ActiveCollab

If you want to ensure a productive week, forget about incoherent checklists. You need focus. Start by identifying 3-5 key outcomes that will help you move your projects forward. For example: * Get XYZ campaign ready before internal review on Wednesday * Run a homepage redesign sprint  * Send scope confirmation to client B The key is to focus on results, rather than just outputs (outputs still matter!). Outcomes help you see the bigger picture: they give context to your daily tasks. Without that direction, tasks can easily pile up and feel scattered. So, once you’ve identified the outcomes, you can break them down into actionable steps, assign them to your team, and move forward with more organization and clarity. 🎉

You either spend Mondays slow or in chaos (is there a middle at all?) However it is, we want to help you kick off your workweek more efficiently. Do this to ensure your team's success: 1. Prioritize up to 5 outcomes, instead of tons of tasks → you need a coherent structure, not a messy workload 2. Check your team's workload before assigning anything → assessing capacity and availability helps prevent overload and set realistic weekly goals 3. Lock in client dependencies early → because these tasks can easily slow you down 4. Block time for deep work → make sure your team has enough time to actually focus on and complete their tasks (include buffer time) 5. Set 1 mid-week checkpoint → bring your team together to discuss potential issues, bottlenecks, and overall progress ~ Stay tuned for more - we'll be covering each of these individually! ☺️ In the meantime, tell us: what's your secret to a productive week? 🪄

Here we are with our September product updates! 🥳 More ways to stay organized and on top of your projects: 💜 build custom teams for even better collaboration, more structure, and transparency, 💜 never miss important notifications, no matter how hectic it gets - thanks to our new notification reminders! Watch the video for a walkthrough, and let us know how you like these improvements 🥰

How your team performs depends on how they feel. We talk a lot about this. It's not always possible to not assign extra tasks to a single person; it's not always possible to avoid working extra hours; and it's not always possible to stay calm. But burnout isn't exclusively about too much work and too little time. (A human is writing this post, btw) People experience burnout because there are underlying causes triggering this emotional response at the same time. Excessive demands, unrealistic deadlines, strict policies, toxic culture, a lack of resources, recognition, and support ... It's things like these that make one dread work. And this state of mind affects their morale, their results, as well as their relationships with others on the team. A business with known burnout issues won't go undamaged either. But we can always fix things. Last time, we shared a list of warning signs of burnout. This time, we prepared concise tips to help you manage your team and avoid burnout. Feel free to add more in the comments below💜

Ending this week with a small reminder: the key to your business success? It's you and your team. Not the tools you use, not the processes you have in place. Not even your clients. It's you guys. That's why it's absolutely crucial that you take care of your team's and your own wellbeing. This is best achieved by being proactive, not reactive. Check out the red flags we outlined in the doc, and see if any resonates. (We hope not.) Do you already have a burnout prevention strategy in place? Share below!

When introducing new tools or processes in the workplace, you need to do it carefully. You might face resistance from the team, which is why you need to explain the why behind the change. How will a new tool or process benefit them? Why have you decided to switch? How did you make the selection? ➡️ These are only some of the questions you might need to answer to ensure everyone's on the same page. Help your team transition smoothly: organize a meeting, provide training, and create other resources they can use later on. Sometimes, you might want to include your team in the decision-making process, especially if it's a tool they'll be using most of the time, and even more so if you're a small team and rely heavily on your tech stack to get the job done efficiently. (No matter if it's internal stuff or client work.) This is one of the points we discussed with John Hutson from Ink Digital during our webinar. You can watch the full recording here: https://lnkd.in/dVSbPYsq

We're looking for a Product Marketing and Growth Manager to join our Activation team, and help us create a great onboarding experience for our trial users⭐ Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/dXqV3NRH

If you're looking to boost profits as a marketing agency or a small business, here are some ideas: 1. Bundled services: offering more for less will attract more clients 2. Higher rates: if you can justify a rate increase, go for it 3. Diversified client base: this gives you more stability (and flexibility) and income security 4. Outsourcing: this helps you accept more clients and offer additional services (choose external collaborators carefully) 5. Paid consultations: you can charge more for consultancy services without investing too much time 6. Digital assets: create relevant, high-quality digital assets that solve problems / help people in any way; maximize sales via cross distribution and good marketing Let us know what you think - have your tried creating multiple streams of income? Anything you'd add to the list? 💫

The mindset lean agencies should adopt? ⤵️ Observation + curiosity + action All 3 equally matter if you want to streamline your agency operations and grow sustainably. This is only one of many useful tips and practices John Hutson from Ink Digital shared in our recent webinar. Watch the full recording here: https://lnkd.in/dVSbPYsq

Many agencies measure productivity in tracked hours. The logic seems simple: more hours = more output. But time spent isn’t always a reliable indicator of value delivered. A designer can spend 20 hours endlessly revising a layout or 3 hours creating a concept that wins the client over instantly. That’s why it helps to look beyond hours, and track outcomes, such as: ✨ client satisfaction → Did the work actually solve their problem? Did everything run smoothly from start to finish? ✨ project profitability → Did the project contribute to sustainable growth? Did it help reduce costs and increase earnings? ✨ error reduction → Did the team deliver quality the first time, without costly rework? Were the specs clear enough for them to work hassle-free? When productivity is measured through outcomes, it becomes clearer where you’re creating real value, as well as where effort is being wasted. How do you assess productivity in your agency? What would you add? 🪄