Recently, I had the opportunity to mentor KWSM Project Manager Alli Knight during the annual KWSM Mentorship Program. This program takes place for 3 months every year and pairs up two or more individuals to learn about a specific skill set. It’s been a positive program that has contributed to team development at KWSM for the last 7 years.
Alli signed up for the mentorship program hoping to learn more about agency operations. As the VP of Operations, I was assigned to be her Mentor. Agency operations is a broad topic, so we started by narrowing it down to something within operations that Alli could learn about and also would have a positive impact on the agency.
The goal we landed on was making the agency more efficient – but how were we to do this?
We started by figuring out where there were current inefficiencies.
First, we found a lot of time wasted by going back and forth about the scope of a task or project before it was beginning, so Alli put together and implemented a series of questions that should be answered before assigning a task. This only took about 5 extra minutes for the person assigning the task or project, but provided the person completing the task with the context they needed to have less back and forth about the task before beginning. It also reduced the possibility of completing the task or project incorrectly. So while it takes a little extra time up front, the time it saved on the back end was huge.
Second, we analyzed how much time different people were spending on similar tasks. For example, how much time were our individual copywriters spending on client blogs? How much was being spent on editing videos? Or creating content or designing graphics? While every client is a little different, we standardized the time required for these tasks as best we could. Then, Alli worked with the department managers to roll the standardized times out to the team. This provided everyone with a starting point for what was expected of them.
The results? Better communication about how much time should be spent on specific tasks, better accountability for tracking time for projects, and a more predictable understanding of how long tasks should take (whether being assigned or being executed).
The bottom line? A more efficient agency.
And while this is just the starting point, it has laid the framework for improving and fine-tuning in the future.
Alli was great to work with – she is motivated, positive, and open to learning about the intricacies of agency operations. Our work together was tedious at times, but she took the initiative to get the information we needed and was fearless in her quest for improving the efficiency of the agency.
At KWSM, we are always looking for great people to join our team. Our mentorship program is just one of the ways we pour into our team to develop their skills. If you are interested in joining our team, please visit the careers page on our website.
