The people in your agency are not hostages, they actually want to work with you, they want to work for your agency and believe in your vision.
In today’s world there are many different types of jobs and people’s attitudes to their careers is very different from when we grew up. Getting a 9-5 job for life, with a mortgage for 25 years to match, is just one of the hundreds of options that we can choose when living our lives today.
In order to have a great team you need to be able to articulate the vision you have for your agency, be clear about your agency positioning and have a strong company culture with solid core values.
How can you get a great team?
Ask the questions
To get started I recommend you take yourself, and your business partner if you have one, to a location away from the office for a few hours and write down the answers to these questions:
- Why are you working for yourself and not for a company?
- Why do you like doing digital marketing/making website for your clients?
- What keeps you awake at night?
- Where do you see the agency in 3 / 5 years time?
- What roles do you do today that you would like to have other people do in your agency in the next 2 years?
Don’t miss out on our series of How to have an agency that you love [Part 1] and [Part 2]
Build it out
Once you have the answers to these questions, build out a deck to tell the story of how you got started, and include everything along with your plans for the future. I talk a lot about the importance of having your core values and a clear plan that everyone in your agency can understand. If you need more help setting it up I recommend reading the chapter about VT in the book called Traction - by Gino Wickman
Set up a meeting
Next set up a meeting with the team - perhaps a working lunch or followed by a team building exercise where you take people through your story and vision. Ask if the team understands it, do they feel they like they belong to the story and are they onboard to help achieve the goals of the company in the short term and long term? Are they committed to learning the skills it takes to be part of the team in the future?
It is ok if people don’t feel like you are a good fit for your agency today or in years to come - it is better that you know sooner rather than later and you can make a plan to get them into another role - perhaps with one of your clients.
Competence mapping
Next you should set up a competency mapping spreadsheet to see everyones skill sets. This way you can keep training and career plans in place so they can grow and evolve and see a future for themselves in your business. This is a vital part of having a strong team. Combine this with weekly one-to-one meetings and you can ensure you have a happy and healthy agency team that will stay with you a long time, and take you where you need to be.
Read more: Case study - Growing your agency with Growit Group
Getting all the steps above done and dusted, even get an agency mentor to do it for you, you are able to get an overview of your team, and to adjust processes and procedures accordingly. This way you have the power to make both their work days and your agency, simply great.
If you would like help with any of these exercises, drop me a line and I would be happy to book a call. Thank you - Clodagh.
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