Polymensa

Imagine you’re a bushy little mouse today… You pop your head out the arched hole in the wall, because you smell something… Is that the smell of a creamy Camembert and you just go for it, the minute you see it? Or is all you can smell a rotten hungry cat who put the cheese on a mini table, laid out with a table cloth and a single chair that is “just right” - waiting to pounce on you the minute you give in? Wani Mkandawire - Assoc. CIPD spent the morning with our troop this week, making us aware that there are plenty of mice who just see cats. They want to mitigate risks vs. just focus on the reward. For someone who wants to mitigate risks (“smells the cat”): Validate their concerns. Help them to feel prepared.  Explore options and the downsides. Avoid: Not spending enough time tuned into their worries For someone who wants to focus on the reward (“smells the cheese”): Allow them to explore risks and possibilities. Explore why things might work. Avoid: Getting to focus too much on what might go wrong Thanks Wani for a great session on how to build connections fast with our clients - so many practical take aways :) Cat or Cheese that is the question? #relationships #business #culture #agencylife #agencygrowth

As an agency, how do you retain 100% of your clients in a two year period? This week we spoke to Mark Leach who managed to do this. “Casting the client” Mark used to use a Stakeholder Map (your typical 4 square matrix). Mapping each person on the client against their level of influence/power and interest in supporting what you bring to the table. It’s hard dealing with an antagonist for example - who’s got a lot of influence but no interest in supporting you. Always “cast a client” (if possible) ahead of the meeting who has a lot of influence and interest, to support your ideas when the antagonist pipes up. A few more useful points mentioned: 💡Use Love Languages to map each person on the client side against 💡Create a playbook (for your client facing people) of open ended questions that in the past have opened good conversations 💡Just by talking LOTS with your clients, doesn’t mean they trust you. Instead continuously ask for permission to “do something”. If the trend is that more permissions are granted over time, you know the client is trusting you. Join Polymensa as we continue our exploration of all things Leading Clients: How to upsell to existing client, being braver around clients, increase your empathy the clients you work with… #clientservices #marketing #agencylife #agencygrowth

Claudia Meyer-Scott what an epic Q&A we had with you this week! Thank you for the hang time. This was such an important point 👇 How to get your team to be more accountable? Give them more responsibility to execute on the ideas they have. 🚨 Even if they are not one of the most senior managers in the agency! Let them do their research. Let them decide to go ahead or not. Let them put a plan together. Let them execute it. Ultimately lead it (with the support of their team). And take 100% ownership of every step and the outcome. That breeds a culture of accountability 💚 #culture #management #agencies

Gemma Hood, thank you so much for delivering our first ever “101” training session for senior managers at agencies! A session where our advisor is asked to pick the Minimal Effective Dose of one of our five pillars (Leading People, Clients, New Business, Finance and Yourself). It’s the “if you do this really well over and over again, 80% of the job is done!” It forces you as an advisor to really think about what matters most. And I 100% agree with your area of focus, when it comes to our pillar - Leading People. This is what Gem picked: OPEN, HONEST AND TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION + On how to use “bad” reviews on Glassdoor to your advantage + Allowing managers to experiment, and even if it fails, they present their learnings back to the team (rather than just sweeping that failed experiment under the carpet) + Using a notepad and pen to write down what you hear, when you’re actively listening to your colleague, to help you avoid jumping to solutions And there were so many more practical tips! Go and connect with Gemma, if you are looking to transform your agency culture. She's brilliant at it! #culture #learninganddevelopment #managers

Today we kicked off our “Leading People” Pillar. 40 senior managers and owners of agencies figuring out together what areas they want to improve most. A lot of themes I'm sure will resonate with you: “I feel like I’m too nice sometimes and would like to be able to give constructive feedback without completely changing my personality” “Be able to give people tasks and they get done without needing to verify” “Managing sideways, get better at giving feedback to peers on the leadership team, who are generally more experienced than you are in their respective areas” "Avoid going straight into solution mode!" “Since being in a senior role I receive little feedback from my manager, so I want up and coming managers to learn to give their managers feedback. That way they get into the habit already and ensure there’s ongoing progression both ways” “Dealing with conflict” “Learning the balance between leading and constantly being pulled into multiple directions” “I want to be more motivational and inspirational in the way I lead people” Look forward to tackling these challenges with our Troop over the coming months! #agencies #learninganddevelopment #managers

Tomorrow we're opening our sale for our new Leadership Programme for managers at agencies. After a successful pre-sale this week. This one will be particularly valuable for team leads who have been promoted because they're good at their skill, but have never lead people before. Also haven't had any formal leadership training. And for department directors, that have a big responsibility of developing the people on their team, while juggling the demands of keeping their department profitable and managing up to the board. We only have 14 seats left on the programme, if you want priority, register before our sale tomorrow mid day. https://lnkd.in/euNrtw3a #marketing #agencylife #leadership