Celebrating Our Culture Heroes – February

We are kickstarting March with a big shoutout for our February culture heroes – the team members that went above and beyond in their work and that we want to make sure we celebrate accordingly.

Last month we celebrated not one but two of our amazing team members, who embodied IMWT’s culture and delivered outstanding results: Kirsty and Selina.

As far as our tradition goes, we made sure to get an authentic view on what it takes to develop your ‘superpowers’ at work and how to stay focussed and productive in a remote environment.

Celebrating Our Culture Heroes

Kirsty

One of the veterans of IMWT, Kirsty is our Editor-in-Chief extraordinaire based in Tasmania, who makes IMWT’s (content) world go round – and not only. We are celebrating her this month for her superpower of going above and beyond and being dependable!

What is your best advice for being dependable in the workplace (to the point of being recognised for this superpower)?

Be highly addicted to your work. I’m joking… kind of. I do think part of this comes down to ‘love what you do’. When you go to bed excited about all the cool things you get to do the next day at work, it’s much easier to be dependable.

On top of that, organisation is key. When you’re not organised enough, it’s easy to get bogged down with too many deliverables and priorities and become less dependable to your team as a result. Really focussing on priorities and knowing your goals for the week ahead of time helps.

Any tips for keeping yourself focussed and delivering great results while working from home?

As someone that has never worked outside of home (started freelance marketing as a teen), working from home is my natural habitat. I’m going to go against all the advice on this topic now and say that while yes, you need a dedicated workspace, if you find yourself drifting off, one of the best ways to refocus is to change up the scenery.

Instead of sitting at your desk for the seventh hour, switch it up and take your laptop to the couch or dining table. Don’t go overboard or you’ll hurt your back. Your home office should support you 90% of the time.

Could you briefly describe your main tasks and responsibilities?

Essentially, as the Editor in Chief, my main responsibility is looking after the digital marketing for In Marketing We Trust as well as overseeing content for clients. Some of the things that happen daily are our updates for Google This Week. Follow us on LinkedIn for the updates or check back in every Friday for the full list.

I also look after the email marketing, social channels (big things are in the works for Instagram – hence too excited to sleep last night). I also help Paul manage our Data-Driven Digital Community, and I’ll have a lot of news to share on this shortly, as well.

How do you manage to juggle so many responsibilities and deadlines?

The marketing channel is always go, go, go. We have a lot of ideas and not a lot of time to implement them all, so I work on a priority basis. I have an ongoing list of tasks that I create each Monday and each morning I pull some of these into my daily priority list.

Last quarter we played OKR Bingo, my team won and we got a very tidy allowance for office supplies. One of the supplies I bought was a new 2021 diary (I couldn’t resist because on the cover it says one of our IMWT values) and this is where I put my daily priorities. The marketing team also has a daily huddle where I keep myself accountable by letting my team know exactly what I’m working on each day.

Selina

Selina is IMWT’s Head of Growth and we are celebrating her this month for her great ability to be curious and creative, one of IMWT’s core values. Based in Brisbane, Selina is joining us in a full-time capacity starting this month, and we couldn’t be more excited to be learning and growing together!

What is your best advice for being curious and creative in the workplace (to the point of being recognised for this superpower)?

Embrace challenges. My time at IMWT, though it hasn’t been long, has given me the opportunity to have the headspace to expand my skills and really hone in on areas that I’ve always wanted to upskill in, but never given the chance. It can be terrifying to try new things, and on top of that, to present them to colleagues for feedback, but it’s so rewarding when you’re able to add to your existing capabilities.

Any tips for keeping yourself focussed and delivering great results while working from home?

First Tip: I know it sounds weird, but wearing shoes. My home is a shoe free-zone and when I first started working remotely, I noticed that the comfort and distractions of home (my dog) was making it difficult to keep my mind on the task at hand. Out of frustration, I began researching for a solution and found an article about changing “habits” – finding something that you wouldn’t normally do at home that has the power to influence your mindset. After some trial and error (glasses vs being blind, office wear vs casual wear), I found that simply putting on shoes allowed me to distinguish between work time and play time.

Second Tip: Working remotely can be isolating and building friendships and rapport with team members can be challenging. At IMWT, we have “Donut” dates that randomly sync up 2 team members to catch up for a “Donut” – a 15 – 30 minute casual chat to get to know each other beyond the constraints of work talk. So far, there’s been many laughs, awkward confessions and all-round great times.

Could you briefly describe your main tasks and responsibilities?

Being the Head of Growth at IMWT entails having a really awesome and skilled team of SEOs and Paid Media Specialists. My main responsibilities are overseeing the team, ensuring that our delivery tactics align with the overall business goal through a multi-channel strategy as well as assisting pod leaders on existing projects.

How do you manage to juggle so many responsibilities and deadlines?

If you ask anyone within IMWT, they’ll probably confirm that I am addicted to Redbull. Though it is a contributing factor to juggling workloads, the truth is understanding my own personal effectiveness. I’m a morning person – I know that I’m the most productive up until 1pm so I purposely schedule my workload based on what requires the most headspace as opposed to monotonous tasks.