Each month we celebrate our culture heroes. Culture heroes are given the ethos award by their peers during our fortnightly team meeting. Then here on the blog, we give them a shoutout and ask them a few questions about what it’s like working remotely for In Marketing We Trust.
Today we are celebrating two team members, Sally Aleckson and Frederic Chanut for their dependability and their ability to “Get Shit Done”.
Our Values
Sally Aleckson
Sally was awarded for his dependability in the workplace.
“Sally has shown her problem-solving attitude. She also jumps right into helping the team on getting things sorted which makes a really big impact to In Marketing We Trust!”
Any tips for keeping yourself focused and delivering great results while working from home?
The biggest benefit in my opinion is being able to control my working environment. This means both having a dedicated workspace with everything I need to perform my work duties but also not having to fight colleagues for the music control, turning down the air con if it’s too cold and wearing clothes that are comfortable.
I also strongly believe in routine, so starting and finishing work at the same time each day and using the extra time that would usually be used for a commute to have a strong morning routine to get you feeling at your best before the work day begins.
Could you briefly describe your main tasks and responsibilities?
I am the Client Services Manager for APAC which is a role with a few key areas of responsibility. Firstly I work with the Client Service Team to ensure the delivery of all work throughout the business is done on time and to budget, which could mean implementing new processes for efficiency or supporting the team through any challenges.
I also manage my own portfolio of clients, ensuring we’re working towards their business goals.
How do you manage to juggle so many responsibilities and deadlines?
I am a strong believer in lists and prioritisation. Every single morning I dedicate time to review all tasks and projects I have on the go and write down what I want to achieve in the day.
I usually start with the tasks that are the most important and easiest to complete. That gets my day off to a strong start. Then I move to the most important and possible challenging tasks – you know the ones you don’t really want to do but have a looming deadline – and I try to get those out of the way before lunch.
Then my afternoons can be free to deal with lower priority tasks or inevitably additional tasks that have come up during the day that I didn’t anticipate.
Why do you like working at In Marketing We Trust?
I love the flexibility and the autonomy. We all work as a strong team and trust the expertise of our colleagues. There are no egos or micromanagement, just people wanting to work hard to do their best. There is also plenty of room to learn and try out new things.
Frederic Chanut
Frederic Chanut was awarded for Getting Sh*t Done.
“Frederic Chanut has showcased his ability to get sh*t done in Europe, making multiple long car trips with the supply for Ukrainian refugees, plus bringing refugees to safety from the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine. Hat’s off to Frederic Chanut for all the wonderful things he has done and for being such an inspiration to us all!”
What is your best advice for getting stuff done (to the point of being recognised for this superpower)?
Get Sh*t Done – It’s about personal accountability and understanding that your actions define you. What you think or say pales in comparison to what you do. And it’s in actions that we are most remembered. one phrase stuck with me since late childhood: “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” (Meditation by Marc Aurelius)
Any tips for keeping yourself focused and delivering great results while working from home?
I am a curious person which means I always have a dozen ideas and tasks running in my head at the same time. What works for me is social accountability + daily task list everyone can see and challenge me on if I don’t deliver. This creates a discipline for me.
At In Marketing We Trust, we embraced the scaling-up approach to building a growing and enduring business. An important part of the framework is the daily huddle. The leadership team members share their to-do list for the day in a 5-10 min meeting.
We write our key information and actions in a dedicated slack channel first thing in the morning and discuss it in a daily huddle meeting.
By having 5 minutes each morning where I go through my to-do list, prioritise tasks and tell the team about I create a clear to-do list and hold myself accountable to others. Doing so helps me GSD and share the culture of the organisation every day.
Could you briefly describe your main tasks and responsibilities?
I am responsible for creating new revenue streams for In Marketing We Trust. This includes testing new business models, services and products. My projects this year include:
- Testing a Healthcare oriented business unit
- Launching the product/SAAS arm of the business
- Expanding our performance offering for clients looking for APAC non-English support
- Looking for acquisition targets to support the business growth in the APAC region
How do you manage to juggle so many responsibilities and deadlines?
I am lucky to have the support of team members who are better at certain tasks than I am. Thanks to this setup, I am able to use the Eisenhower matrix and regularly review what I should do, decide, delegate and drop.
It’s a simple exercise that takes a few minutes each week and where I pay particular attention to progressing items in the important/non-urgent section.
Why do you like working at In Marketing We Trust?
The people. When all is accomplished, people will remember what you did and also how you treated others.
Engaging with the right people and helping them grow personally and solve problems is what gets me up in the morning.
Agency life can be stressful at times, but it is also an amazing opportunity to be exposed to a lot of different environments and meet a lot of people. We are lucky to be in a position where we can choose who we want to work with both on the client-side and the team side.
If you come to work for an agency, you come for a collegial, dynamic environment. Most people want to spend their time and headspace finding ways to solve problems, and not feel stressed about every decision they make, battling politics or working with jerks. I like working with people I can learn from, that can inspire me and help me become a better person.
More Culture heroes awardees:
