Duane's Dartboard

List my key accomplishments and evaluate marketing’s impact.

Too often we think of accomplishments as a list of things we’ve done. We’ve all seen verbose resumes with a list of 30 bullet points under each job title. I’ll bet those “accomplishments” are little more than tasks or processes that support some undefined goal or strategy.

I want my accomplishments to reflect the results I’ve produced, the impact I’ve had and the difference I’ve made.

This past year I presented my CEO with a six-page list of what my marketing department accomplished. Rather than making a lengthy list of all the things we had done, I structured the document in a hierarchical manner categorized by the clients served. The list focused on the impact we had upon their success.

I devised the format using this three-step process:

1. List Tasks. We first made a lengthy list of things we had done on a day-to-day basis. It was a master list, a compost pile of uncategorized stuff, both major and minor.
2. Identify Results. I then converted the tasks into a list of achievements we produced and the projects we successfully completed.
3. Understand Impact. The results were then described in a way that showed the actual benefits others derived from the our work.

Privately, I even went a step further. I looked at my accomplishments and wondered what legacy I will someday leave behind. I asked myself, “What did I actually do that someone might still be talking about in 10 years?” (That’s a sobering question.)

I can’t spend too much time, though, looking back on my accomplishments. With all the important work I have yet to do, this is no time to rest upon one’s laurels. I believe my best achievements are yet to come!

Profile my key clients and define their expectations.

My official job title does not contain the word “consultant,” yet that’s how I view my role—as a marketing consultant. I certainly have clients, though most of them are internal to my organization.

My clients have every right to expect that I will contribute to their success. In fact, one of the ways I measure my success as a marketer is to assess the impact I’ve had upon the success of my clients.

I also measure their satisfaction. Are they happy with the quality of my work? The timeliness? The creativity? Having answers to those questions helps me to give them more of what they need and, conversely, less of what they don’t want.

Define what success looks like to me, to my boss and to others.

A former boss once asked me, “How do you know if you’re doing a good job?”

That question prompted a series of in-depth conversations where together we established meaningful metrics to measure my success as a marketing leader. We discovered that we must consider both quantifiable and qualitative criteria when evaluating a marketing program. (During that process I became familiar with Albert Einstein’s quote:  “Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts.”)

Though we wrestled with the question “How do we define success?” for quite a while, we eventually came up with a fairly useful yardstick. Yet even today— several years afterward—I keep asking myself that same question. And I keep refining my answers.

I believe it is essential for each of us to know what success looks like. Otherwise, as Yogi Berra warned, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the blogs of “tribal leaders” and join their conversations.

In his book Tribes, Seth Godin introduced me to the concept of modern tribes—a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and an idea.

Blogs often represent the campfires around which tribal leaders tell their stories or share their ideas. The best leaders prompt conversations and provoke lively debates.

I purposefully join “tribes” where I can sit around the campfire, converse with the group leaders and absorb the collective wisdom of other tribe members.

Read a provocative, cutting-edge book on marketing.

The business section of a large book store is one of my favorite places to spend an unrushed afternoon.

I especially enjoy browsing through the marketing section. There I can always find an intriguing, avant-garde and mind-stretching book on business strategy, creativity or emerging trends.

I will usually skim through many books, but I don’t consider it to be a successful shopping trip until I’ve purchased at least one book that promises to stimulate my thinking, provoking me to see the world in a different way.

Though I love living in a virtual world, I have found no substitute for a book printed on real paper. Somehow my comprehension is enhanced when I underline key passages, make notes in the margin and dog-ear page corners for ideas worthy of special consideration.

Begin each morning with a list of my three most important tasks.

I am always more productive when I begin my day with a plan. I like to have a simple list of the three important tasks that I will complete during the day.

My to-do list actually contains a dozen or more items, but it helps to focus on those three priorities where I know my time and energy will yield the greatest results. Then, as time permits, I can work on the other items on my list.

The tasks on my daily to-do list are actionable items developed in the final step of project planning. They represent the very next actions I can take towards completing a project that often requires several days or weeks to implement.

Having three tasks keeps me focused on the very next steps I can take, and that helps to eliminate procrastination and other excuses for not getting my work done.

Read the rest of this entry »

Select a key project for in-depth planning.

I often find it helpful to slip away from my office to focus on a major project that needs extra attention. A local coffee shop, for example, provides a creative environment where I can spend 60 to 90 minutes making a project come to life.

I go through through a five-step planning process given to me by David Allen, author of Getting Things Done. The five steps are:

1. Define the purpose. Why am I doing this project anyway? What is the purpose?
2. Envision the outcome. How will I know if I’ve achieve success? What will “wild success” look like?
3. Brainstorm. What are all the possible and crazy ideas I can think of to get the project done successfully. (BTW, I’m a huge fan of mind mapping, a form of non-linear brainstorming.)
4. Organize. What are the natural categories, priorities and sequence of ideas generated from the brainstorming?
5. Determine next actions. Where do I start? What needs to be done next?

Read the rest of this entry »

Update the job description of each marketing team member.

Against the backdrop of a departmental mission statement, it seems logical to periodically review and revise our individual work responsibilities.

Though our marketing mission remains unchanged, I have revised my regular job description several times to reflect how social media and other changes affect the way I do marketing.

Because I work for the American Red Cross, my routine can be disrupted on a moment’s notice. When a disaster strikes, for example, my responsibilities immediately shift. To prepare for that, my public affairs teams has developed a matrix of our responsibilities so we immediately know what to do and where to go. The matrix even recognizes that our responsibilities will change in the hours and days following a disaster.

Holding it all together, though, is a clear understanding that our threefold role as a disaster public affairs team is to:

1. Assure. We assure those affected by a disaster that the American Red Cross is there to help them meet their immediate needs.
2. Inform. We inform the public of two things:  how to get help and how to give help.
3. Advise. On the front lines of a disaster, we serve as the eyes and ears of the organization should there be the dissemination of incorrect information or a temporary breakdown in service. Our role, therefore, is also to advise to those making decisions about the relief efforts.