About a year and a half ago, I was at a crossroads professionally. At the time, I had just been invited to co-lead a master class of the ins and outs of social media. The culture of my team had changed and I had lost the passion for my work. Not being able to relate to the rest of the team didn't seem to help the situation.
My role was fairly demanding and to be honest more stressful than I usually care to admit. I had been with the organization for several years, but the opportunity to grow in my current role was non-existent. So to help choose the next path I want to go down careerwise, I enrolled in a course that would help me make figure out what I was truly passionate about and what my strengths were. In a matter of months, I made the decision that I no longer wanted to continue with a career in digital marketing. Rather I wanted a more strategic position that would allow me to lead projects and continuously increase my knowledge. Project management seemed like the perfect fit. I began reaching out to people in my professional network with project management roles, to gain real-world insight. I started researching certifications and knew that project management was where I was meant to be. About the time, I decided to change my career path, a project manager position within my current organization. Just over a year ago, I was offered a position in the PMO and I can say with 100% certainty that shifting my career path was the best decision I could have made. Working in a field or obtaining a specialized degree doesn't mean that you have to stay in that area for your entire career. Business changes, people change, situations change. We spend too many years of our lives working. We cannot afford to be stressed out by or hate what we do. If you are getting to the point that you aren't sure you belong in your field, take some time to reflect on your career. Make a pros and cons list, figure out your strengths and weaknesses, talk to your friends and colleagues, schedule informational interviews. It will be worth it.
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It's 2:30 am and I am wide awake, which never happens to me. I can't seem to stop reflecting on something someone said to me yesterday. After a meeting, I sent a follow-up email with a number of suggestions to the team. A fairly common occurrence, right? The issue is that I second-guessed even sending out the email for like two hours before actually hitting send. Then once I did, I reached out to a colleague and apologize for overstepping, to which she said I had taken initiative. Prior to that I had been messaging a co-worker and had asked if she thought I had overstepped. The comment that I was taking initiative completely reframed my perception of the term overstepping and really what it means. To say someone is overstepping hints that they have something to apologize for. While taking initiative implies that they have gone the extra mile. So now here I am thinking about overstepping vs. taking initiative and I realize in the last few weeks alone, I have probably either apologized or implied that I have overstepped at least 30 times. Why? Well, I am guessing there are a lot of factors that come into play with why I overuse the word overstepping. Maybe the fact that DiSC Profile labeled me as dominant, and ever since then I have felt the need to apologize for naturally taking charge. Maybe it's because I have always been that squeaky wheel in life where I speak my mind, I can't seem to stop from addressing something when it's done incorrectly or I identify a way it could be done more effectively. Instead of these being my weaknesses I realize now that they are my superpower. From now on I am going to actively focus on removing the word overstepping from my vocabulary. Taking initiative is not overstepping, it is helping to cultivate improvements, identifying weaknesses, providing solutions, and the list goes on. Taking initiative should be encouraged and celebrated. Leaders are driven to take the initiative and accept new challenges. Working in the digital world, I see on a daily basis how online reputation can make or break a brand. Given my work, I not only see how reputation can impact a brand but also how reviews and ratings benefit the consumer.
Personally, my husband and I research organizations before we choose to hand over our hard earned money to them. On the flip side, because of my work I see the impact reviews have had on the organizations I work for it takes a lot for either one of us to share a review especially a negative one. The ability to Google an organization and instantly see reviews for products and services is a major benefit to consumers. According to BrightLocal, "86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses." Consumers are not only reading reviews, but they are also looking at how organizations respond to reviews. Virtually every day I respond to a review at work. On a monthly and semi-annually basis I compile a detailed analysis by site, location, topic, historical baselines, competitor ratings, etc... There are so many things to take into consideration when it comes to reputation. Let's not forget how reviews also impact employee recruitment. It's not enough to hand over reputation analysis, organizations need to take the feedback and use it to build processes to develop a better customer experience. While reputation is something frequently discussed by organizations, Status Labs reported that, "58% of executives believe that online reputation management should be addressed, but only 15% actually do anything about it." In the world of marketing and business as a whole, today reputation should not only be front of mind but a strategy should be implemented to increase online ratings. If I am being honest reputation is one area of marketing that I am extremely passionate about. I'm thinking that online reputation and customer experience might be the focus of my next professional development endeavor. Over the last year or so, I have struggled to figure out where I fit in professionally. I attended the Digital Summit in Denver over the summer, where I came across Mondo's 2017 Salary Guide.
Taking time to evaluate my current position, title, and salary, I realized that professionally, my role is rather unique. I don't fit into any typical digital marketing position. I check many more boxes when it comes to skills and experience than anyone position requires. So how do I know where to go from here? How can I figure out which direction to go with my career? How do I know what salary range I should be in? Glassdoor has been placing a lot of focus on their Know Your Worth feature. This tool is great when you are on the typical career path, but what about those of us who are taking the road less traveled? These tools and guides have only seemed to cause me to be uncertain and at times frustrated. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but being in a unique role does have its pitfalls. For instance, finding someone to cover your work when you take time off can be stressful. Then again, that does provide job security. When you have a unique role, it could be difficult to communicate your professional responsibilities, which may result in one not be recognized for their contributions. This in itself can have a negative impact on moral and professional satisfaction. As I struggled with my unique role, I came across an article on LinkedIn that really resonated with me. If you are struggling to figure out your place, I highly recommend that you take a moment to read, "5 Signs You May Be a Unicorn Employee," by Ryan Holmes. While the article doesn't help me determine my next career move or any sort of salary expectations, I did have an aha moment. There is something to be said for being undefined. Professionally, I will and have persevered, I can be counted on to pitch in and I get shit done and done really freaking well. I excel at what I do and I push myself to surpass expectations and break boundaries. As Johnny once said, "Nobody puts baby in a corner." So yeah, I am a freaking unicorn employee, what does that mean professionally? That means I will exceed expectations, I will push my limits, I will go above and beyond to complete projects, I will do and be more than my role. No, you can't define me and once you get to know me personally and professionally, you will understand the value I bring to the team. Have you ever taken a step back and thought about communication as a whole? I mean really think about it. We communicate in some way, shape, or form in virtually every moment or aspect of our life. Even the lack of communication means something or has an impact.
So why is communicating effectively with others so difficult? What's the breakdown? Well, for one thing, not everyone shares the same preferred communication style. One person may respond better to email, while someone else needs a text, call, or a message. It really isn't easy to know what will be the most effective means of communicating with someone, which makes the whole process a bit tricky. But hey then you add in the fact that you and the other people you are communicating with may not be in the same location, you may not have regular person-to-person interactions or any number other obstacles. All of this may result in you or the people you are trying to communicate with becoming frustrated. Oh, and it doesn't end there. You also have to consider the fact that how you say or word things could be misunderstood causing animosity or hurt feelings. Maybe you were being genuine and other person took it as snippy or sarcastic. So now you have to deal with someone thinking you are an insensitive asshole - yeah that is always an awesome way to build any type of relationship. Or say you have sent someone 6 emails on the same topic with no response - did something go wrong, do they think your ask is a lower priority than something else? Do you go to their supervisor, do you touch base with your supervisor, do you pick up the phone and call? Now, are you going to be known as the office nag? There are also the people who refuse to communicate with other members of your team and talk to you as the go-between. That isn't awkward or anything. I mean sure this isn't really in my wheelhouse, but I will convey the message - and yeah I will have to try to explain to whoever why you didn't just go to them directly - that sounds like fun. Please let me jump through hoops for you. Don't forget the people who think that they are the big kahuna because they have been with the organization since the beginning of time, who try to get you to bend the rules. Or those who choose not to follow the chain of command, or who have no idea who does what. Now add in the fact that every department in an organization has their own area of expertise. For instance, being in marketing explaining CPA (cost-per-acquisition), ROI (return-on-investment), CTR (click-through-rate), or any number of other things to another member of the marketing team is a cake walk. Trying to explain the same information to someone in the compliance department with no knowledge of marketing that is a whole different communication issue and vice versa. So those are just some of the roadblock that can have a negative impact on effective communication. And this is just really the issues we face with professional communication, I haven't even touched on personal communication. Seriously - don't even get me started there. Okay, so how can we better communicate across channels, location, departments, status, and area of expertise? Maybe you include the priority level and deadline for the communication. Or maybe you schedule a reminder to follow up by a certain date. You might suggest that the organization implement a job shadowing program across the board for all staff, in an effort to provide all teams a different understanding, and perspective of different departments and responsibilities. Maybe you take it upon yourself to create a department training that explains the basics of what the department does and how it impacts the organization. I did this at one of my previous positions and it was really well received by the staff. It might also be suggested that the organization chart includes the preferred form of communication for each team member. There are a lot of things that an organization can do to support effective communication. Sometimes an organization becomes so fixated on growing, brand awareness, and the day-to-day business, that communication and the impact it has on the culture of an organization gets lost in the shuffle. When it comes to effective team or organization communication there are a lot of resources available. There was an excellent article from Bright Work in May, "How to use Communication Styles to Drive Project Success." Atlassian offers some great tools for team communication with their Health Monitors. There was also an interesting article in Inc. by Marcel Schwantes, "Which of These 4 Personality Types Are You?" Knowing how you communicate and understanding how to navigate the world of a team and inter-organization communication can make a huge difference. In the end, it really is up to you to figure out how to best communicate professionally and effectively with fellow team members. Don't leave it up to your organization and use potential communication breakdown as a crutch or an excuse. Be proactive and take it upon yourself to build the inter-office relationships you need to do your job and build rapport. Hey or even better try spearheading a communication project or committee to remove the communication obstacles. Not only could you have a positive impact on the culture of the organization, but who knows how much time and effort it could save the staff and organization moving forward. |
Tiff HolcombI love my life! I have an amazing family that I love more than anything and a job that I am passionate about. But sometimes I am just blown away by the craziness that happens on any given day. Archives
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