Me 👉 Ten years working in agencies. Launched my own in 2018 with two brothers. Now focused on building a team of expert leaders. On Twitter to share lessons learned and pick up some more. Hobbies include drinking, reading, parenting. Not in that order.
Things that are bad for focus:
- Sitting at a messy desk
- Having a disorganised laptop
- Boring/uninteresting work
- Regularly doom scrolling
- Being tired and/or hungover
- Always-on notifications
- Welcoming distractions
Things that are good for focus:
- Sit at a comfortable desk
- Drink a cup of coffee
- Close everything else
- Noise cancelling headphones
- Instrumental music
- Set a timer
- Take a break
- Repeat
Two important areas of learning
- your own experience: mistakes, testing, reflection
- experience of others: books, blogs, articles, talking with other experts
You need both to become an expert
If you're running a meeting, be careful how you invite questions
“has everyone understood” subtly asks people to admit their weakness, which many won’t do
“would you like to stay on this topic” puts the responsibility on you to ensure understanding.
Option 2 is much better.
Wrap up all of the critical points as a spoken summary at the end of the meeting, and follow it up with a written one for good measure; this will reduce any ambiguity between attendees and show everyone how in control and effective you are at hosting meetings.
When your agency is 1-10 people, you probably don't need an operating system
From 10-20 people, you probably need one
From 20+, you definitely need one
To set up a productive meeting, start by being clear about the key things that will be discussed - create an agenda, add this to the meeting invite, and email it to everyone in advance.
There are no shortcuts to becoming an expert. Be patient, put in the years of effort required, make mistakes, and actively look for better ways to do and think about your area of expertise
Two very important skills for agency founders
1. Building systems
2. Building systems that other people want to use
I'm currently working on getting better at the second one
Everyone makes mistakes. Your clients will be far more forgiving if they are generally happy with your relationship and the overall quality of your work