The Importance of Quality Control and Playing to Your Strengths With Jared Pumphrey
Episode 597: Show Notes
This week, we have a very exciting episode with Emylee, Abagail, and Abagail’s partner, Jared Pumphrey, who joined the team earlier this year as Boss Project’s Marketing Manager! Join us as we dive into what Jared’s role entails, how it has impacted our business, and how he has no idea how we managed before we had someone dedicated to running the day-to-day operations. Tuning in, you’ll also find out how to set boundaries for a healthy marriage when going into business with your spouse, as well as what Jared and Abagail love about working together.
Jared unpacks the importance of having an internal system for quality control and why, if you're the last person who did something to a document, you can't verify that it's perfect. Later, we reflect on how a team can thrive when they are allowed to play to their strengths, what that entails, and how you can go about helping them operate in their zone of genius.
We cover a lot in this episode, from why we decided not to outsource our marketing to finding your strengths and the importance of customer experience, plus SO much more, so make sure to miss this insightful and informative discussion! Feel free to reach out to us on Instagram @bossproject if you have any questions. We would love to hear from you!
Listen on your favorite podcast player
Why Outsourcing Our Marketing Wasn’t Working and How We Found a Solution
Plenty of businesses have a highly positive experience when they outsource their marketing department. It allows them the freedom and flexibility to focus on other parts of their business and trust that their marketing is taken care of. Unfortunately for us, we had to learn the hard way that outsourcing our marketing department was not a good choice for our team or our business and created more problems than it solved. Not only were we unable to comfortably outsource our marketing, but we also realized that we actually enjoy and are highly skilled at the marketing side of our business! The only problem was that we were already spread so thin that giving all the marketing elements adequate attention seemed impossible.
That’s where Jared stepping in as Marketing Manager has been an unequivocal game changer! His role as an unofficial Boss Project volunteer for the past six years has equipped him with an intimate knowledge of the business since its inception, despite not being a full-time employee until several months ago. His deep knowledge of our history of blog posts, social media style, and business practice has been tremendously valuable in supporting our marketing strategy and the broader business. Our ability to rely on him has freed up our time to focus on connecting the dots between the more disparate elements of our business to create a cohesive and well-functioning system that has not only supported our team but also positively affected the experience of our clients!
The Importance of Having Someone on Your Team Who’s Focused on the Day-to-Day
One of the biggest benefits of having Jared as our marketing manager has been having the opportunity to free up our time, zoom out, and take a broader focus of our business. Because we trust him to take command of the day-to-day operations and focus on the finer details, it frees up our headspace to focus on what the business needs next. Another fantastic bonus of having Jared focus on the day-to-day concerns is that it has allowed both Abagail and Emylee to separate their roles more. Previously, we would often be working on the same projects and doing similar things. Since adding Jared to the team full time, we’ve had the opportunity to step back and consider where our energy is best spent. This past summer, Abagail was able to rebuild the entire back-end operations, which in turn allowed for the business to do some much-needed hiring! And the reason she was able to do that was that she could entrust all of the marketing to Jared, Emylee, and the team, freeing up her mind to put her focus where it was most needed!
Why It’s Okay for Someone in a Higher Level Position to Do ‘Doer’ Tasks
None of us can function at full capacity 100 percent of the time. That holds true for anyone, in any role, whether you’re selling coffee or occupying a high-level position at a company. This is why anyone will benefit from having a mix of tasks for the day that vary in intensity. Yet, we can often feel uncomfortable with giving simpler ‘doer’ tasks to people who occupy a high-level position, whether it’s posting stories, commenting, or responding to direct messages. The truth is that we all need these kinds of tasks to structure our day; whether it’s needing to start your morning with something simple or zoning out after lunch to get back into the groove with something doesn't take a lot of brain space.
If you're looking to hire a full-time employee or bring someone on for more hours, know that it's perfectly acceptable to have someone in a higher-level position also do some of the simpler tasks! We all need a break from time to time, and having the right mix of those tasks allows you to feel accomplished. It’s also important to remember that your team all have different work styles and therefore want to structure their tasks accordingly. For instance, Jared is a big proponent of a long checklist that is broken down into small sizable chunks, while Emylee needs to see the big picture and work backward from there. There are plenty of ways that we’ve helped our team operate in their zones of genius, from enneagram tests to strengths finders. These simple things can make a massive difference in the overall team culture!
The Importance of Quality Control
It can be almost impossible to do quality control on your own work. You’ve likely been working on it for so long and you’re so familiar with it that the mistakes are no longer apparent to you. During Jared’s training as an architect, they would review the students' work with a fine-tooth comb. This was not to break them down but rather to teach them how to hold things to a high standard and ask the appropriate questions; like whether it meets the internal expectations and whether it’s up to code. One of the chief things that Jared has been instituting and refining as Boss Project is an internal quality control process, making sure there are individuals and departments assigned to checking the different elements, from spelling and grammar to whether all the links work. This has been of immense value since the responsibility should never fall on one person alone. Never underestimate the power of a fresh pair of eyes! If you're the last person who did something to a document, you can't verify that it's perfect.
What It’s Like to Work With Your Spouse (and the Boundaries That Help!)
Before working together on Boss Project, Jared and Abagail were also co-workers in their previous business. This experience has helped them in setting the necessary boundaries for a healthy marriage and an excellent working relationship. It has also allowed them to experiment with balancing their time in a way that still supported their household, despite them both working full-time and part-time.
One of the decisions that has resulted in an optimal working environment at Boss Project has been teaming Jared up with Emylee as his key partner instead of Abagail. Despite Jared and Abagail working really well together, it’s likely that if Abagail were his direct boss, it would cause a lot more friction and make it more difficult to maintain boundaries! Another helpful boundary is having separate offices, since Abby’s job often entails doing loud vocal things, like making recordings and hosting zoom meetings, while Jared is mostly using Slack to communicate with his team. Another key way to institute healthy boundaries is prefacing ambiguous conversations with ‘I’m speaking to you as my spouse’ or ‘I’m in business mode’, especially outside of the office!
The Best Role to Fill if You Have a Hard Time Finishing Projects
Both Emylee and Abagail identify as future-focused. They’re great at starting projects and getting them rolling, but when it comes to wrapping it up, things can get tricky! That’s why it’s great having someone like Jared around who is undeniably present-focused. It allows Abagail and Emylee to entrust present company needs to him while they focus on future concerns for their business. If you can structure your team according to their actual strengths and personalities you will see incredible results!
Quote This
What you need to address when you are ready to scale your support is figuring out where you're dropping the ball; because that is part of it!
Highlights
Why Outsourcing Our Marketing Wasn’t Working and How We Found a Solution [0:03:06]
The Importance of Having Someone on Your Team Who’s Focused on the Day-to-Day. [0:07:40]
Why it’s Okay for Someone in a Higher Level Position to Have ‘Doer’ Tasks [0:15:53]
The Importance of Quality Control [0:21:08]
What It’s Like to Work With Your Spouse (and the Boundaries That Help!) [0:26:16]
The Best Role to Fill if You Have a Hard Time Finishing Projects [0:35:12]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Jared Pumphrey
Jared serves as the Marketing Manager at Boss Project. What started as a role to simply bring social media management in house has developed into a role more integral part of the day to day supporting team members, communications, and constantly assessing the client experience for improvement. As a trained landscape architect, koi fish keeper, and someone who is systems driven, Jared brings a new level of detail and design to Boss Project.
KEY TOPICS
Quality Control, Working with your spouse, Playing to your strengths, Task management, Teams
