Among the vast sea of cultural buzzwords that has taken over “About Us” pages across the corporate world, “collaboration” has come on especially strong of late.
Growing up in a world of group projects and team sports, Millennials tend to place a tremendous amount of value on collaborative culture. With that in mind, many companies looking to hire talented young employees like to tout their collaborative environments.
Beyond the buzzwords, though, what does that actually look like? Does an “open floor plan” guarantee collaboration? Do weekly “town hall meetings” ensure that your team is working together to achieve a common goal? If the CEO knows my name, are my clients getting better results?
Workshop Digital (whose culture was built for and by young professionals) makes sure to walk the walk when it comes to our culture of collaboration. Our team approach to digital marketing is designed to provide the best possible work for our clients, while simultaneously creating a workplace that allows our people to thrive.
While every analyst on our team technically has “his or her own” accounts, we take a very collective approach to our client work. Here are five ways we’ve been able to increase our internal collaboration, and improve results for our clients:
- Dashboard Reviews
Twice a month, our SEO and PPC teams each gather to review their accounts’ performances with other members of the team. These are scheduled, recurring meetings that allow analysts to gather feedback and advice, or to share a recent success story. Great results are celebrated, while problems are immediately addressed without judgment.
In these meetings, each analyst is openly accountable for their work in front of the entire team. New analysts find out quickly why “Transparency” is one of Workshop Digital’s core values, as their results are projected on the big screen.
Is it intimidating at first? Sure. But we’ve all come to enjoy these meetings, and relish the opportunity to seek advice from our peers.
- Team-wide Brainstorms
As we’ve all found out the hard way, if you work on any one account for too long, you eventually run out of new ideas. “Analyst’s block” is a very real struggle, and one that can lead to stale client results for even the best analysts.
To keep this from happening, our analysts are encouraged to hold team-wide brainstorm sessions whenever they feel like they’ve hit a wall. These free-flowing sessions allow for a room full of fresh eyes on an account, and can generate new ideas for keywords, ad copy, pieces of content, etc.
The best part? These brainstorms are entirely optional, but often have close to 100% attendance. Our close-knit teams are constantly looking out for each other, and are happy to take some time out of their busy days to lend a hand.
- SEO + PPC Integration
When our clients use Workshop Digital for both SEO and PPC, our internal teams have a fantastic opportunity to work together. Our cross-functional team brainstorms tend to be the most productive, as they bring together team members with different backgrounds and skillsets.
Providing both services to the same client allows our team to communicate efficiently, and to easily share key details about the account. Most importantly, when these two functions work so closely together, we’re able to ensure that our work is consistent, and helping to solve a common client goal.
- Open-Door Management Policy
Fostering a spirit of teamwork and collaboration must start at the top, and that is most certainly the case at Workshop Digital. In my 3+ years here, I’ve never once hesitated to approach our co-founders for help, feedback, or advice. In the early stages of your career, getting this kind of access to upper-level management is invaluable experience.
In a cutthroat corporate hierarchy, employees are often too focused on impressing the higher-ups, and are thus reluctant to approach them with problems or concerns. At Workshop Digital, employees have the opportunity to work directly with our co-founders on a daily basis, essentially eliminating any fear of approaching them.
- Impromptu Help
Back to that open floor plan thing for a minute… From my desk, I’m a half-swivel away from making eye contact with 90% of the company, and certainly well within earshot of my team. When someone needs help, they can quickly poll the room or roll over to someone’s desk, all without causing a serious inconvenience.
Speaking of inconvenience, my corporate nightmare involves “scheduling some time” on someone’s calendar, when really all I need is a quick piece of advice, or a second opinion on something. In an environment like ours, problems can be solved quickly, and unnecessary meetings are kept to a minimum.
While it may be just another cultural buzzword to some people, we’re extremely proud of the collaborative culture we’ve built at Workshop Digital. It makes for an enjoyable workplace, sure; however, most importantly, it’s one of the main reasons we’re able to continue delivering outstanding results for our clients.
If you think you might be a good fit for our work environment, visit our careers page to view our openings.
