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Lesson Info

Design Your Ideal Team

Alright we're gonna take things a step further, then I'm gonna really show you what CoCommercial looks like with, you know, different roles and responsibilities that we have in accordance with those teams. Then I'm gonna surprise Megan and bring her up here, and we're gonna kinda build through that org chart, that's essentially what we're doing here is creating an organizational chart, and talk about the company that you're starting to envision here in the last 45 minutes. Okay? So there's one more piece to this, and I'm gonna call that leadership. Josh Coffman doesn't name this as one of the parts of every business, but I'm gonna say it's a sixth, absolutely necessary part of every single business. And it is a really important role that we as doers and creators often leave out. Because we're all action takers, we're all, like I said, we're doers, we're creators. That's why we're here, that's why we got started. When we were on that search for more purposeful work, when we were kind of...

recreating those paths to jobs that we've had just in a different capacity and working for ourselves, we're doing all the other things, right? We're doing marketing and sales. We're doing value creation. We're doing value delivery. We're making all those things work. But we forget about this leadership piece. We're not doing things like setting goals. We're not doing things like creating plans. We're not doing things even more important, like creating our mission, understanding our company culture, understanding how we fit into the big picture, thinking five years out. We get in a cycle of doing the work instead of running the business. So what I'm gonna ask each and every one of you here to do is to really think through what your role is on the leadership team. Because for now this is not a thing that you're going to give to somebody else, right? It may be in the future. Maybe you decide that your exit strategy is to hire, you know, bring someone in to do the leadership piece. There are absolutely founders who do that. There are small business owners who do that. Works great. But for now, you're in charge of this, and what is that part of your job? So start rolling that over in your head. But that takes us then to actually looking at what our org chart looks like at CoCommercial, because this is sort of the basis. I'm gonna recreate it over here on the flip chart, 'cause I didn't feel like making funny things happen in Keynote today. So like I said, we've got leadership, community growth, finance and admin. So it's really four core teams in our business. So the leadership team is me, I'm Tara. And then it's also Shannon. If you're familiar with the book "Rocket Fuel," we've been talking about that a lot in different circles, then we can kinda say I'm not gonna get super duper into this, but I'm the visionary, traditionally like the CEO role, and Shannon is the integrator. She's the one who makes sure that what we talk about in leadership is actually happening in community, growth, and finance and admin as well, right? Yes. Okay good, yes. Alright then we have community, growth, and F&A, finance and admin. Okay so on our community team, Shannon is our community advocate. We use the advocate terminology like Laura Roeder does at Meet Edgar. Again, we have a profit power pursuit episode where we talk about that, and I kinda drill, Totally drill down on it with her 'cause it was new to me and I was like I am obsessed with this, I am using it. But basically it means that Shannon's in charge, also, of advocating for our community. So in terms of bringing to the leadership, our leadership meetings, into that relationship with me, she needs to make sure that I'm remembering hey this community over here, not that I ever forget. But hey this community over here needs this, or we need to hire somebody, or we need the growth team to do this this and this, because our membership isn't growing fast enough, or we need some new blood, or can we invite some people in who have this particular expertise, right? She's in charge of thinking through what does the community need. And that includes value creation and value delivery. Now also on the community team we have Megan and we have Kristen. They are running our CoCommercial chat right now. Hi guys! Alright so Megan and Kristen are our new member experience specialists. They are, I would say, mostly in the value delivery responsibility area in that they are responsible for making sure our members have the best experience possible, right? That they get welcomed personally, that if someone has a question that question gets answered. That people get pointed to resources, they make sure posts get responses. We're a very human driven network. We could just sit back and say, hey guys, have at it, we made this thing for you, enjoy. But we like to be way more hands-on than that 'cause we think that's the problem with other social networks, is that there isn't that kind of hands-on support. And so they are working in that capacity. So together then, they're in charge of, altogether as a team, they're in charge of value creation and value delivery. That's their area of responsibility. And I can say guys, here's our vision, 'cause I'm the visionary, here's our vision for the community. This is what we want member experience to be like. What do you need to do to make that happen? And so sure, we have standard operating procedures, we have routines, we have specific expectations for them to fulfill their job. But they also know that if we're having a meeting or they have a random idea, or a situation arises where they need to change something up, their responsibility is community development and making sure people love our community. And they will adjust as necessary to fulfill that responsibility. Make sense? Okay the growth team is me. I'm the growth advocate. And then also Megan and Kristen help here too. The reason they help there too is because our growth is both external and internal, right? So sometimes we're out there with Facebook ads, and webinars, and creative live classes, and we're telling people about the network who know nothing about it and we're leading that external outreach. But a lot of times what we're doing, and what we wanna do more and more and more of, is having our members be the ones going out and actually creating growth from the inside out. And who is best, who has the best chance of making that happen? Well it's Megan and Kristen, 'cause they're the ones that are talking to members on a regular basis. They're the ones saying, wow, you just told us you had an amazing experience. How about you go tell somebody else? Don't just tell us, tell your friends. Help them have amazing experiences, too. So when I'm thinking about how we're organized and who has what responsibility and how they're contributing to the overall success of the company, they're on team growth with me as well. And all that that entails. On the finance and admin side, we have Rosie, who many of you know very well, we have Marty, and so that rounds out then our employees. Marty is in charge of sort of technical things, which I guess isn't technically finance and admin, but it fits there best. It's one of those kind of logistical pieces that might fall under admin, and also as that relates to customers, too. So if somebody, their subscription got all wonky, it may start with Megan or Kristen or Shannon, or even me, but Marty's gonna be the one that fixes it. And that's why he's kind of on the admin team. Rosie is sort of in the executive assistant role where she's doing the calendar, and she's making sure that logistically, things are getting taken care of, that nobody's feeling in left field, most importantly me, and kinda just taking care of business in that way. And then we have some other interesting members on our team. We have evolved finance, which is our bookkeeping and sort of finance consulting company that we contract with every month. So that's the first contractor I've talked about so far. They handle the finance piece, if that wasn't clear, and they own that. They own that in such a way that we don't just pay them as bookkeepers, we pay them to own our finances. Obviously they're not in control of making us more money, but what they do is get on the phone with us every month and say alright, great, here's how much money you brought in from these different sources, here's where your expenses are. What was this thing? Can we get rid of that? Maybe you can spend some more money on advertising because it seems to be paying off, we're seeing this work and that work, so take a look at that. So they're really owning that area, it's not just that we delegated bookkeeping to them, it's that they own finance. And then the last piece of this is our, what I would call maybe our HR solution, which is a piece of software called Gusto. How many of you guys have heard of Gusto? Oh, let me tell you about Gusto. No, Gusto is really fabulous. So they do our payroll for us, but they also do compliance. So all those kinda sticky paperwork legal issue things that you just do not wanna think about as a business owner 'cause you have other things to do, namely all these other things, Gusto handles that. So let's say you wanna hire someone in a different state. Well that's actually really tricky in the United States, unfortunately. But Gusto will walk you through those steps, they've made it so easy. They compile, first you click on this website, then you do this thing, then you put this number here, and they really walk you all through it. I got alerted the other day that I had to change a sick time policy because we hired someone in Massachusetts. I would've never known that. Gusto knows that. So I don't have to worry about doing all of that research, I don't have to own that because Gusto owns that. Obviously I have to do my due diligence as well and I have to make sure that, you know, I'm talking with people who know the law and things like that, but I can also trust that their job is to get that stuff done and to make it right. So that's sort of how our overall org chart works right now, any questions about that? Yeah? Do you then bring in people if you need, I'm thinking like web design or something like that. Is that kind of folded into there? Some of those more tasky items, you know? Or is that when you bring in a contractor? That is absolutely when I would bring in a contractor. And then there are times when I will just be honest with you, 'cause this is a very honest class that we're having here, where I will still hire myself. So like, who does the web design in my business? Me, yeah, because that's one of the places I started, it's still really comfortable. As the growth advocate, sometimes I want to change the website or the typography or the color scheme or the value proposition on a page faster than I'd be able to hire somebody, so I'm in control of that. I'm not saying that's the right way to do it, but I'm just being honest that sometimes you will know that you are still hiring yourself for some of those things. The difference between the way I used to do it and the way I do now, is that I know I'm hiring myself for that job. I don't pay myself differently for that job, I get paid what I get paid. We'll talk about that too. But I hire myself, or I hire a contractor. Absolutely, yeah. And I can see a time when we've got a part time graphic designer on the growth team, right? Or we've got a, well, even, this is- For our app dev, we use a company called Mighty Networks. So if I'm gonna put software over here, let's put some software over here. So we contract, essentially, with Mighty Networks to do the development of our platform and the app that we have. So they're on the community team as well, and we talk to them, we were just at Mighty Networks offices talking to them two days ago. And we're on the phone with them, we're in their networks, we're emailing with them back and forth. They're very much a member of our team, but it is a contract relationship for just that specific piece of the puzzle. Yes? Just a quick follow on question. Do they do like custom development for you? Because Mighty Networks does offer sort of like, built in, pay a fee a month kind of thing, so how do they work with you differently, if at all? Yeah, so not very differently than that. We're just on their pro plan, so that's how we have like the custom- It's not a custom app, but the branded app that is, you know you go to the App Store, or the Google Play store, you search CoCommercial and it will come right up. So that's ... We pay nicely for that. As opposed to some of the other things. So it's less about ... It's not so much custom as it is, um, it's a little more individualized. I would say our relationship with them is a little bit more customized, and that's part of what we're paying for too, is the access to them, you know, "Hey, has this worked for other networks? Tell us what's coming up next on the platform." They call us and say, "Hey this is what we're thinking, how would you use that? Talk us through your thought process behind that." So there really is that ownership piece, that they own, that they're creating a great product for us, does that make sense? It does, thank you. Cool, yeah, any other questions? No, alright, sweet. Let's think a little bit more now. I saw some people are already sketching out their org charts, which is absolutely amazing, thank you. Let's start thinking through this though on how you can apply this. What teams are gonna make the most sense for your organization? So again, I've got community, growth, finance and admin, and leadership. What are your teams going to look like? Does anyone have a read on that right away? Like oh yeah, it's this, this, this, this. No? Anybody? Barrel? I pretty much did a copy of what you have. Copying is good. Not with the same people. I'm watching you. It's been nice though, my assistant Jen is here and we read the Rocket Fuel book, and so to see, I am a visionary, she is very much an integrator, and so to see that and go, "Oh." I think Jen has kind of fit into some of these other categories. We're taking the community, growth, and finance and admin. And so its given me a clearer picture of like, oh, Jen and I can be on the leadership team, and now how do we need to fill all these other roles? I'm building out a licensing program this year so I'm also seeing the bigger vision of, "Oh, these license teachers are being trained, but maybe in the future they're gonna fit into some of these roles that I'm creating as well," and then I can hire them to be part of the business and the growth. Yes, I'll also say too, just kind of using this structure, but fitting you guys in, it may be Barrel and Jen up here, and it could also be Jen, Barrel, Jen, right? So it doesn't have to meet, just because you're thinking through, alright I've got more teams, I've got more areas of responsibility than I realized before in my business. This is how my business works. Doesn't necessarily mean oh god, I need more people for each of these roles. But it means that when you guys are having a leadership meeting, you're having a leadership meeting. You guys have your leadership hats on and you're thinking big picture, and then like on the integrator side, how do I make sure that's getting implemented throughout the rest of the business. What do we need to talk about to make sure that happens smoothly? Then, maybe you're having a growth meeting, and so you're just talking about growth. Or maybe you move into the growth section of your agenda and you take the leadership hat on, and you put the growth hat on. Take it off, put it on. I don't know what I said. I have a question about that because I definitely do see myself as being the growth person, but I also see holes in how I'm marketing right now. So how do I figure out if I need to hire on another person? Or if I need a contractor to help me with those things? So you don't feel like you're on your own island because yeah, I feel like I am the growth team right now. Yes, yeah, and you are. And I could use some support there as well. Right, so I would be thinking through like, what are the jobs? Not necessarily what are the tasks, but what are the jobs? And maybe some of that is task related. If you need a Facebook ad specialist, you're not in a great place to hire a part time Facebook ad specialist, that doesn't make sense for you, right? And you don't have that much work. But that's a great place where you can say, "A Facebook ad specialist, that's a contractor." That's someone who's an expert that's coming in and nailing this one thing for me, and I don't have to think about it, right? I set them up for success once, they take it from there. If you want someone who's gonna work with you on content marketing for instance, that's likely going to be more of an employee. Someone who can fill that role for you and own that responsibility. They may not be owning growth as a whole, but they're owning content marketing within that. So that's, yeah, I can't say that there's a right way and a wrong way to figure out what the jobs are underneath of these. This is where we get to play. To me, this is the fun part about being a small business owner. We can look at this and we can be like, "Oh Tara, I did not sign up for this." Or we can look at this and be like, "I get to make whatever I want, as long as it works." And I get to play around with it until I make it work. This is where the creativity in being a business owner comes in too, right? How many- We all said it, right? We started our businesses to be more creative. We started our businesses to have meaningful work. This is creative and meaningful. And the sooner you can own the fact that now your role as the leader, as the CEO, as the principal, as the creative director, whatever it might be, is actually a role that is meaningful and creative and allows you to explore your vision, the easier it's going to be into transforming your mindset and how you think about how all these different things work, and kind of come into play. But the longer you hold onto it, "I gotta do the work," the more this is gonna feel like a slog, okay? Anybody else have an idea of what teams might be making up their business? Melissa? Well so my little sketch here, I've got leadership ... Basically the ones that Josh Coffman has plus leadership. And right now I have a bookkeeper, so I've got, I actually have a team member. Yay, finance! And everything else right now is me, but I see value delivery as a place to bring in team members with the partnerships and collaborations, and potentially also value creation as I develop new workshops and things with other people. And then, ultimately, possibly, well right now for sure sales is gonna be me, and marketing right now is me as well, and also admin is all me. But those are places that I can see bringing in team members as well. This is so helpful to see jobs, rather than tasks. The wheels are spinning as I'm thinking about how to separate these jobs out, thinking in terms of like, "Oh that's marketing, rather than admin," or whatever. Yeah, because it helps you. Again, regardless of whether you're gonna actually hire someone for these jobs, or whether you're gonna continue to do it, it helps you with the- The switching between tasks, right? That can be so draining. But if instead you can say, "Today I'm working this job, and tomorrow I'm working that job," or this morning I'm working this job and this afternoon I'm working this job, it's a lot easier to get your head around how you're actually managing yourself, and how the work that you're doing right now is actually contributing to your goals. I have a theory that as adults, one of the things that we ... That cause us to lose touch, lose interest, in our work, is that we just don't know how it fits into the bigger picture, right? And it is that same to-do list problem, that we all start the day with a big old long to-do list, and great if we get it done, then that was a productive day, maybe we can call it a fulfilling day. But if instead, you're saying, yes, these are my to-do's, because that's still important, I have to do these things. I'm doing these things because I'm filling this job, I'm doing this job right now, and that helps my organization move forward in this way, then you're gonna end up actually feeling more fulfilled, feeling like that work is more meaningful, even if it's not the work that you love doing. And, as a byproduct of that, you're also gonna move your company forward faster. Make sense? Yeah, it makes sense. And I can also think, "This is the job that ultimately I will have a team member who can do it for me." Right, which is an excellent reminder.