will require asking for feedback from your team regarding their task completion. Manage any problematic areas that begin to form, and create any secondary steps to rectify those problems as needed.

Your team will be a valuable asset to identifying and managing any risks that come up throughout the process. Hold regular meetings and encourage your staff to share any areas of concern, discuss any unforeseen problems that may arise, and brainstorm how you can improve all aspects being brought forward.
Review And Measure

Review the final project and measure its successes using your predetermined KPIs. By doing this, you will be able to create better processes for future projects and assess the overall success of your project. Your KPIs will highlight the weaker areas of the project while identifying its strengths as well. This gives you the opportunity to recognize those tasks that were completed exceptionally well, and take note of those involved in making them so impactful. This project feedback will help you determine the quality of your team’s performance and yours as well, which creates an opportunity for professional reflection and growth. This is an important factor to any project and is an essential part of your team’s success in future assignments.

Top 10 Marketing Project Management Tips

Knowing how to run an effective marketing project is vital to its success. While going through the motions will certainly get you to the finish line eventually, there are a few things you can do to enhance your project management style.

If you’re looking to optimize your existing processes, create a more efficient system, and make your next marketing project a huge success, try including a few (or all) of these tips in your next marketing project.

Use A Professional Management Tool

Including a professional online management tool can completely change the productivity and efficiency potential of your team.

While offline management software can allow you to oversee your team from one standalone application, the functionality and accessibility of an online management tool goes beyond that. These tools provide you with a versatile way to connect and manage your team all from one place, with some even offering downloadable software and device applications as well. This means both you and your team can access the project and connect with each other from any place and through any device. Online project management tools are the best option in the modern world where remote teams are growing in popularity.

The features and benefits of these online tools can vary based on which service you choose to use. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider what types of support would be most valuable to both you and your team.

While there are many online management tools on the market, some of the most valuable features they may offer, include:
- Task management tools, such as task assignment, outline creation, review and revision requests, and tracking capabilities
- Timeline planning for individual projects
- Direct access to team members both individually and collectively
- Tools to create a visual workflow for your team to easily follow and refer to throughout a project lifetime
- The ability to set specific reminders to make sure deadlines do not go unmet
- Collaboration tools to allow your team to connect, gather, share, and track necessary information about the project
Adding an online management tool can make team management easy from start to finish, whether you’re in the office or working remotely.
Use The SMART Goal Setting Method

Goal setting is an important step in any project planning process. One of the best ways to create strong, effective goals is by using the SMART goal setting method. When marketing project managers use this method to break down their project goals, they are better able to visualize their needs and have a high likelihood of finding success.

SMART goals are:

S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Achievable
R: Relevant
T: Time-Bound

SMART goals make it easy for you to define your goals in more clear terms, while also taking steps to make sure they are within your reach.
Monitor Task Completion Closely

As a marketing project manager, it’s important to track the progress of tasks throughout the lifetime of the project. Monitoring the individual aspects of the progress of your project is crucial to its success. This will help identify any problems your project may face in real-time, so you can manage them before they become larger and more complex to navigate.

Monitoring your team’s task progress also provides you with a way to hold each member accountable throughout the project. When any particular task is falling behind schedule, you’ll be able to connect with that person and support them in completing it. This will help you guide your staff and create natural learning opportunities, making your team stronger and more capable over the course of the project.
Include Your Team In Planning The Project

Team inclusivity is essential for a project to exceed expectations. Involving your team in the planning process and decision-making is beneficial in a variety of ways. Managers who do this have found that it leads to higher levels of productivity and a happier work environment all around. This occurs because team members feel appreciated, valued, and understood when they are invited to participate in the foundational building of a project they are being asked to work on.

Including everyone in the project planning also provides an opportunity for a broader range of perspectives. This helps you create a more balanced and highly skilled final product that finds greater success. Additionally, including brainstorming sessions with your team can result in reduced project costs and create a more efficient schedule. This happens when everyone on your team has a chance to give their opinions, helping collaborative opportunities be discovered through similar tasks being highlighted, and skill sets being combined to maximize efficiency.
Design And Test Different Workflows

The workflows you adopt throughout a project will depend heavily on the complexity of tasks. For projects that have recurring aspects, create a specific workflow to manage those tasks quickly and efficiently. By creating different workflows to implement and test, you’ll be able to perfect a step-by-step system to manage your regularly occurring tasks with ease. This will help you move through them faster and refocus your attention and energy on more important aspects of the project.
Find The Best Methodology For Your Marketing Project

The methodology you choose to work with will depend on your management style and the type of project you’ll be working on. There are four main methodologies that marketing project managers implement.
- The Agile Methodology
  - One of the most popular in the modern marketing world
  - Breaks a project into specific stages
  - Prioritizes collaboration between stakeholders and teams
  - Is a progressive model that continually develops, becoming more refined over time
  - Often used in long-term projects
  - Best for inbound and online marketing projects
- The Scrum Methodology
  - Focuses on the deliverables of a project, and prioritizes them based on importance
  - Uses a hierarchy system ensuring the highest priority items are delivered first before moving onto anything considered less important
  - Often used for projects with set schedules and deadlines
  - Best for product marketing and B2B projects
- The Waterfall Methodology
  - One of the most classic project management methodologies in marketing
  - Sequential in nature. Each task naturally leads into the next ones until the project is completed
  - Usually provides all deliverables at one time, unlike scrum or agile
  - Often has a deadline that is far in the future
  - Best for projects that experience a less radical change in their strategies requirements, such as in-store marketing
- A Hybrid Methodology
  - This methodology is exactly as it sounds; a mix of those methods above to meet the specific needs of a marketing project
  - Ideal for teams in need of more flexibility in their approach
  - Promotes taking the best aspects of one method and including it with another
  - Best for content and brand marketing
Start Making Project Templates (And Make Them Easily Accessible)

Templates are becoming more and more popular as the marketing landscape evolves. Templates can be helpful in streamlining processes for future projects and can be used as many times as they’re needed, creating greater efficiency. Many existing workflows can be repurposed for other projects, which can make the planning process quicker and easier.

When creating your templates, ensure you include a variety of styles so that you can utilize them no matter what type of project you are managing. This will reduce your planning time for new projects. You’ll be able to easily input the essential information of your project into the template and begin the project in a shorter time. This will make your planning process easier, less stressful, and less time-consuming. It also will increase productivity and boost your production rates, allowing more projects to be done in a fraction of the time previously needed.
Respond To Feedback Requests Quickly

As a marketing project manager, you will be required to verify and provide feedback throughout the project, and it may not always come at the most ideal times.

When feedback on aspects of the project is requested, it’s important to provide it within a timely manner. When you delay your feedback, your team can’t continue with that specific piece of the project. If this is done regularly throughout the project lifetime, it can set the project back and lead to a missed deadline, or a final project being produced that wasn’t verified by you.

Feedback can be as easy as telling your team that you’re pleased with what they’ve sent over, and giving them permission to continue on with it. Immediate response isn’t necessary or feasible at times. However, getting that feedback to your team as soon as you can is essential to your marketing project’s success.
Create An Ideal Consumer Profile

Creating an ideal consumer profile can be a highly beneficial tool in your marketing efforts. When done correctly, this will provide a clear understanding to your team about who they are reaching out to through this project. Include things like the ideal consumer’s age, demographic, income range, and style.

While that’s a good starting point, you can go even deeper with it to reap more benefits. Imagine one singular person as the ideal consumer. Make a mock-up of who this person is. Give them a name. Detail what kind of car they drive, what their lifestyle would look like, how will they find you, and what struggles they may be facing that directly relate to your marketing project. This will help you zero in on your project from a secondary perspective, and help you lead your team into creating a final marketing project that speaks directly to the ideal consumer.
Include Risk Management In Your Project Schedule

Risk management is an important part of any project. There are always risks that projects will be susceptible to, so it’s important to carefully consider them and strategize accordingly.

During the planning stage of your project, make a list of the potential risks you could face, along with when they would begin to show up in the project timeline. Add each one into your project schedule so that they remain on your radar and your team is aware of when to begin watching for them to occur. This will help you actively track their occurrence rates and be ready to manage them immediately if needed.

During this planning, include action steps on how to handle these risks should they arise. Include these as a note in the scheduled risk. This will ensure everyone knows both what they are looking for, and exactly how to manage it if it happens.

When you include risk management and planning in your project strategy, you’ll be better able to keep your project on track and meet all your goals by being proactive.

Conclusion

Being a proficient marketing project manager requires planning, collaboration, and goalsetting, among other essential skills to lead your team to success. The benefits of developing a strong management style can be staggering and when done effectively, your project success will be easier to achieve. As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, it will be essential to adopt updated management strategies to contend with your competition. By including some of these essential tips in your management practice, you’ll be better able to connect and support your team, design a more effective strategy, and produce a successful project that exceeds expectations.

February 8, 2022June 15, 2022

How to Hire Game-Changing Employees For Your Startup

@teamly

For additional information on this topic, feel free to check out this Youtube video from our channel.

Now, onto the main content...

This post is most aimed at unfunded (or minimally funded) startups; hustlers that are getting their idea off the ground and are looking to hire their very first staff members. The difference is we aren’t talking about how to handle that level of funds in this post. However, a lot of this advice applies equally well to ultra-funded unicorns as to bootstrappers, since we’re looking at the psychology and approach to hiring that’s necessary to grow a business.

We will not be exploring the legal aspect of hiring—like dealing with the IRS, or employee ID numbers, or labor laws—because that’s all cut-and-dried information you can find anywhere. The goal of this article is to show you how to hire employees that will improve and impact your startup; employees that are the best possible fit for taking your company to the next level, and making sure you get your hiring right first time.

You could argue that laying substantial groundwork for your first hires is unnecessary—better to be fast and take a risk, than slow down. And it’s true that “at will” labor laws mean you can always fire someone if it doesn’t work out—but can your startup afford that? Can your mental health?

You’re going to need to put a lot of energy into every new hire, so making sure they’re the best possible fit will save you a lot of time, energy and pain in the long run. Let’s get into it.

How to Get Started

As a startup founder, your priority should be plugging the biggest gaps in the business’s skill set. If you’ve already got version 1.0 of your product or service ready to sell, it’s tempting to immediately leap to marketing or advertising. Hire a marketing pro to get as many customers through the door as possible!

But if your products aren’t 100% meeting customer expectations every time? Then now isn’t the time to focus on marketing, but product improvement! That leads to two outcomes:

You bring in someone with the skills to take over product improvement (or that you can quickly train), or
You invest more of your time in products, and hire someone to handle administrative or other jobs that you’ll be neglecting

But maybe your products are fantastic already. If so, what’s your production capacity like? If it’s easy to create large quantities of your product, or if it’s an easily scalable service, then increasing the advertising spend might be the way to go.

When you’re thinking about hiring, you need to focus on the areas where additional hands will have the biggest impact straight out the gate. In other words, what are your highest-risk weaknesses right now?

Your job is to find, within reason, the best possible candidate for that role. They’re going to be responsible for a huge stake of your business, and so putting time and effort into recruitment will be highly rewarded. (Or, if you prefer the pessimistic outlook, cutting corners on recruitment could devastate your company).

Unfortunately this isn’t always as straightforward as we’d like.

Hire the person, not just the skills

Working for a fresh-faced startup is extremely different to joining an established business. Small, medium, large, enterprise—what established businesses all have in common is that they offer safe, predictable environments. As a rule, most employees can stay in their niche areas, go home at 5 o’clock and take home a competitive salary.

As you probably know, the world of startups is very different. In the early stages (and that can span several years or, unfortunately, the entire short lifetime of the company) you just can’t afford siloed job roles. Every employee needs to wear a multitude of hats: the sales guy needs to do customer support; the founder needs to pack boxes; the marketing exec needs to give product demos.

Hazy boundaries are inevitable, and that makes them important. The actual jobs need to be reflected in the candidate’s expectations: if you hire a marketing all-rounder with a remit of getting more leads, and then expect them to do a bunch of other jobs they weren’t expecting…that’s a recipe for tension. Some people will love that multi-purpose dynamic. Others will hate it and want to do the thing they’re actually good at (and were hired for) 100% of the time. Which is of course completely reasonable.

Not everyone knows what startup life is really like, and most don’t want to find out. But the reality is that your fledgling business needs dynamic, multi-purpose employees. It can’t support staff that are unwilling to work hard, learn and apply new skills, give up weekends, and go the extra mile on a regular basis. (Unless you engage contractors—which we will cover!)

Common “startup traits” to look for

There is no one-size-fits-all “type” of employee to look for. And just because roles blend somewhat doesn’t make technical skill sets anything less than extremely important. However, there are still a few traits that we’ve consistently found in the most successful startup employees:

Ambition — Most jobs are simply about doing “enough”; to work in a startup environment, you have to be pushing for something, always trying to get somewhere further. There is absolutely a place for workers that are content where they are, but it’s not in your young company.
Work ethic — There’s no room for passing the buck or shirking tasks in a startup. There will be long hours, myriad different tasks and heaps of pressure. New employees don’t need to be superman, but they do need to understand the long-term payoffs of consistent effort. You need to hire people that are happy to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in; that generate value and self-worth from working this way.
Sense of responsibility — The best startup employees have a natural bias towards action. They can run with incomplete knowledge and consider time doing nothing to be time wasted. Your best employees will take ownership of tasks beyond those you’ve specifically assigned; if they notice a problem, they’ll use their brain to fix it. Not for praise, but because that’s just how they work.
Adaptability — Startup life means thinking on your feet. Look for candidates that have evidence of adjusting to tumultuous times, moving with changeable briefs, adapting to uncomfortable circumstances. If your candidates have only ever worked stable, predictable jobs, make sure they prove that they can handle a more mercurial role.
Acceptance of failure — This is a hard one to screen for, so simply talk to prospective candidates about failure. It is the most fundamental “hack” for growth: trying, failing, learning, and trying again. The more painful the failure, the bigger the lesson—you need employees who not only understand, but live this attitude.

Create a hiring strategy for long-term

If things go well with your startup, eventually you’re either going to go for funding or grow organically. Either way, you need to have a plan for where you’re taking the business. Of course this is subject to change, but your initial hires should be part of a bigger scheme; you should have a 12 to 60 month vision that you’re building towards.

This means considering what your team(s) is going to look like down the line. You’re hiring for today’s problems, but also for the future you’re building towards. For every role you put together, make sure to consider how that role might evolve with time, to serve a purpose beyond the initial “startup” stage.

Should you work with recruiters on these hires? Honestly, at the early stages, it’s not usually a worthwhile investment: recruiters are expensive and the type you can actually afford are probably going to throw candidates at you indiscriminately. A better option would be to explore your existing network: try to find eager, energetic employees through people you more-or-less trust.

At the same time, realistic job adverts are a good move. They’re cheap to post, and because most job posts are absolutely chronic, you have a real opportunity to stand out from the crowd, catch people’s attention, and light their imagination on fire.

In addition to thinking about this high-level strategy, it can pay to form a specific, play-by-play action plan to keep you on course.

Example 6-step hiring plan

Part of your strategy is what we just discussed: strategy. Long-term vision for the company and what your team is going to look like. The other part is a literal plan: how will we go about recruiting people?

Well here’s one approach:

Identify the need — You’ve already done this part by finding the highest-priority skill gaps in your startup.
Create & share the job description — This should include a job title (don’t fixate on this) and actual responsibilities, but also details about boundaries, extra responsibilities, growth potential, and character traits. Always include a salary range (or minimum) to avoid deterring good candidates.

Spread the job around your network and on job boards/recruitment sites. Leverage social media.
Review applicants — Allow a few weeks (if you have time) for applications to come in and set aggressive filtering criteria. Screen candidates and take notes as to why you like them and what you want to see demonstrated at the interview. Invite as few candidates as possible to interview.
Interview candidates — Have a single round of interviews, unless completely torn between candidates. Focus largely on their personality, mindset and attitude, and make any skills tests or interviews concise and relevant.
Check references — If an applicant has relevant references and you feel the need to check them, do so now. This shouldn’t be considered compulsory—you’re your own judge of character and references are very rarely 100% candid.
Make an offer — Don’t hang around here. Make the offer and make it clear you’re keen to start as soon as possible!

There are multiple steps you could “skip” here, but the end result is likely to worsen and the medium-long term effects on your business are not worth it. Invest time in this process and you’ll be rewarded heavily in their performance and your company’s success.

How to frame your company benefits

When hiring employees for a startup, you won’t usually have the luxury of offering “competitive” salaries and benefits. Since this is one of the key tools for securing top talent at established businesses, we need to consider what you can do to compensate.

So how does a company that’s offering sub-competitive wages, long hours, and multi-faceted job requirements compete with big salaries, healthcare, and paid time off?

You start with the culture. The lifestyle of the startup world. Your main focus should be on selling the glory and passion of living in this world. Few skilled and ambitious workers join startups for the blockbuster day zero salary; they do it for the cause, the potential they could reach and the tangible difference they can make during the journey. Even if you have exceptional funding, always aim to ignite that fire in each applicant’s belly, that desire to be part of something great. It will help you lure out the best people.

The other option is to talk openly about the potential future benefits:

If you stay here then…
If we reach X goal then…
Your career progression could be…

Paint a realistic picture of a bright future and offer to back these up in the contract, tied to overall business success. It may not be concrete, but it could help lure in some overqualified candidates.

Should you invest in contractors?

The vast majority of this post is about full-time employees. However, sometimes you’ll come across skill gaps that you just can’t bridge with your team’s skill set—or that you could bridge, but not to a high enough standard.

For example, say you’re applying for funding that’ll transform your business’s future—amazing! That application is now almost certainly the most important thing in your entire business. Hiring a pitching expert to get you over the line (contractor of course, not employee) might be a life-changing investment.

Or you’re launching your first paid ads campaign. Giving a veteran copywriter 2 hours to review + fix problems on your landing page, or a backend ads pro 2 hours to fix your allocations and algorithms…this occasional spending on freelancers and contractors is a necessary part of running a startup.

Why? Because unfortunately your business needs a diverse range of skills and you just can’t hire them all at a world-class level. Certainly not early on. Spending high hourly rates to get genuinely expert contributions, in small doses, can massively boost your business.

Now having said all that, there are plenty of “specialist” tasks which are not urgent or life-threatening—tasks that you can deliver to a less-than-pro standard with a marginal effect on the business:

It’s better to have an average website than spend $5,000 getting the copy done
It’s better to make your own silly, low-budget TikToks than pay an expensive influencer
It’s better to fudge your way through Quickbooks than pay for a virtual CFO

In an ideal world, these tasks would all be allocated to experts and that would produce better results—but if they’re not mission critical right now, then you can hold off on that spending. You can paint over a lot of cracks early doors. It’s your job as founder, however, to identify the areas where true professional help is needed and always bite the bullet in those cases.

Conclusion

This was a fairly deep exploration into identifying and hiring the best employees for your startup, but you’ll notice that the physical “hiring steps” (like posting job ads and running interviews) isn’t the main focus. Our real goal was to share advice for understanding exactly what candidates you needed, and how to appeal to them.

Recruitment into startups is rarely easy. You have virtually nothing to offer in terms of cash or benefits, and yet you actually need significantly more driven and quick-thinking employees than most established companies call for. Knowing which traits to look for, having a long-term vision for your staff and knowing how to plug the gaps with contractors will all contribute to good hiring decisions.

Now you just have to cross your fingers that the right prospects see your ads and get in touch!

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022

How to Improve Your Written Communication Skills at Work

How to improve written communication skills at work

Now, more than ever, the bulk of our personal and professional communication is happening through a screen rather than in person. Whether it is an email or instant message, it is important that we effectively communicate our messages.

Challenges of Written Communication

There was a day when you met regularly and in-person with your team. While in-person teams still exist, it is more common to have remote or at least partially remote teams that include people you may never even meet in person. This opens up a new world of possibility when it comes to talent and diversity but poses a unique challenge that goes against our human nature and our ability to interpret body language and micro reactions in our communications.

Albert Mehrabian, a body language researcher, found that communication is 55% nonverbal, 38% vocal, and 7% words. He later clarified that his research was based on the communication of single words associated with emotion and is not entirely conclusive to full sentence communication. Thankfully, this common misinterpretation of his finding has led to even more research on this topic that shows anywhere from 60% – 70% of communication is nonverbal. That is a far cry from 93%, but the point still stands that a significant chunk of communication is done non-verbally.

That begs the question… how much of our communication abilities are lost when we are communicating solely through text? The answer is a lot.

Fear not! It may be more challenging but there are ways to improve your written communication and clearly convey your message.

Three C’s of Communication

One may think that a big part of communication is grammar and spelling. While it certainly won’t do you any favours to send an email riddled with typos, it’s more complicated than that.

Be Concise

In an effort to be more concise, ensure that you’re not needlessly adding words to your message. Note the word count and challenge yourself to share the same message while reducing the number of words you need to convey it.

Consider your medium – If you are using a message board that follows a stream of related conversations, there is no need to provide context with each reply. On the other hand, if you’re communicating an update with a client or management, it makes sense to add a bit of context.

In being concise also consider correctness. While you want to be sure to only include the words that are needed, the words used should accurately convey the tone and message behind the communication.

Be Clear

Clear and concise may sound similar but there is an important difference. In an attempt to write clearly, you want to be considerate of the actual words you use. Resist the urge to sound “smart” by including less common descriptive words when a more common one exists. It also helps to keep sentences short.

If your communication involves an ask, make sure it is undeniably clear. For example:

“Please draft a 200 word summary of the project for Client 1. Send it to Jane for review by Wednesday at 2:00 pm.”

This message includes boundaries (word count), context (Client 1), action (send to Jane) and a deadline (Wednesday at 2:00 pm). A clear message was sent with less than 25 words.

Be Considerate

One of the best ways to be considerate of the reader is crafting the appropriate message based on the platform. For example, if you are communicating via instant message, keep it short and likely more informal.

Part of being considerate is another “C” word – courteous. A little courtesy goes a long way in written communication and can get lost in the quest to be clear and concise. Showing gratitude is never a waste of space and does wonders to communicate respect for the reader’s time and attention.

10 Tips to Improve Written Communication

With the three C’s of communication fresh in your mind, consider the following tips to improve your written communication abilities.

Read It Out Loud

It may feel silly and I highly recommend that you are alone when you do this, but reading your message out loud will make a big difference. It is much easier to catch mistakes and get a feel for the tone when the message is spoken as opposed to silently reading.

Consider Your Audience

Are you writing a quick note to a friend or to the CEO? This will make a big difference in how you format your message and the tone that it may take. Save your emoji’s for less formal interactions with your team and spend a little extra time on communications with

Get In The Zone

One of the most common mistakes people get into is not really thinking before they write. Because a backspace is easier than whiteout, we are all guilty of just jumping in. You will see great improvement in your written communication when you learn to take a deep breath first and take a couple of minutes to get into the zone.

Make Use of Writing Assistant Tools

Grammarly is an excellent program that will add a layer of review on to your work. While it is not perfect, programs are getting better and better at noticing errors and even recognizing the sentiment behind a message.

Provide Context

If someone where to receive your email as a stand alone document, would they have any idea what is going on? No, you don’t need to include a full history of the project every time that you send an email but be clear enough that someone will not have to work backwards to remember what you are talking about. It can be as simple as including the title of the project or making use of the subject line.

Practice Makes Perfect

Okay, nothing is ever perfect but the sentiment is that you need to practice to be good at anything. Consider the amount of words that you write in a day. You can figure this out by copying and pasting everything you write into a word document and then using the word count function. Try this for a week and see how much you write and use that number to set a writing goal. The idea is to get a baseline and ensure that you practice every day.

Proofread

This should go without saying but so often people type away and click that send button without even once reviewing their work. There is nothing worse than realizing you spelled someone’s name wrong when it was written correctly in their email address. If your document is longer, like a report, it’s extra important to factor in time to review it. A good tip is to have others read it first because they can spot things you have come to ignore having read it so many times. Another is to actually plan your time right that you can step away from the work for a couple of days and come back to it with fresh eyes.

Keep It Simple

There may be times when you need to step up your game but more often you will be writing less formally and for people you know. The goal is to get a message from point A to point B with as little resistance as possible. This respects your time but also the time of the receiver who also has things to do.

Back To The Basics

You didn’t think you were going to get through a blog about written communication without a reference to The Elements of Style, right? Originally published over 100 years ago in 1918 by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, the advice packed into these pages has really stood the test of time and is a must-have on your bookshelf.

Imitate Writing Styles

Can you think of anyone in your circle who already does a great job when it comes to written communication? Think of what it is about them that appeals to you and how you can apply that in your own written communication.

Conclusion

There are very few skills that span across industries but effective written communication is one of them. If you are looking to improve your skills, you can start by implementing any one of these tips and you will be well on your way.

February 7, 2022February 4, 2023

How Managers Become Leaders: 18 Strategies to Move Up the Chain of Command

Isn’t it a thrill to be promoted or assigned to lead a new project? You know you’ve achieved a real milestone when your hard work is recognized and your organization decides you’re ready to lead a team.

But then it can be a real struggle getting settled into the new position. Advancing along the leadership pipeline means you’re seeing things from a different perspective and framework.

Succeeding isn’t nearly so simple as showing up to a new office with an updated title. Most people feel like a fish out of water at the beginning. There’s a bit of scrambling, figuring out how to adjust to the new environment. Leaning back on old habits and skills doesn’t always cut it.

Advancement, rather, is like climbing a mountain. You used a certain set of equipment and tools to arrive at base camp, but in order to progress further, many of the same tools won’t do you any good. You’ll need a whole new set of tools in order to ascend any higher.

For most of us, making this advancement isn’t intuitive. Without strategy and training, you’ll find yourself falling back on the same familiar skill sets from your old position.

Excelling in a new role means being intentional with the skills you use and develop, and the skills you let go.

If you’re adjusting to a new leadership position or aspiring to grow into a leader, buckle in. We’re going to look at 18 strategies and skills necessary for managers to become leaders.

1. Be Transparent About What You Don’t Know

In addition to being exciting, a promotion or new assignment can also be stressful. The pressure to perform from day one feels immense. In highly visible situations such as the kickoff call, you want to look like you have it all together.

When you’re new to a role, however, having it all together means being honest and open about everything you don’t understand.

If you’re faced with all sorts of new things; new software, new clients, and a whole new team; don’t be shy to ask away and acquire as much information as possible. Start building strong relationships with other managers who have been with the company for some time. When you’ve developed this trust, they become valuable resources for soliciting information and council.

Remind yourself that there’s no shame in learning and asking questions. It’s the strongest position for you and your team at this point.

With an inquisitive mindset that’s ready to learn, you’ll quickly go from feeling like you’re drowning in things you don’t understand, to feeling stable and in a position to hold the reins. And once you have a good understanding of budgets, client goals, stakeholder concerns and project risks, you’re much better poised to lead the team to success.

2. Develop Listening Skills

Whether you’re working with a small, medium or large company, this soft skill stands at the tippy top of the “must have” list.

As a leader, 90% of your job is about communication. Someone who has a habit of talking over people or rambling on at meetings misses critical opportunities to listen to and hear from stakeholders and the rest of the team.

Three facets to being a good listener include mirroring, restating and asking questions. Let’s look at each of these individually.

Mirror
This isn’t about trying to discover who’s the fairest of them all. Mirroring means providing feedback in real time, to indicate you’ve understood someone’s comment or suggestions. It includes things like nodding and facial expressions. Mirroring means that people aren’t just talking at one another, but rather talking to one another.
Restate
Particularly with distributed teams, so much non-verbal communication is completely lost. Restating someone’s assertion as you hear it gives them the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings and flesh out the key points they’re trying to make.
Ask Questions
Oftentimes what people say are the icebergs that sit above the water. Asking good follow up questions allows you to receive a more complete understanding of the message another person is communicating.

3. Get a Coach or Mentor

When you’re promoted to a new position, particularly within an entirely new company, there’s so much you need to learn in order to become proficient. There’s an entirely new culture to acclimate yourself to, a new team, new projects, and new stakeholders. Plus, the role requires you to flex and develop a new set of skills and responsibilities.

Oftentimes the company onboarding process provides you with training and mentoring to bring you up to speed here. Lean heavily on these meetings, and come prepared to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for the position.

When the organization doesn’t provide sufficient training, seek out a coach or mentor on your own dime. Having a knowledgeable sounding board allows you to work through struggles and challenges before they turn into real problems.

In order to make the most of a coaching session, spend some time reflecting on your key concerns before the meeting. Afterwards, make a conscious effort to apply the takeaways and record how they worked out. This gives you something to build on in the following session.

4. Define Success in the New Role

If you’ve been promoted up the chain of command, you’re probably coming from a position where your job performance was evaluated by producing a deliverable: completing a batch of code, designing a graphic or organizing the product backlog.

However, leading has more to do with overseeing and motivating, and moving a team through a project. When you’re managing managers, the work gets done through them now. You’re not hands on, but rather working on things like coaching, advising and dictating.

This is a real shift; you’re seeing things from the other side of the table. Take some time to outline what your objectives are in the new position, and clarify these with your mentor to be sure you’re on the same page.

5. Re-Define How You Add Value

One common struggle with leading is that many of your new responsibilities seem intangible.

Whereas in your old position you may have produced a deliverable, you now add value to the organization by coaching, motivating and building rapport.

It’s much easier to measure progress when you’re, say, tasked with building a website and can just look at what percentage of the project is complete.

It’s harder to gauge work performance around jobs like “motivating” and “team building.”

Even though it’s hard to measure, it’s good to come up with indicators nonetheless.

When a job is defined by having conversations, building relationships, and getting work done through others, then the indicators that tell you you’re on the path to creating this value include things such as how is the team getting along, the quality of the deliverable, and the feedback you’re hearing from the team (both verbal and non-verbal).

6. Define What You’re Picking Up and What You’re Letting Go

Have you ever gone to the grocery store without a list? It’s so easy to fill up the cart with all sorts of things, only to arrive home and realize you can’t really make a meal out of any of it.

Not understanding all of the responsibilities in your job role is like going to the grocery store unprepared. You’ll be reaching for things from your old job, but it won’t contribute to the goal you’re trying to achieve in the new position.

Maybe in your old role you could own the creation process. And now you have to let go of the urge to jump in and do the work yourself.

A leadership role entails delegating, and then trusting the team’s ability to do the work. It also means looking at the longer view, and helping the team see cliffs and snafus before they become real problems.

A visual is helpful in arriving at clarity about the responsibilities in your new role. Write out what you did in your old role and what your responsibilities look like now.

Are you more focused on helping the team discover and mitigate risks? Or maybe you’re much more plugged into stakeholders than you ever have been.
This dashboard gives you a clear indication of where to spend your time in order to achieve the objectives of your new position.

7. Know Your Team’s Preferred Management Style

Teams and employees come in all shapes and sizes. When acclimating to a new leadership role, understanding the company culture and the individual preferences of team members goes a long way to succeeding in the role.

In a flat organization, your role may be more hands-off. In a culture that values personal development, your emphasis would be around building rapport and coaching. In an organization that emphasizes high-performance, you may assume a more dictatorial and authoritative role.

Additionally, every person has preferences about how they want to be managed. More than a third of Generation Z employees say they want to interact with the boss daily, and 84% want to receive formal training. Some employees are very resistant to change, and others benefit from coaching.

Knowing these personal preferences helps to retain a talented team. And these details aren’t always apparent just from talking to people. One way to gain empathy and insight into your team is with personality tests. A few options include 16Personalities, CliftonStrengths Assessment, and Meyers-Briggs. When done as a team exercise, where everyone shares and discusses the results, it increases knowledge across all the team members.

8. Develop Your Team

More than anything else, leadership is about enabling a team to succeed. More than looking for where you want to be in five years, growing as a leader is about asking: “How do I get someone else promoted?”

Each member of your team has practical and personal needs that they’re looking to fulfill in their professional lives. Take some time to understand these desires. Know where they’ve come from in their careers, who their mentors are, and ask candid questions about where they are headed and what you can do to get them there. This takes some one-on-one time, so be sure to work it into your schedule.

This knowledge is so valuable in identifying what kind of projects to assign someone to, and where to direct an employee’s career during his or her time with you.

When everyone on your team is aligned with their personal goals, they’ll do their best work. And people will recognize you as someone who produces and develops great talent.

9. Develop Coaching Skills

Coaching plays a central role in empowering and leading others. At its core, coaching is about providing support.

A lot of coaching focuses on professional development. To make these sessions valuable, set expectations at the beginning for the long-term objectives. When you understand an individual’s professional objectives, it’s possible to provide feedback in their work performance, and indicate gaps between whether they are now and where they want to be.

Understanding and observing your team is par for the course here. This means noticing their strengths, deficiencies, and professional and personal goals.

Maybe you have a manager who is brand new to managing, and struggles with letting go of work he knows he can do himself. Or another who is excellent at building rapport, but doesn’t always see the road bump three steps ahead in the project.

When these coaching relationships are long-term, it’s possible to follow up and celebrate milestones, which makes the process both rewarding for you and the individual.

Coaching also assists with situational project management. A key role to leading a team is bringing potential risks and snafus to everyone’s attention. Facilitating ongoing communication, and working to build cooperative relationships also assists with just-in-time coaching.

Emotional intelligence is a characteristic of a good coach. It’s about knowing when to jump in and offer advice and when to let things flow. This varies from person to person.

Coaching is a skill best developed through experience. And it’s intangible. You don’t see the results right away. But over time, the impacts are reflected in feedback, team cohesion, work performance, and the final deliverable.

10. Drive Clarity for the Team

Working on a project with a team that doesn’t have clarity is like taking a trip and not knowing who’s driving, what car you’re in, how much gas is needed and where the traffic lights are.

Only a leader can set the big picture for an organization’s objectives. You determine the outcome. The team looks to the leader for this direction. Developing a shared understanding of where the entire team is going is integral to the leadership role.

True clarity isn’t anchored around the project. If a final deliverable is the team’s focus point, it’s a sign that the team doesn’t understand where it’s really headed. The project, rather, is just the vehicle. The destination is centered around how the project adds value to either the client or the organization.

For example, if a team is building an ecommerce webpage for a bookstore, the completed webpage isn’t their objective, but rather it’s increased sales for the company.

When driving clarity, it’s good to consider people’s various learning styles. Some are kinesthetics, others visual, and others auditory. Creating content for all of these methods helps to get people onto the same page. For example, flow charts that outline job duties and ideally an in-person meeting helps to communicate clarity to the entire team.

11. Build Strong Rapport

Trust, cohesion and support are integral to fostering a capable, high-performing team. With a distributed team that includes people of various ages, personalities and cultures, and different skill sets to boot, a sense of cohesion and camaraderie certainly doesn’t just happen.

Honing you rapport skills is part and parcel to creating this team dynamic.

Rapport is more than coordinating team building activities. It’s really a part of every interaction you have with your team members. Rapport is about building connections with an individual or community. More than being friendly or getting on with another person, rapport seeks to break down barriers and enable fluid communication.

Forensic psychologists Laurence and Emily Alison, authors of Rapport: the Four Ways to Read People, have distilled the fundamental components of rapport into four areas: honesty, empathy, autonomy, and reflection (HEAR).

Honesty
Honesty means being true to your own perspective and vision, while being open to listening to alternative perspectives. Starting statements with things like: “I know some people here don’t see it this way, but….” generates empathy for your point of view, and acknowledges there are other perspectives as well.
EmpathyEmpathizing with another person goes beyond thinking “I know how I would feel if I were in their shoes” to really trying to understand another person’s perspective. This empathy seeks to understand what really drives another person, and can only be achieved through spending time with team members and actively listening to them.
It’s a challenge to release our own perspective and deliberately listen to others and get an idea of where they are coming from, but this is key to bridging communication gaps.

Incorporating empathy into difficult messages or bad news helps to soften the blow: “I know we’ve worked hard toward this deliverable, but based on recent client feedback we’re going to have to pivot and possibly backtrack.”
Autonomy
A work environment with lots of rigidity and protocol may well create totally unnecessary resistance from employees. We all want to have some liberty and license as to how we go about doing things. Giving people the flexibility as to what project to work on next, or when to do certain tasks yields an obliging and cooperative team.
ReflectionRapport develops when a person feels they’re fully understood and listened to by another.
A conversation technique of throwing back what a person has said compels people to explain themselves further. This includes statements like “So it sounds like what you’re saying” and “Tell me what you mean by….”

In sum, rapport is a learned skill, developed through experience. It’s deliberate engagement.

The coordination and cohesion within a team affects its performance even more than the combined skill set of the team. For this reason, building rapport is central to leading a high-functioning team.

12. See the Big Picture

Being a leader is about seeing the forest and not getting into the weeds. You connect dots between your group and the broader vision for the whole organization. This includes things like understanding the organization’s strategic goals and the kind of culture it’s trying to create.

Rather than seeing each department within the organization as its own fiefdom, a leader understands how everything works together and what really drives revenue for the company.

Developing a thorough understanding of the entire organization allows you to manage and lead your separate department in alignment with the company’s revenue goals, its culture and its core values.

13. Facilitate, Not Command and Control

Have you ever had a leader who took credit for something you completed, and didn’t give any recognition for the team’s efforts? Or have you worked under someone who’s simply very abrupt when coaching or counseling?

When you ascend to a leadership position, you appreciate these scenarios from a different point of view. A leader continuously struggles to find a balance between driving progress and micromanaging. And the power trip of being in charge isn’t always easy to keep in check.

However, ineffective leaders stand out pretty quickly. If you’ve developed a reputation for being a bit of a nightmare to work with, then you may get slated to lead a project but have no one sign up to work with you.

It’s often the case that a team is pretty cohesive and proficient in its roles. They may not need a lot of coaching or guidance, really. The leader’s role, then, is to identify impediments and blockers. It’s about facilitating an environment where the team has all of the tools it needs to get the project done. This entails ongoing communication to identify anything that might be holding people up, knowing what’s going well, and continually seeking feedback to keep the team aligned to its vision.

It takes some time to develop into an effective leader. It’s about understanding the differences between driving results and dictating, and leading with trust versus leading with fear. As far as the team’s psychological safety and camaraderie is concerned, the overall results between the two approaches are like night and day.

14. Notice Patterns and Learn From Mistakes

No matter how hard you try to do your best, every leader eventually encounters a “worst case scenario.” Maybe you complete a deliverable on time and under budget, but the stakeholders aren’t at all pleased with it. Or you miss a deadline due to recurring friction within the team.

Rather than get discouraged, use these opportunities to learn and develop as a leader. So much about leadership can only be learned from trial and error. When you’ve been in the same situation over and over again, you start to intuitively understand how to navigate your way through it successfully.

One way to identify areas to work on as a leader is to consistently identify where you excel and where you fall short. If your team chronically experiences friction, maybe you need to work on building rapport within the team. If the deliverables fall short of client expectations, then work on crystalizing goals and requirements at the kickoff meeting.

A steady period of solid experience shows you the areas to work on. There’s nothing like getting knocked down to help you grow as a leader. Learning to be ok with failure is key to progressing along the leadership pipeline.

15. Discover Your Superpowers

Your leadership style depends largely on who you are. This includes your personality, your skill-set and your talents. Various leadership styles have been codified, and some central methods are known as “laissez-faire,” “democratic” and “pacesetter.”

A laissez-faire leader is popular in agile frameworks, where a team is given autonomy over the project, and the leader serves to remove roadblocks and impediments.

A democratic leader values all-team contributions, and closely considers all feedback before making a decision. Every person’s vote has equal weight. A democratic leader is someone who excels at facilitating discussion.

A pacesetter is performance-driven. This leader creates an environment where the team hits seemingly unreachable bars due to high expectations and demand for top-notch performance. A pacesetter is characterized as someone who’s driven, a hard worker, competitive, and highly skilled in their given field.

Your own personal leadership style is learned through experience. Sometimes this is a chicken and egg scenario. If you’re craving leadership experience to understand your preferred method, seek out small-scale projects to get your foot in the door. You may well discover a superpower you had no idea you had.

Listening to the team and how they want to be led is also an important part of the formula. Being able to code switch your style after taking a temperature of the situation is a sign of a highly skilled leader.

16. Look for Validation Through Feedback

In one sense, a leader needs to set direction and make tough decisions, even in the face of criticism and backlash. However, this doesn’t mean he or she is unconcerned with what other people think.

Becoming a leader who empowers employees means listening closely to feedback. This can be communicated both directly and indirectly. Having systems in place for gathering feedback, particularly following the completion of a project, allows the leader to take a temperature check of the team.

Looking for this validation and learning from it is the characteristic of a transparent leader. It’s part and parcel to understanding where you’re effective as a leader, and areas to improve.

17. Cultivate a Culture of Transparency

Company culture is developed from the top down. It’s reflected more in things the leaders say than in anything written up in the company’s core values. Moving into a leadership position in a transparent culture means embodying the company’s core values.

In order to morph from a manager into a transparent and effective leader, it’s necessary to let your guard down. Be willing to eat some crow when you know you’ve dropped the ball on something. And don’t be afraid to let everyone know what your weaknesses are. People appreciate vulnerability in a leader.

When a leader is ok with looking human before others, it makes him or her more relatable. People are more likely to rally behind someone who is charismatic, but who admits that they don’t have it all together.

18. Do the Little Things

When you’re looking to advance in your career, take time to cross your i’s and dot your t’s.

Many days at your job probably feel like playing games of whack a mole. There are so many key people to stay in contact with and emails to follow up on, that it’s easy to let things fall through the cracks.

But the little things really matter. People notice when you’re too busy to show up on time for a meeting, or have a habit of saying you’ll get back to someone, and then never do.

Conversely, behaving contentiously even with small details increases your likability. It means you’re not too busy for people, and that you respect their time and perspective.

At the end of the day, we’re not elephants, so we’re bound to forget about things from time to time. Putting systems into place, such as email templates that make it quick and easy to keep up on emails, or else having a great personal assistant, really helps with creating habits around being contentious.

When people see that you’re faithful about the little things, they are more likely to trust you with the bigger things as well.

Conclusion

Everyone’s career arc is a little different. Some people organically develop into leaders. Maybe they start with small projects, and through consistently producing quality deliverables, morph into leaders over time. For others, it happens all of a sudden. They’re thrown into a much different environment, managing other managers on projects with high stakeholders.

Whatever the story, many of the challenges remain the same. It’s difficult as a leader to not fall into patterns of micromanaging, dictating and command and control. And it’s a struggle to resist falling back on old patterns, and identify how to excel in the new role.

When transitioning from manager to leader, it’s critical to remember that “what got me here won’t get me there.” Leaning in on the same sets of skills won’t allow you to thrive as a leader. It’s about developing and honing a whole new set of skills.

Many of these skills are intangible, and include coaching and driving clarity for the team. Being intentional about when to use a skill and when not to is key to succeeding as a new leader.

Ultimately, being a leader is about making a daily choice to practice skills and methods that facilitate a team to do its best. Every organization is in need of better leadership, and so by honing these skills you’re doing nothing but good for the organization and the team.

February 7, 2022February 7, 2022

The Ultimate Guide to Project Management for Startups & The Methods You Can Implement Right Now

Startups are the beginning of new services, platforms, or products that have the potential to bring true innovation to the market, fueling passions and creativity while simultaneously meeting the demands of consumers. The complexities of creating a business model that thrives in today’s society and appeals to its intended target audience is an immense and challenging vision, however, the inner workings of the business—the internal procedures such as project management—cannot be ignored if the startup is to grow and achieve success.

There are key components to making the vision for the startup a reality. This involves carefully implementing a system that prioritizes project management, making resources that help streamline coordination and collaboration among teams easily accessible, and creating a solid, reliable framework that focuses on clear communication and transparency in the workplace.

If you’re an entrepreneur with a budding team looking to begin your startup journey on the right foot, this article will help you understand why effective project management for startups is paramount to your core business practices.

Understanding Startups

Initially funded by their founders, startups are companies focused on providing the market with a specific product or service. Typically, these companies (or ventures) don’t yet possess a business model or sufficient capital to move into the next stage of business.

Other sources of funding can come from the entrepreneur’s family and friends who support the vision for the business or from venture capitalists who understand how valuable their service or product will be to consumers. A comprehensive business plan is crucial for developing strategy and future progression for the startup. This paves the way for the creation of the business’s mission and vision, objectives, internal standard operating procedures, and project development and implementation.

There are a few advantages to working at a startup:

Increased opportunities to learn – Especially in the beginning stages, a startup usually has fewer employees, which means the existing team has an opportunity to learn a variety of different skills as they each tackle their own respective responsibilities and engage in a wide range of roles.
Professional development – As the team will have these opportunities to participate in different areas of the business, they will be building a unique set of soft and hard skills in both their essential job duties and in a leadership capacity.
Emphasis on workplace culture – Startups are generally more relaxed with an emphasis on a healthy, vibrant work culture that reflects the business’s core values. Prospective candidates (and those already part of the initial team) work towards reflecting these values in their communication, interactions, and work to help create an atmosphere that matches the overall vision for the business. Because of this, employee interactions are more common, engagement is typically higher, and there is a tendency to have better benefits such as access to childcare or having a shorter workweek as an option. Startups take care of their people so they stick around for the long haul, continue to drive progress for the business, and contribute their creativity to the process.
More flexibility – Startups also allow their employees to run with their ideas with minimal supervision. Leaders or managers encourage their teams to use their talents and apply them in particular projects. This can certainly lead to rewarding career progression.
Access to innovative work – Startup employees also have more flexibility, not only in their benefits but in the work they participate in. As the startup stage comes with consistent fluid changes, employees are allowed to use their creativity and talents as professionals to come up with fresh and inspired ideas that will help bring the product or service to market.

Along with the plethora of benefits that accompany working at a startup, there are also some disadvantages that we should also mention:

High stress – Since the beginning stages of a startup focuses on positioning the company for success, this usually involves long hours for the team and extended periods of collaboration in order to get everything up and running. This can be a stressful period for everyone involved until they’re able to find stability.
Increased competition – Depending on the market you’re trying to break into, a handful of startups may also be competing in the same industry, creating a relatively high volume of competitors with the same type of ideas. Competition for startups can be intimidating at first, but it can also be what pushes the team to be truly innovative, focused, and motivated to stand out in a crowded space.
Potential for failure – As with all startups, there is a certain amount of risk when it comes to the overall success of the business, the need and demand for the product or service, its perseverance in the ever-changing market, and the flexibility and innovation from the core team. In order to win over venture capitalists to raise the money necessary to be in line with the vision for the company and keep investors happy, there is a constant need to prove that their brand is relevant, desired, and much-needed in today’s world. Progression and continuous forward momentum are key to keeping the business alive and, most importantly, thriving.
Raising capital – After thorough market research has been done and the creation of a business plan that aligns with the projected vision, values, and objectives of the business, receiving the funding to bring the startup to life is another hefty challenge, but one of the most important steps in creating the startup company. Initially, funding comes from the entrepreneurs who have the idea they want to see brought to life, friends or family, and venture capitalists. Another source for funding would be loans from a bank or particular organization that can get behind the mission of the startup.

Understanding startups—and learning about both the advantages and disadvantages—will give you the foundation you need to understand why it’s important to streamline internal processes for various projects and implement effective project management in order to achieve success.

Why Project Management For Startups Matters

By the year 2027, most work will transition to being project-based (according to Bain & Company). And because this is the anticipated trend within the next few years, the demand to hire competent and skilled project managers has become a priority in the workplace.

This is because more and more companies are recognizing the importance of project management and the impact it can have on their employees and business decisions.

Project managers play a vital role in the success of the business and keep the team moving as a cohesive unit, and effective project management is how it’s done. On the surface, project management can be viewed as a way to track various assignments and keep within a designated budget, but there’s more to it than meets the eye – and this is especially true for startups who face consistent competition in their industry. Project management can keep a project organized from beginning to end, allows all individuals to plan and track all the data coming in and out, and keeps the team aligned and communicating through the entire process. Another added benefit of having efficient project management tools in place is building a transparent work environment in which the team feels like integral parts of the process and is reminded of how their contributions impact the bottom line.

Not only this, but the necessity of best project management practices in the workplace has become more important on a larger scale. According to the same Bain & Company article, the economy has become more service-oriented, and digital. This puts increased importance on speed and timing of delivery. Companies that cannot keep up with the evolving needs of consumers fall steadily behind.

So what does this mean?

Execution is important, especially in the initial stages of the startup to establish processes that actually work for the business, your goals, and the team. Effective project management practices can also act as a reliable framework when the startup is just getting on its feet. At this period, there is typically a lack of resources, time, and funding to be fully operational, so it’s essential to have better management to increase the odds of future success.

Let’s take a look at some of the existing project management methodologies that you can possibly incorporate into your startup.

Project Management Methodologies for Startups

It’s important to remember that the goal of choosing the appropriate project management practice is to find the method that works best for you and the team. It needs to be aligned with the goals of the business, the needs of the projects, and the startup’s core values.

Some of these methodologies work better for particular industries, such as software development, while others are considered more traditional approaches to project management in general. However, based on the needs of the startup, you may find yourself combining a few of these practices in order to meet your objectives. According to a 2021 Remote Project Management survey performed by Hubstaff, 39% of the surveyed companies had chosen hybrid project management practices.

Let’s dive into a few project management methodologies:

Agile methodology – True to its name, this project management practice is known for its flexibility and speed. The focus of this particular method is based on the principle that revisions need to happen in real-time and on an as-needed basis rather than having to wait until the end of the process to review and propose amendments. Originally created for fields such as software development, the method has been implemented in other non-software-related fields as well depending on the particular needs of the project.

Here are some of the key features of the Agile methodology:
- Frequent testing
- Short cycles of work
- Quick adaptation throughout the entire process
- Assessment in real-time
- Open to rapid change based on data
- Collaboration and problem-solving in phases
- Quicker results
- The project itself doesn’t need to have a predictable deliverable
- No strict deadlines are present
- Project results can change from initial onset
- Self-starters are on the team to roll with the frequency of testing and changes
- Stakeholders are required to be involved in the most, if not all, stages of the project
In essence, if your project doesn’t have strict deadlines, can be changed and modified in the course of its development, and needs to be done quickly without perfect results at first, then the Agile method may be worth a try. However, if you do have hard deadlines, need predictable results, and need to document the process for other members of the team, this method may not be for you.
Waterfall methodology – Counter to the Agile method, Waterfall is a more rigid approach to project management, having a linear and straightforward plan that outlines what needs to happen and when. This practice is sequential, relying heavily on each stage to be completed before the team can move on to the next one. The work cascades down, much like a waterfall. The focus of this singular approach is to develop a well-outlined plan and then execute on it, with the project manager in charge of the sequence of events. There is no going back to earlier phases of the project once that stage is completed.

Here are some of the features of the Waterfall methodology:
- The end result of the project is defined and is not expected to change
- There needs to be detailed documentation of the steps so that new team members can replicate results
- Your project is predictable
- You have a full view of all of the requirements of the project from the beginning
- There is no need for continuous testing or incorporation of feedback to amend earlier processes
- No requirement to change the process unless it is absolutely necessary and typically requires further approvals
- The length of the project is short
- Resources exist, such as technology, that can produce reliable results
Because of its strict structure, some businesses consider the Waterfall approach to be outdated and restrictive. However, it can prove to be a useful practice if predictable results are needed and there’s a tight budget and timeline.
Scrum – Scrum is an offshoot of Agile and is popular in software development for its simplicity and effectiveness in delivering fast results. Facilitated by a Scrum master, Scrums usually last approximately 2-4 weeks and utilize a small group of people to participate in focused “sprints” from a backlog of work. The purpose of Scrum is to improve the speed of delivery while also refining the communication with the team.

Here are some of the features of Scrum:
- Focuses on continuous improvement
- Individuals participating in the spring report on what’s in progress and various challenges
- Small, self-organized team
- Demos to identify issues
- Retrospectives at the end of each meeting
While Scrums are primarily used in the software development field, the principles and framework can be utilized in other industries as well to improve team communication and problem-solving. Again, it depends on your particular needs and the resources currently available to you.
Kanban methodology – Kanban is another form of the Agile method and was originally designed for the manufacturing industry. It’s a visual representation of project phases, using what’s called a Kanban board, cards (or stickies), and columns to establish progression in daily work.

Here are the features of the Kanban method:
- A visual separating one work item per card or stickies to help the team understand what everyone is working on
- Columns are also drawn to denote a specific workflow. Cards then flow through the workflow until it’s complete. For example, there can be a column for to-do, in-progress, or completed.
- There’s a maximum number of cards that exist in one column at a time, so the team works to make sure that new cards can be moved through the workflow ensuring continuous progress. This can also shine a spotlight on workload.
- Easily accessible status updates
- Projects are relatively straightforward with fewer stages and fewer complexities.
Scrumban methodology – As the name suggests, this practice is a combination of Scrum and Kanban. It takes the fundamentals of Scrum, such as planning, review, and retrospectives at regular intervals, priorities on demand, analysis, and backlog queues and weaves into the visual components of the Kanban methodology. This includes improving continuous workflow but also keeping in mind team capacity and workload, WIP (Work-In-Progress) limits, short lead times, diagrams to identify opportunities and weaknesses, and cycle times.

Here are some of the features of the Scrumban method:
- Teams who use this method need the structure of a Scrum but the flexibility and visualization of the Kanban
- A practice of more agile methods and principles and adopts the as-needed approach versus the strict sprints
- Teams transitioning from Scrum to Kanban
- More adaptive approaches to planning
- Optimizing processes and collaboration for teams used to a Kanban practice in the workplace
- Adds flexibility to teams used to Scrum processes
Typically, this methodology is used in the product development field, but can be applied to situations where requirements are constantly evolving and if maintenance work on a project is an essential part of the process.
Lean methodology – The Lean method’s primary focus is to minimize waste while maximizing value. Originally, this method was also used in the manufacturing industry (specifically in Toyota production), however, it can be incorporated into different settings to create efficient processes. The principles of the lean method consist of 3 fundamental pillars: Muda, Mura, and Muri.

Muda refers to wastefulness and the consumption of resources without adding value. Mura is defined as “unevenness, irregularity, or lack of uniformity.” This can look like having many inefficient processes or too much inventory. Muri means overburdened, which deals with the stress in both the team and resources.

Here are the features of the Lean methodology:
- Prioritizes being laser-focused on delivering value
- Cut the fluff so that processes are simpler and more effective
- Reviews what may be considered “wasteful” so that the business can run through projects smoothly
- Lowers costs overall
Critical Path methodology – This method involves identifying all the important tasks that need to be completed for the project and scheduling them accordingly. Additionally, there needs to be an estimation of how long each task will take before the team can move through the workflow. With this information, you can then determine the most effective and quickest way to achieve the end goal. This is considered to be your “critical path.”

Here are the features of the Critical Path method:
- Projects are more complex in scope
- Deadlines that the team must adhere to
- Relies on dependencies
- Identification of the most important task and prioritizing them over others for quicker delivery
- Little room for change in processes
Outcome mapping methodology – This particular methodology differs from other project management practices as its primary focus is on changing behaviors, rather than deliverables as a measure of progress. Developed by the International Development Research Center, this method prioritizes the impact and lasting change in its intended audience.

Here are the features of the outcome mapping method:
- Used primarily in charity, research, and communication
- Focuses on social change and longer transformations rather than the amount of product being delivered
- Behavioral outcomes drive the project’s mission and goals, rather than about the finished products
- Consists of a detailed planning phase and design with thorough tracking of progress
This is not considered a typical form of project management, however, if the values and objectives of the business align with creating positive social change, then this method would be a good practice to implement.

How to Choose the Best Methodology for Your Startup

There are a ton of methodologies to choose from, and that can seem like an entirely overwhelming process. Choosing the right practice for you—the one that has the potential to make a positive impact in your startup—depends on what your business needs are and the resources you have.

To help you choose the right one for your organization (and the right fit for your team), you need to ask yourself some fundamental questions:

How big is your organization currently?
How complex are your projects? Are they smaller in scale? Larger in scope?
Can projects change during the course of the process? Or do you need reliable, rigid results?
What are your expectations for final deliverables?
What are your goals and objectives for the startup within the next 30,60,90 days? How about in 1, 3, or 5 years?
Who are the clients you wish to serve? How involved will they need to be in your projects?
How is the startup currently set up?
What is your budget? What limits are in place because of any existing budget restrictions?
What is the timeline and turnaround expectations for anticipated projects?

This examination of your current business model will help to reveal which methodologies you can begin rolling out to your team. Remember that you certainly blend different practices together according to the tools you have at your disposal. There isn’t a right or wrong answer here! If practicing a specific project management process doesn’t produce the results you’re looking for, it’s okay to take a step back and revisit what other techniques may be more productive and manageable.

Project Management Tips To Follow For Your Startup

To avoid a plateau or stagnation in your startup, here are a few project management tips for you to keep in mind as you work to keep your business fresh.

Always plan ahead – One of the biggest benefits of planning ahead is saving time especially in such a competitive landscape. Proactively thinking ahead can get you thinking about your project needs before they happen, stay on task, and focus on milestones that matter.
Practice flexibility – The market is constantly changing, with the demands fluctuating. As with all endeavors, plans don’t always go according to plan, and it’s important that you have the capacity to pivot quickly. Expansive thinking and adaptability will be the key motivators for your startup’s success.
Have the right people in the right seats – You need a team that will support the business in all aspects, which means they need to have the right knowledge and skill sets to produce strong results. They’ll also need to be aligned with the vision for the business, or they won’t understand what they’re striving for. The right people will naturally contribute to a positive working environment.
Be realistic about budget, scope, and time – All of these matters can set the stage for project implementation and affect the way you or a project manager makes decisions. It’s important to be crystal clear about what budget the team is working with, how small or large the scope of the projects will be, and when they are expected to be delivered. No detail is too small. You should have all the moving parts to paint the whole picture. Additionally, they should be a reflection of the startup’s overall goals.

In Conclusion

Project management for startups is a vital piece for its success. There are many methodologies that can be game-changers for your processes.

The most important consideration is this: choose the one that works best for you, your team, and the vision for the business.

February 7, 2022April 19, 2024

17 Tips for Succeeding with a Startup Business

Launching a startup can be incredibly rewarding–after all, there’s nothing quite like being your own boss, having the opportunity to earn more money, and delivering an idea to the market that customers are really excited about.

However, as with anything else, entrepreneurship isn’t without its risks. Fortunately, with the right mindset and entrepreneurial spirit, you really can create a successful startup. Here’s what it takes …

1. Follow Your Passion

Passion is key to the success of your startup, whether your enthusiasm is for the products or services you’re offering, the problems your company solves, or the thrill of building your own business from scratch. Not only will passion help you put in the long hours you need to launch a startup, but it’ll also help fuel your success.

For instance, according to Harvard Business Review, research shows that “passion is a key predictor of entrepreneurs’ creativity, persistence, and venture performance.”

In other words, the more passionate you are, the more likely your business is to succeed.

2. Do Your Homework

If you plan to launch a startup, you’ll want to do your homework, answering questions like:

Is there a demand for what I have to offer?
Are any other companies in this space?
Who are my competitors?
How are they promoting this product or service?
Does this niche have good profit potential?

This market research is critical, because launching a startup takes time, money, and effort … which is why before putting sweat equity into building your business, you want to be confident you’ll get a good return on that investment.

So, do your homework and if you’re still convinced your idea’s a good one, test and validate it before moving forward, so you know the market really wants what you have to offer.

3. Choose a Niche

As an entrepreneur, you’ll want to avoid the tendency to try to be all things to all people–while it’s a common mindset, unfortunately, it doesn’t translate into strong sales. Instead, your desire to appeal to everyone … makes it more likely you’ll appeal to no one.

To illustrate why “the riches are in the niches,” as the saying goes, let’s look at an example. Say, for instance, that you’ve created a weight loss product. While you could target the masses of people trying to lose weight, it’d be hard for your product to get noticed in such a crowded market.

However, by choosing a specific niche–like new moms–not only would you experience less competition, but it’d also be easier to reach your audience with targeted marketing messages …

Chris Masanto, the CEO and co-founder of PetLab Co., says, “In the early days of PetLab Co., understanding the necessity of finding our niche was paramount. We weren’t just another pet care company; we aimed to fill a specific gap in pet health, focusing on high-quality supplements for pets. This targeted approach not only set us apart but also allowed us to create products that resonated deeply with pet owners looking for more than just the basics. By zeroing in on this niche, we could offer unique solutions, like our advanced joint supplements, which met a real need and built a loyal customer base. It taught us that success doesn’t come from catering to everyone but from deeply understanding and serving your specific market.”

4. Plan Ahead

If you’re looking for startup investors, you’ll need a business plan. A business plan acts as a roadmap, detailing your budget, financial projections, and marketing strategy. It also highlights what needs to be done and when, so you remain on track.

Although a formal business plan isn’t strictly necessary if you aren’t seeking investors, rigorous planning will help you establish clear goals and a strategy for achieving them, before you launch your startup.

5. Start Small

You have big dreams for your startup. However, before trying to achieve your vision in its entirety, it’s a good idea to start small and wait until you’ve worked all the kinks out before scaling up.

For instance, rather than rolling your new service out nationally, you might begin by offering it locally first. Or instead of selling your new masterclass to the world at large, you might initially try doing a soft rollout to your social media followers. Exploring options like an app development grant can provide the financial support needed to bring innovative solutions to the market, enhancing your startup’s potential for success.

By starting small, you can make sure your business strategy is solid before making your offer available to a wider audience.

6. Set Goals

Goals improve the likelihood of startup success by clarifying your vision while providing you with motivation to reach specific milestones. So, to set goals for your startup, think about where you want your business to be in 5 years. Then, set goals with measurable metrics that’ll help you achieve that vision.

7. Put the Right Team Together

Even if you’re a solopreneur, you’ll still need the help of others to launch your startup–for instance, to build your website, create your logo, or write sales copy.

Consider that the team you select will play a big role in the success or failure of your startup–so much so that research indicates that 23% of startups fail because the founders didn’t put the right team together.

So, rather than selecting the first warm bodies you find, look for competent team players who understand your vision and mesh well with your personality and management style. It’s far better to wait until you find the right people than to settle for those who don’t get what you’re trying to accomplish.

8. Don’t Rely on a Handshake

If you’re launching your first startup, it’s tempting to take things on good faith, rather than to insist that contractors and suppliers sign contracts. However, it’s important to establish a solid legal structure for your business right from its very inception.

Not only does this provide both parties with clarity, but it can also protect you from protracted legal battles in the future. So, at a minimum, make sure you have the people you’re working with sign Non-Disclosure Agreements and that you establish the proper legal structure for your business, such as an LLC or C Corporation.

9. Prepare to Pivot

As the saying goes, even the best-laid plans can go awry. No matter how thoroughly you plan out your business strategy, market conditions can change … which is why to make your startup successful, you need to be willing to pivot by embracing change, acting decisively, and revamping your strategy, should the circumstances merit it.

10. Protect Your Intellectual Property

Your intellectual property is an essential part of your business, and it’s one of the primary factors distinguishing you from your competitors. So, to safeguard the future of your business, you’ll definitely want to secure the protection your startup needs by obtaining essential copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

11. Aim for Work-Life Balance

Sure, easier said than done, right? Even so, you don’t want to take this advice with a grain of salt. Work-life balance is important, because it helps you recharge your batteries and improves your mood, so you can devote long hours when the situation calls for it.

Additionally, taking time for self-care is one of the best things you can do to get inspired when you’re struggling with a challenging situation at work. After all, haven’t you ever noticed that some of your best ideas come when you’re not actively trying to figure out how to solve a problem?

12. Get Support

The world is full of naysayers who are more than happy to tell you all the reasons your idea won’t work … while oftentimes they’re well-meaning, they can puncture your self-confidence and make you really doubt your ability to get your startup off the ground–which is the last thing you need when you’re launching your own business.

Instead, seek out other like-minded entrepreneurs who are encouraging, supportive, and helpful. These are people who will help inspire you to reach your goal, rather than discourage you from going for it.

13. Avoid Perfectionism

As Churchill once said, “Perfectionism is the enemy of progress.” While aspiring to do an incredible job on every task you undertake is admirable, it’s a huge detriment when it comes to launching a startup. The truth is, you’re unlikely to ever have a moment when everything in your business is going exactly the way you want.

And if you allow perfectionism to slow your progress, either one of two things is likely to occur–you’ll eventually get frustrated and abandon your dream altogether or you’ll miss out on market opportunities seized by faster competitors.

Accept that there are always going to be things that fall short of perfect, and instead, remember that a “good enough” mindset is actually preferable to not moving forward at all.

14. Be Persistent

If there’s one quality that sets successful entrepreneurs apart, it’s persistence. The truth is, entrepreneurship isn’t always easy. In the course of building your business, you’ll face tough decisions, unanticipated challenges, and stiff competition.

In the face of these obstacles, it’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to get discouraged and ultimately, give up. However, to make a startup successful, you need to carry on–even when the going gets tough. Grit is essential for moving beyond challenges and creating a successful business.

15. Hone Your Marketing Skills

Be aware that marketing will play a huge role in the success or failure of your startup. After all, you can have the greatest product in the world, but if you don’t know how to actually sell it, you’re not going to experience the entrepreneurial success you desire. So, become a marketing expert by reading books, taking courses, and staying current on marketing trends.

16. Believe in Yourself

As Henry Ford reportedly said, “If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can’t, you’re right.” One of the most important qualities you need as an aspiring entrepreneur is confidence.

After all, it’s not uncommon for people to feel indecision and fear when launching a startup. However, if you mire in those feelings for too long, it’s easy to derail your efforts and never get your startup successfully off the ground.

Confidence is the antidote to self-doubt. It makes you feel good about the direction of your company, inspires others, and helps you overcome setbacks–rather than viewing them as evidence that your company won’t succeed.

17. Remain Organized

There are seemingly a million different tasks to attend to when you’re launching your startup, everything from securing distribution to handling customer service issues … which is why it’s crucial you stay organized by developing a system to keep track of your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual goals–as well as the various tasks associated with them.

Teamly to the rescue! Teamly’s a project management tool that provides you with all the functionality you need to organize, manage, and track your company’s various projects quickly and efficiently.

Learn more about Teamly here …

February 7, 2022November 20, 2023

How To Plan, Organize, & Run a Management Review Meeting

Are you preparing to run a management review meeting? If so, it’s important to know what’s involved and how to make the most of it.

In this post, we’ll walk you through the basics of planning, organizing, and running a management review meeting. We’ll also share some tips along the way on how to make the most of the review, so that your next meeting is a success.

What are Management Review Meetings & Why are They Important?

Management reviews are an essential part of any company’s management process. Reviews are formal meetings with your manager(s) to discuss the processes and procedures currently in place within your management system and how to improve them.

The objective of this type of meeting is to allow upper level managers to identify problems within the system and provide feedback on how best those issues could be resolved.

These meetings also help create updated strategies for optimizing managerial processes.

Keep in mind, management meetings and reviews can be very different things. A typical management meeting would address day-to-day operations, sales progress or production issues, while a review focuses primarily on managerial system requirements.

Review meetings are particularly helpful when it comes time to reassess policies, procedures, structures, trends/patterns, or performance against key business objectives.

Before The Review

Running a review meeting correctly is an important step in your company’s development. It ensures managers are doing their jobs, helping to create a shared mindset for the direction of your business and it provides you with valuable feedback on where your company should be focusing its energy. If any problems are identified, then appropriate actions can be put into place to correct them.

But before everyone gathers for the meeting it’s important to consider a few things first…

Consider frequency

How often do you want to hold a management review meeting? The simple answer is, it all depends on the needs of your business.

Generally, it’s best to start off small with one review meeting per quarter. Yearly, is the next best option. However, if you’re in the process of making big changes to your company, then it may be best to hold management meetings more frequently in order to iron out any kinks before they become too problematic. Just be sure to avoid overloading your managers with too many meetings.

Business owners who have numerous meetings in a year may benefit from breaking down each meeting into smaller components, such as safety procedures or quality control concerns, rather than having them all lumped together for a single review.

Another scenario for multiple meetings is if you have more than one type of store within the company; then we would recommend holding separate sessions for reviewing the performance of each branch.

Consider the attendees

Who should attend a review meeting? It really depends on what you need from it. Start with your top management team and go from there based on the needs of your management process. Too many people can water down the purpose of a review meeting.

The meeting will be most effective if it is led by someone with the overall responsibility for your management system. They should identify those members of senior management who are needed at this event so that things run smoothly and without any hiccups.

Create Agenda

The following are some of the topics that should be addressed during a management review:

Issues and problems – What issues and/or problems have arisen since the last meeting?
Changes – Transitions within the management system that might need updating.
Analysis of the system trends – Which parts are working well? Does anything need updating or changing? Your management team should be identifying the trends that correlate with the overall management system. Look at sales growth, product improvements etc.
Actions – What are you going to do about problems or issues that have been identified? Who is responsible for each action? When will the actions be completed by? Set a deadline in order to have an action plan.

Running the Review

Now that you’ve got everyone together, it’s time to start…

Step 1: Open the meeting

The first step in conducting a successful meeting is to start off with an acknowledgement of why and what you’re aiming to achieve. It’s important that everyone understands their role, so there can be no confusion about the tasks at hand or any other issues related to them.

Step 2: Review the System

When reviewing your systems as a whole, you should be looking at them from different angles, so that each member of the management team can contribute their expertise in identifying strengths and weaknesses.

The weaknesses are often highlighted by those who have been directly affected by them, therefore it’s important that those with perspective have a chance to speak.

Here a few topics your meeting should cover:

Operational function – How the system has performed day-to-day.
Human Factors – Which people within your company are important to your management system’s success? Who needs to be involved on a daily basis? What can you do to better utilize these people and how will that benefit the business as a whole?

It’s worth noting that not all of these questions need to be answered, however it’s a good idea to look at them from the perspective of those who are affected by your management system.

Specific Risks – Have there been any events or incidents? Who was involved and what happened? Why did the incident happen and how could it have been prevented
Noteworthy trends – Whether they occur inside or outside of you company, trends give insight into what needs changing about processes. Inside the business trends include sales, product changes or observations about your internal processes. Outside trends include factors like legislation changes and competitors moves.

Step 3: Develop an Action Plan

Once you’ve figured out where the management system is heading, it’s time to establish some goals for what needs to be achieved…

Set deadlines and obligations for each person on your team.
Make a list of everything that must happen in order for your system to improve.
Ensure that all members of your leadership team are aware of their responsibilities.
Answer the following questions: What has to be done? What should be changed? Who is responsible for each action?
Make sure that you review your action plan with each management review meeting. This will help to increase accountability and insight into the efficacy of what is being done in regards to achieving goals or objectives.

Step 4: Closing the Meeting

Close off by reviewing any action plans that have been put in place at this meeting and identify whether they will be a priority for everyone, then provide a timeline on when to next meet.

The review meeting doesn’t end here, review and reflection should carry on afterwards. It might be a good idea to set up some follow-up such as email threads, group chats or maybe even reaching out individually.

There’s no perfect management review meeting but you should aim for an effective one that moves your business forward and gives you some key insights on how your management systems can get even better.

Step 5: Sending out Meeting Notes

It’s absolutely essential to document the meeting. Make sure to send these documents to all attendees so they are aware of what was decided and when actions will take place.

This simple act functions as a reminder, gives everyone clarity, and gives the meeting attendees the satisfaction that their input is now documented and trackable.

Conclusion

If you’ve been managing a company for any period of time, there will be processes within the managerial system that need updating. That’s why management review meetings are a good way to keep your management system relevant.

Remember, a management review meeting is not just about finding the weaknesses in your system, it’s also about finding the strengths and capitalizing on them. Look at what you’ve done right, look at what you can improve upon and look at how to get from one point to another.

It’s a simple process that can have a huge impact on the future of your company.

Remember, to refer back to this article as needed when planning your next meeting.

February 7, 2022February 7, 2022

How to Increase Participation in Meetings – A Guide For Managers & Leaders

While this isn’t a new problem, it does appear to be one that’s gathering a head of steam. More than ever before, employees are reluctant to participate at meetings. This can be from a place of fear, uncertainty, disinterest, and many others. In this post, we’re going to share a host of ways to better engage with your team members and encourage them to provide active, valuable contributions in meetings from now on.

This advice is intended for team leaders and managers, and offers tips for any type of meeting. It’s not specific to weekly catch ups, project updates, one-to-ones, or anything else—this is advice which, if implemented correctly, will help your team to have more inclusive, participatory and value-generating meetings.

And there’s only one place to start: speaking to your team.

Explain that participation is important

If this sounds obvious, then fantastic. Meeting participation is not actually a hugely complex issue, but rather something that compounds small effects over time. If your team has a habit of not contributing to meetings, that’s going to become their default state. Breaking out of that state—i.e. Participating—will naturally cause some anxiety.

So here’s where you should start: by telling your team that you expect them to contribute regularly. That’s it!

This is simply about clarifying expectations. Maybe in previous roles your quieter team members were encouraged to listen rather than contribute at meetings; or maybe they prefer to bottle up their concerns and deal with them privately afterwards.

Whatever the case, for any team lead looking to increase meeting participation, we always start by saying, set out your expectations for participation. Tell everyone you want them to contribute wherever they have something valuable to add. Good or bad, subjective, inquiring, contrarian—these are all worth far more than silence.

It’s incredible how often this simple message will transform people’s willingness to take part. And, more importantly, the meaningful impact on the team’s success as a result.

Lay ground rules for effective contributions

First of all, establish what kind of participation is actually valuable. One of the keys to increasing participation from quiet team members is to put the verbose or bull-headed employees in their place. You know the type—there’s often at least one person who has a response to every question, or an objection to every sound idea. While not inherently negative, their influence can push down the contributions of others.

They say that the quietest person in the room is usually the smartest; while that’s not a reliable rule, they are usually the most considered with their opinions. Some employees feel intimidated by the sheer volume of words others throw into meetings. Or, if they know someone else is going to just angrily chew up their input, they’ll simply not bother speaking up in the first place.

So an obvious step to increasing participation is setting ground rules that everyone has to follow. This isn’t to limit certain members; it’s to limit low-value contributions and increase more impactful ones. At the same time, it’s vitally important that team members don’t feel like they always need to contribute—that’s not the point at all. Rather, let them know that if they don’t have anything productive to add, that’s not already been covered, then that’s absolutely fine—better than fine, actually. Encouraged!

Oftentimes the most vocal parties in meetings are just repeating redundant contributions that don’t actually advance the meeting at all. Let’s look at 4 rules any team can implement straightaway.

#1 Discourage “giving everyone a chance to speak” at all times

The success of any meeting should be measured by the value it creates and the problems it solves, not by the sheer number of contributions. By the same token, if you’re trying to increase meeting participation, your success shouldn’t be measured in how many people now speak up, but how often the right person speaks up.

Valuable participation should be your goal.

There’s an idea that, in healthy teams, “everyone gets their turn to speak”. What this looks like for productive teams is that whenever someone can add value to a discussion, based on their experience and expertise and what’s already been said, they should do so. The goal is for this to happen 100% of the time.

What this doesn’t look like is going around the circle of team members to get everyone’s take on every point. This approach dilutes the valuable contributions and muddies your progress; it leads to verbose discussions and can waylay the team rather than aid it.

How to manage this properly

The simplest solution is to make sure your team knows that it’s not about who shouts the loudest. Usually from a place of anxiety or low self-confidence, some people will just mouth away endlessly. In this case, the prudent move would be to have a quiet word outside of the meeting, and explain they shouldn’t be doing that.

Also encourage your team members to speak like normal, functioning human beings—cut out the corporate spiel that makes other team members feel straight up uncomfortable.

#2 Turn cameras on for virtual or hybrid meetings

Speaking to a wall of eerily silent black rectangles is completely unnatural. You could argue it’s healthy and normal behaviour to not want to contribute in this scenario.

We recommend creating a culture within your team that everyone starts every meeting with their camera on. It lessens the distance and makes it less intimidating to contribute—allowing team members to literally hide themselves is a surefire way to keep participation low.

This is especially important when one person is doing most of the talking; for example, during presentations. The sensation that no one’s actually listening (which is unfortunately true much of the time) can be overwhelming when cameras are turned off.

#3 No phones on the table

This is such an obvious point, but it’s also so prevalent that it warrants its own section. Implement this rule from right now: no phones in hands or on the table during meetings.

They’re horrendously distracting, it’s disrespectful to other team members, and it betrays a lack of commitment to the meeting itself. This ties in with another important philosophy which is that meetings shouldn’t exist just for the sake of it—they need to have a purpose. The meeting length should be closely controlled and everyone should be focused on generating as much value as possible.

If half the team is distracted by notifications on their phones, this is rarely going to happen.

#4 Create a culture of “no bad ideas” and no fear

You can’t ask your team to actively and regularly contribute, only to then berate them for bad ideas. If people are scared of giving the “wrong” answer—and being ridiculed, patronized, or dismissed as a result—then they’re never going to freely open their mouths.

Many employees don’t want to admit mistakes, voice fears, criticize the status quo, or perform many other positive behaviors out of fear. Fear for their prospects, workload, job security, reputation…there’s a whole list of reasons. While some of this runs deeper into the company culture, it’s your job as a manager to make sure this doesn’t exist within your team. This lack of “psychological safety” makes it impossible for employees to truly contribute to…well, anything.

A similar point is language. Fussy, verbose corporate language is largely a thing of the past. Allow all team members to speak freely and naturally. Encourage members to be themselves at all times—you’d be amazed at the contributions this can surface!

Ask nervous members to contribute – in advance

If you’ve encouraged participation and set up some easy ground rules, most of the team will be ready to chip in. However, some people are just less confident; they don’t like giving off-the-cuff perspectives and prefer to think things through thoroughly.

One way to help build their confidence is asking them, in advance of a meeting, for a specific contribution. This could be a progress update, a presentation, opinions on the year’s projects, a personal story—just about anything, really. Let them say their bit, field a few questions, and then settle down for the rest of the meeting.

Another option is asking them to lead the day’s meeting. Share the agenda and answer any questions they have in advance. All they need to do is move the group on between topics; while potentially daunting, this is only likely to have a positive impact on them mentally.

Using a controlled environment like this gradually teaches people that meetings are nothing to worry about. If you have particularly boisterous team members, you might privately tell them not to interrupt or contradict the nervous team member during this meeting, since your real goal is building their confidence.

Prepare meetings more effectively

When your meetings are unstructured and a bit all over the place, participation becomes a whole lot harder. People aren’t sure exactly when to chime in, and frequently the conversation meanders around without much focus.

The biggest change you can introduce is an agenda for every meeting. This doesn’t need to be a formal document, but it does need to outline the topics of discussion, in order, and be attached to meeting invites so everyone can read it in advance. As well as making meetings more efficient, this gives more hesitant team members a chance to prepare; to decide which sections they can contribute to and perhaps even plan what they want to say.

For this to work, you need someone to make sure your team doesn’t stray from the agenda—most likely that will be you. Or as we suggested previously, you might occasionally put a more timid team member in charge. Don’t be afraid to pitch in and bring everyone back on course. Feel free to add rough timestamps to your agenda, so you know if you’re overrunning.

Only invite relevant team members

Another string to your organizational bow is only inviting team members that need to be there. You can’t ask everyone to contribute more and also put them out of their depth. This comes back to what we said about encouraging valuable participation: if everyone at the meeting can bring value, then 100% participation is much more likely.

Having irrelevant people in your meetings is only going to slow things up. More explanations, redundant clarifying questions and, worst of all, non-valuable contributions will fill up your allotted time rapidly.

Act on what happens in meetings

There is one major reason for low participation in meetings that we haven’t covered yet: that nothing ever happens as a result of the meetings.

As the manager or leader, it’s your job to show that participation in meetings actually does something; that different voices and opinions are heard and considered; that management won’t just crack on doing things however they want; that meetings are about making decisions not making noise.

This is more of a broad management tip, but if people who contribute valid opinions or ideas don’t feel like they’re ever heard—and that, consequently, their input doesn’t actually matter—then they will stop. That’s a completely natural reaction. This happens all the time (majoritively with men interrupting or dismissing the contributions of women) and there’s no excuse for it.

If you’re one of the few managers that consciously doesn’t intend on using the input from team members, then stop asking them to offer it. However, if you’re part of the majority that either accidentally or subconsciously acts this way, it’s your responsibility to be proactive and to change your behavior. Aside from social gatherings, the only reason we have meetings is to make decisions and move towards some goal or objective—doing this effectively means acting on team members’ contributions.

This is a longer-term strategy, but it is extremely effective at encouraging genuine, valuable contributions in meetings.

Use praise to encourage participation

If you’re a naturally confident speaker, or you’re simply used to overcoming your fears, it might not be obvious just how nerve wracking speaking up in meetings can actually be for some team members. It’s often a confidence thing—and nothing boosts confidence like acknowledgement of a job well done.

It’s your job to know when a team member is feeling nervous or anxious about participating. Once that person has successfully navigated a meeting, and especially if they visibly struggled with the spotlight, shower them with genuine praise. It can be private or public (you know what works best for your team) but it needs to feel like you mean it.

While very simple, praise from your direct superiors gives virtually all workers a fantastic, uplifted feeling—and that will affect how they perform in their next meeting.

Conclusion

As you can now see, encouraging participation in meetings isn’t rocket science. It’s mostly the art of paying (closer) attention and recognizing the simple reasons they’re not already contributing. As a manager or leader, it’s then your responsibility to action your observations and encourage team members to become more vocal. As shown, there are many ways to do this.

Probably the most crucial takeaway is that increasing participation comes down to empowering your team members. If you give them powerful reasons to contribute, then they will—and your team (and therefore the broader company) will naturally bloom as a result.

Micromanaging

My Way or the Highway

No Feedback

Poor Feedback

Being a Pushover

Poor Delegation

Taking Credit

No Trust in Employees

No Empathy

Gossip Culture

Not Understanding Power Dynamics

Bad Communication Skills

Anger Management

Disorganized

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Blame Culture

Pit Staff Against Each Other

Favoritism

Racism

Sexism

Inability To Take Criticism Constructively

Not Being On Time

Not Being Prepared For Meetings

Lack Of Humor

Hitting on Staff Members

Vanity

Flashing Their Cash

Using Staff for Personal Errands

Manipulation

Overworking Employees

How to Tell If YOU Are a Bad Boss

Turnover is high

Temper Tantrums

Employees shut down around you

Employees go over your head

Promoting your mates

Conclusion

What is SEO project management?

What does an SEO project entail?

The role of the project manager in SEO project management

Who else is involved in SEO project management?

How to manage SEO projects like a pro

Step 1: Set your goals

Step 2: Bring in the right tools

Step 3: Specify roles and responsibilities

Step 4: Communicate early and often

Step 5: Validate before launching

Step 6: Measure and report the results

Step 7: Collect constant feedback

Challenges in SEO project management

1. Creative (and unmanageable) team members

2. Rewarding team members can be difficult

3. Lack of knowledge about SEO

4. Lack of visibility for clients

5. It takes time to show results

6. Staying up-to-date on what Google wants

Takeaways

What Is Marketing Project Management?

Why Is Project Management For Marketers Important?

Benefits Of Marketing Project Management

Easier Collaboration Opportunities

Better Team Coordination

Increased Efficiency

More Advanced Project Planning

5 Essential Steps For Managing Your Marketing Projects

Define Your Marketing Goals Clearly

Plan The Project

Execute Your Plan

Monitor And Respond To Red Flags

Review And Measure

Top 10 Marketing Project Management Tips

Use A Professional Management Tool

Use The SMART Goal Setting Method

Monitor Task Completion Closely

Include Your Team In Planning The Project

Design And Test Different Workflows

Find The Best Methodology For Your Marketing Project

Start Making Project Templates (And Make Them Easily Accessible)

Respond To Feedback Requests Quickly

Create An Ideal Consumer Profile