3 Ways to Improve Workflow Between Teams
-And Avoid Being Chaos Cats. We Promise, This Makes Sense-
In marketing, there’s one type of cat you never want to be. It’s not a Tabby. And it’s not a Toyger (definitively the most adorably named cat). No, it’s something else. We’ll explain.
Over the last 15 years of building and launching brands, we’ve noticed one trend in organizations that ultimately leads to catastrophe. And that trend…(cue dramatic music)…is chaos. Everything must somehow be fresh, new, current, bleeding edge. Designed, developed, launched and marketed in 36 hrs.
That means coordination, precision, expert and foolproof communication between every department – on a rush and under pressure!! – that needs to run perfectly at all times like a Swiss watch. And if one leg of that relay race fails…oh boy. It all goes bad REAL quick.
All of a sudden, you’re knee deep in utter and complete chaos. Like cats in bag. Succeeding at absolutely nothing, fighting and swiping blindly.
Here’s how the story goes. Your company has some big news, a big product push, and a hard deadline. But the social media manager is looking for just the right jpeg, so they’re late getting the post live. The factory is missing a part which affects the delivery time (but nobody updated your marketing team!). The website doesn’t work yet because there are still bugs on the checkout page, and someone on the design team keeps using an old logo. Oh, and the intern – the damn intern your uncle made you hire - is mad that nobody realizes his genius. Meanwhile, the CEO can’t comprehend how someone spelled their name wrong in the press release again.
In marketing, you don’t want to be cats in a bag. You don’t want chaos. It’s the literal enemy of accomplishing your goals. But there are ways to protect yourself. You can improve internal workflow, communication and cooperation. You can prevent Chaos Cat-itis from setting in. And we’ll tell you how.
Here are the TOP 3 Opportunities to Improve Workflow Between Teams
Build a Brand Positioning Framework. What does your company stand for? Why are you doing what you do? Does your team know this?? Brand Positioning Frameworks are a great way to create a cheat sheet for your big WHY that everyone in the company can understand.
Build a product marketing engine. In our experience, a HUGE reason startups fail is the old strategy of “once we get the product out there, we’ll use whatever’s left for marketing, and it’ll take off!” Sorry Jerry, it doesn’t work that way. The internet is a big place. We recommend building your marketing engine and building a community around your brand at the earliest stages.
Hire a top-level project manager who sees the big picture. Here’s how it all comes together. The number one problem we’ve seen in any organization, startup or otherwise, is poor communication and missed deadlines. Your project manager is your conductor and your taskmaster, and can be the most important member of the team. Installing a Project Manager at the highest levels that has visibility between product, marketing and leadership, can ensure that everyone knows everything.
At This Feels Right, these are part of our guiding principles. We’ve blended marketing, product development, content, PR and branding into a cohesive system that works, all under one roof. Everything works together, in concert, to not only ensure nothing ever falls through the cracks and your goals are hit sans chaos, but every service within is the optimal version of itself. Each service informs the other to achieve maximum impact, supercharge your company and brand, and achieve the success you’re after.
And since we’re here for you, we compiled all of that knowhow into a short quiz that can help you identify exactly where your cats are in the bag, and determine just how “together” you are. Think you’ve nailed it? Feel like your cats are nowhere near that bag? Well, take our quiz and find out. Then, let’s talk.