Managing the Ups & Downs of Small Teams & Solo Work

Now What? 2016Ron Bronson

About Ron

Director, Nordic Strategy LabSpeaker.Practice: UX/Digital Strategy. Service Design. Past: Omnivore Athletic, Aggregate Conference, Future Wyoming.

What’s your role?

Meet Liz

Marketing Manager, Aha! Insurance Co.

● Graphic design● Copywriting● Marketing

Some of Liz’s Tasks

● Organizing content from subject matter experts.

● Serving as liaison between remote IT team & agents.

● Social media management● Weekly reporting to her boss,

the Director of Operations.

What Liz likes

● Independence● Fewer steps ● Agility● Adaptability● Variety

What Liz doesn’t like

● Not enough time in a day● Lack of buy-in● No upward mobility● Having to wear lots of hats

How do we help Liz?

● Having the confidence & authority to delegate tasks.

● Motivating subject matter experts to provide content.

● Building frayed bridges between her area & IT.● Being seen as knowledgeable.

Liz’s Challenges

"The corollary to accountability is forgiveness. Things go wrong all of the time in relationships...this is not to say that failure is accepted; rather, that it is acknowledged and understood."

Charlene Li (Open Leadership)

How does Liz solve for X?

Knowing her own limits.

It’s not enough to communicate. She has to evangelize.

Resisting the urge to say “that’s not my job!”

Frameworks

Delegation Rank

An assessment system for bullpen environments to help people better measure expectations.

1. Independent2. Seek Approval3. Research & Return

StrategizePrioritizeExecuteMeasureEvaluate

"The more people involved in a given task, the more potential agreements need to be negotiated to do anything, and the greater the transaction costs."

Clay Shirky (Here Comes Everybody)

Tusen Takk.@ronbronsonron@nordicstrategy.com