presents

Simple Tips for First Time Managers

JANET ARONICA

@JanetAronica

SIMPLE TIPS FOR FIRST TIME MANAGERS

Janet AronicaAugust 20, 2013

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• Content Marketing Manager at Localytics

• Head of Marketing at Shareaholic

• Marketing at oneforty, got acquired by HubSpot

• Firm Director for college IMC firm, Editor of college paper, Editor of high school paper and captain of swim team (Likes being a manager)

JANET ARONICA

MANAGING YOURSELF

PART ONE

Use “to-do lists” wisely.

1

Learn how long it takes to complete the tasks of your

craft.

2

Work backwards from long term deadlines to create weekly

and monthly deliverables.

3

Use time constraints as opportunities to focus.

4

Parkinson’s law: “Work expands as to fill the time

available for its completion.”

TRUTH

Create “editing checklists” to ensure thorough editing in

fewer rounds.

44

Some days you’ll be less motivated than other days. Use the snowball effect to get things

rolling.

5

Don’t multi-task.

6

Just because things come up doesn’t mean you have to pick

them up. Prioritize.

7

Maximize productivity by clustering similar projects

together.

8

Don’t take anything personally. You are not your job, so it’s not

about you.

9

Learn to appreciate criticism. People don’t try to fix things

they don’t care about.

10

Don’t be fooled by casual office environments. You need to keep

your emotions in check.

11

“As you can see, I feel strongly about this subject...”

USE THIS PHRASE

Take care of your personal life.

12

• Zocdoc for doctor’s appointments• Amazon Prime subscription

shipments of just about anything• Auto-pay for your bills (Sallie Mae

gives you a lower interest rate if you do this!)• Make lunches for the week on

Sundays

QUICK TIPS

Don’t burn out. Be thankful instead.

13

MANAGING UP

PART TWO

Know when to email and know when to have a face-to-face

conversation.

14

EMAIL FACE TO FACE

Document reviews with realistic timelines for review

Things that take more than 3 sentences to explain

Actually quick questions Asking for help with decisions, like approval for spending a lot of money and other thingsPrep for 1 on 1’s Regular 1 on 1’s

Delivery of meeting agendas Major process changes

Quick status updates (indicate no action required)

Brainstorm sessions

Cat videos (JK – I’m more of a dog person.)

Status updates for broader group (Powerpoint slides)

Don’t leave anything up for interpretation in an email.

16

Never be caught off guard. Communicate future action

confidently.

17

“We’re working on that. We’re reviewing everyone’s schedules

and hoping to schedule a brainstorm early next week.”

USE THIS PHRASE

Speak up about roadblocks. Bad news can’t wait. Give your manager a chance to be a part

of the solution.

18

Keep 1 or 2 “back-pocket metrics” top of your mind to give thoughtful off the cuff

updates about projects.

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SOURCE: Justin Levy - http://justinrlevy.com/being-prepared-with-back-pocket-metrics/

“We launched a blog this month and it’s going great.”

Vs.

“Our new blog is doing well. We’re seeing that 20% of the visited content on the

website is from the blog and leads are up 10%.”

USE THIS PHRASE

SOURCE: Justin Levy - http://justinrlevy.com/being-prepared-with-back-pocket-metrics/

Drop the “umms” and the “likes.” These are verbal fillers.

Speak with confidence.

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“Given what we know right now I recommend we do ____ but we shouldn’t make a final decision until we have more

information.”

USE THIS PHRASE

SOURCE: Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office

Express strong opinions without making enemies.

21

“For the reasons that I listed above, I suggest we do _____. But I’m interested in what

others have to say.”

USE THIS PHRASE

Be decisive. Learn to act without permission.

22

“In order to hit our deadline of ____, we had to move forward without your

feedback. We chose to do _____. Although we couldn’t incorporate your specific

feedback on this, I look forward to your ideas on the next one and working

together more on this.”

USE THIS PHRASE

MANAGING OTHERS

PART THREE

Embrace your new role and act like a manager.

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1 Person Marketing Team Marketing ManagerComing up with all the ideas on my own.

Including others in the brainstorming process.

Setting my own deadlines. Communicating progress and milestones to others – asking for and getting help when I need it.

Managing my own schedule. Managing my own work plus knowing what others are doing.

Doing everything myself. Teaching others how to do things.

Making marketing decisions by myself.

Holding others accountable for their choices.

Feeling guilty about having others help me.

Finding joy in the output of others.

Doing anything but code. Don’t touch product or BD anymore.

Yoga pants on the regs (It’s Friday!)

Skirts sometimes. Trying to learn about fashion, look like a 26 year old and wondering why I put that off for this long.

Wine. Nicer wine.

Let it go. Delegate.

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“It’s about getting the job done, not necessarily being the one

that does it.” – Nice Girls Don’t Get the

Corner Office

TRUTH

Discuss your role as a manager with the right people.

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The Person The Conversation

Your manager - Identify goals- Identify who exactly you manage

Someone you are managing

- Build a relationship- Learn what they are hoping to learn and

accomplish and how you can help them grow

Someone you beat out for the job of manager

- This could be weird – be upfront though- Approach as “how you can work together”

Stay in sync with your boss and other managers to avoid

conflicting messages and assignments.

26

Engage first. Get to know people and let them get to

know you. Don’t over-share, but being closed off sends the

wrong message too.

27

Tell people how you prefer to be communicated with.

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Don’t treat everyone the same.

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 SOURCE: Harvard Business Review

http://blogs.hbr.org/video/2013/07/know-your-teams-motivational-m.html

Preventive Focused“What do I have to lose?”

Promotion Focused“What do I have to gain?”

Want security. Like trying new things.

Work slowly and deliberately. Love brainstorming. Big thinkers.

Get stressed out by tough deadlines.

Work quickly and are risk takers so they might make mistakes.Not comfortable w/ new things.

Feel anxious when things go wrong.

Lose steam without a lot of positive feedback.

MOTIVATE: Give them advice on how to do the task most effectively – mistakes to avoid etc.

MOTIVATE: Emphasize how their project fits into the big picture. Give them feedback so they can

Present projects strategically.

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1. Give specific projects2. Face to face conversation3. Get them excited about it (!!!)4. Demo it once on your own5. Do it together6. Have them do it for you7. Have them repeat the project back for you8. Tell people how you want them to

communicate progress

QUICK TIPS

Give the project a goal and a deadline.

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Making progress makes people happy.

TRUTH

Inspire coachability with clear ownership.

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SOURCE: http://www.earlystager.com/home/2011/2/5/being-coachable-and-coaching.html

High Confidence

3 4

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Low Confidence

LowCompetence

HighCompetence

Be straightforward, yet approachable when giving

negative feedback. You want them to be a part of the

solution.

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• Be literal – “This is unacceptable because ____” or “I am disappointed that _____.”• Don’t be passive aggressive. Don’t say

things like “Help me to understand why” or “I’m confused” unless you’re actually in need of understanding or you are confused.

USE THESE PHRASES

In certain contexts, positivity can feel abrasive. Validate

negative feelings before presenting the sunshine and

rainbows.

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“I know this is a tough project and a tight deadline, but you’ve got this. Try _____. Might make

it a little easier.”

USE THESE PHRASES

Don’t solve other people’s problems for them.

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“Let me know what questions you have after you Google this and review the support articles and tutorials available on the website. I’m happy to help you

after that.”

USE THIS PHRASE

You can be a nurturing leader and still have ownership over

your time.

36

“I’d love to help but I’m on a tight schedule today. Can we catch up later?”

USE THESE PHRASES

Pick a management style that suits you!

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Remember that you do the best you can for who you are at the

time.

It’s not going to happen overnight.

You’re probably doing great. The point is to grow so that 6 months from now you’re doing much better and that 5 years from now you’re doing even

better than that.

You’re probably doing great. The point is to grow so that 6 months from now you’re doing much better and that 5 years from now you’re doing even

better than that.

1. Half the Sky2. Rework3. Nice Girls Don’t Get the

Corner Office4. Delivering Happiness5. The Four Agreements6. The One Minute

Manager7. The Situational Leader8. Good to Great9. “How to Respond to

Negativity” – Harvard Business Review

10. “Know Your Team’s Motivational Mindset” – Harvard Business Review

11. TED Talk: “Dan Ariely: What Makes Us Feel Good About Our Work?”

FURTHER READING

WORKSHOP: WEBSITE REDESIGN

1. Design Firm (located in Mumbai)2. CEO, will be out next Tuesday and

Thursday morning3. VP Marketing4. Marketing Manager (You)5. Marketing Coordinator, will be out

sick 1 day next week6. 3 Interns, 1 “doesn’t like to write”7. 1 new Marketing Manager starting

next week8. Also giving feedback: CTO, VP of

Engineering, VP of Product, VP of Biz Dev, VP of Sales and new COO (started this week)

1. Copy still to be written: Homepage, 3 product pages, About page

2. Product feature is not finished on 1 of the product feature pages you are writing copy for – so you can’t get a screenshot the old fashion way yet.

3. Launching new UI at same time so screenshots are not finalized until launch day – need to coordinate with product team on timing

4. All copy needs to be approved. Still collecting screenshots and customer logos

5. QA website still to be done6. Website launch party for startup

community still needs to be planned.7. 10 working days left

THE TEAM THE TASKS

WORKSHOP: WEBSITE REDESIGN

Your challenge is to “work backwards” by two weeks and create a project plan

that leads to the big launch day!

Course TitleCourse TitleINSTRUCTOR NAME