Lessoned I Learned from Managing a Marketing Team

This Fall quarter at Western Washington University , I took on the role of Product Manager for a class called IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) In the above image, consists of my incredible team, Drew Fortin , Mia Crum , Elana Fairchild , Khadar Mahamoud , Ethan Irish , and An Ho . I genuinely could not be prouder of these guys. They faced several hardships, set backs, creative and execution challenges, and still WILLINGLY chose to go above and beyond in the end. They are the spinning image of determination. Each of them brought something unique and valuable to the team that couldn't be replicated elsewhere, and I consider myself lucky to be the one to manage them.

Through the months of managing this team, I've picked up some valuable lessons that I plan on carrying with me for the rest of my days.

Talking versus Communicating:

The lean meeting, is one of the most important tools I've learned to utilize. The process goes as such: Each individual (silently) compile a list of notes regarding the subject matter on sticky notes, put sticky notes on a whiteboard and compare/categorize them, de-duplicate any sticky notes that basically say the same thing, take a step back and gather insight or recognize any patterns occurring, get the census of what the team is generally thinking after insight.

This process has become an integral part of my meetings, my feedback, my teaching, and so forth. In any meeting/class, its typical that one confident student is the only one that contributes much of anything to the discussion. With a lean meeting, it encourages everyone to not only write stuff down, but give them the opportunity to contribute something meaningful. That, and it forces them to stand up, get the blood flowing, which is overall much better for you and your brain in general. In a matter of minutes, your work goes from being an idea in your head, to a physical manifest that you can interact with. While it took me some time to truly understand how it works, and how to properly integrate it into my meetings, it's become an integral teaching tool that I plan on using more in the future.

The alternative to lean meetings, is sitting in a circle and talking. While that tends to be everyone's go to, it's a great start. When individuals are talking, it's easy to go back and forth with people, and never really get anywhere. I know I've had my fair share of that back in Marketing 381.

Kindness that is not only optional, but required as a manager:

Your team members will sometimes come up short on tasks. That is just a fact of life. Once or twice coming up short, so long as they know to fix it. Once it starts reoccurring, it becomes a pattern. That's when you need to pull them aside and check in with them. The check-ins are so detrimental to not only the success of the team, but the development of the individual. I had pulled one of my content creators aside and asked them about their productivity level. I didn't make any assumptions, and simply just went in with the mindset of wanting to understand. Come to find out, that they were struggling with their confidence. Without that check-in, I would've never known that, and jumped to my own conclusions. After understanding the source of their problem, I was able to talk with them, regain their confidence, watch them blossom. Notice, I didn't have to do that. I could've done nothing, and let the pattern continue. In a professional setting, a pattern like that will get you fired, furthering this individual's downward spiral. By chatting with them, I was able to address a problem, and put them on a path of correction, and I can say with confidence that this individual will do just fine moving forward.

Many managers fail to give this insightful feedback. Many jump to conclusions and assume that the individual in question is lazy. This kind of thinking will slowly build up resentment, and inevitably lead to that employee's termination. You can NEVER get short with your team. I'm not saying you have to be a push over, but it's important to never show anger towards your teammates. Doing so, you will lose their respect, and make them fearful of you and the environment. You will lose contributors, kill their self-esteem, and kill productivity al-together. By taking the time to really care about your team, you will not only strengthen your team, but their relationship with you as well, encouraging them to come to you more often for help, insight, or even not be as afraid to report any bad news to you.

Their mistakes, are the result of your own:

As a manager, you will have individuals that come up short. It's one of life's greatest inevitabilities. More often than not, this is a direct result of them lacking knowledge. Knowledge, that you, as a manager, must provide. Yelling at them to "be better" will not solve anything. They are already aware of their shortcomings, so you need to bring something feasible to the table. They need a plan, a structure, and a goal. Whenever there was a short coming, I addressed it with that individual, alone. I've lead countless workshops and check-ins with my team to ensure that they knew what to do. Even then, I've had to repeat myself a few times as some would ask me the same questions. I don't mind doing this, as it happens, it combines my two favorite things. Hearing myself talk, and helping others.

When there is work missing from our execution, it is often because there was no set expectation on that work being completed, or I didn't express the urgency of said work seriously enough. When there is lack of enthusiasm, it's often because you are putting them in an environment where their engagement isn't rewarded. The cause and effect always relays back to you as a manager.

Thats a lot of pressure to put on one person, I know, because I've felt it. Something that gets me through the day of making tough decisions, is that I am human, just like them. It is okay for me to make mistakes in my judgement calls. It's okay for me to give the wrong instructions from time to time. It's okay, so long as I am making active efforts to ensure it doesn't happen again. They didn't do what was asked of them? Okay, next time I need to develop strong frameworks that outline my expectations. They missed some integral pieces of information in our execution? Okay, I need to do a sprint review and have them see how they could improve for next time. All of it relays back to the manager, and how the manager handles crisis.

Wrapping it all up

I've had nothing short of a blast working with my team this quarter. I am so incredibly proud of the work they had done. That said, my patience has been tested a time or two. When those tough times happen, it's important to keep a level head. A stable manager creates a stable learning environment. A stable learning environment creates professional and proficient contributors.