If you want to scale your marketing agency and take a step back from the day-to-day, you need a dream team. With the right preparation and leadership, you’ll feel completely confident leaving your business in the hands of others – giving you more time to focus on other ventures.
Here’s your guide to building a dream team in your digital marketing agency.
Step 1: Mapping Out Your Organizational Chart and Filling It With the Right People
Organizational charts detail which positions are responsible for certain tasks and which higher-ups those positions report to. Mapping out your agency in this way allows you to understand the roles you need to fill and pinpoint gaps in your team.
You can find sample org charts online to use as inspiration, but be sure to adapt them to your agency’s specific needs. Once you’ve mapped out a chart and created job descriptions for each role, you can start hiring the right people for those positions.
Use platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, and niche job boards to reach people with the right qualifications. You may also consider using a recruiting service to save time in the talent acquisition process. You’ll be able to focus on other aspects of growing your business while an expert finds the perfect team members for you.
Step 2: Delegating With Confidence
Your business is your baby, and delegating any aspects of its performance to others may feel stressful. But this is an important step in building a dream team and setting your agency up so that you can enjoy time away.
Try using the 10/80/10 principle when delegating tasks.
- Spend 10% of your time setting clear, upfront expectations
- Allow your team to work independently 80% of the time
- Spend the remaining 10% on review and feedback
To encourage effective communication, implement the 1/3/1 principle as well. Encourage team members to come to you with a specific issue, three potential solutions, and a recommended action. This will save you time and foster problem-solving and leadership qualities in your team, improving their ability to make important decisions without your involvement.
Step 3: Implementing Clear Playbooks
Building a dream team blueprint requires you to create a few actual blueprints within your digital marketing agency. Playbooks and standard operating procedures (SOPs) set clear expectations for your employees and allow you to avoid repeating yourself.
Create step-by-step guides for virtually every repeatable task within your agency. This helps all team members stay on the same page, fosters goal alignment, and makes training new hires much simpler.
Step 4: Training and Providing Feedback
Unfortunately, your dream team won’t operate perfectly from the get-go. They will likely make some mistakes that grind your gears. That’s why training and feedback are so important.
Don’t be discouraged by those mistakes; instead, use them as opportunities to boost team dynamics and further hone their skills. Incorporate consistent, regular training into your processes. When issues arise, use them as signs that your team needs even more training.
Additionally, providing feedback allows employees to continue to improve over time. Consider holding weekly all-team meetings to foster team collaboration and alignment, along with separate meetings just for leadership.
Step 5: Building Repeatable Systems
If you want your efforts for building a dream team to last, you need to implement repeatable, sustainable systems. This removes the guesswork throughout your company’s lifespan and promotes long-term success.
Implement repeatable processes for every step in the client lifecycle, from onboarding to fulfillment. Adjust those processes to ensure the best results for clients, and continually evaluate your team’s performance throughout each stage. You might use a tool like ClickUp or Asana to manage tasks and keep each team member on the same page.
With consistent processes in place, you’ll feel more comfortable taking time away from the business, knowing that the wheels are still turning.
Join Seven Figure Agency Today To Skyrocket Your Agency’s Success
When you dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur, you likely coveted the freedom that comes with it. But now, you feel tied down to your business, unable to walk away for even a few minutes without fear of disaster.
Building a dream team is an important step in scaling your business so you can comfortably take time away. With these team empowerment tips, you’ll be able to trust your team to care for the business just as well as you do.
At Seven Figure Agency, we help agency owners like you scale their businesses to seven figures and beyond. Get started today with a free strategy session, then check out the podcast for resources.
Join Our Digital Marketing Agency Success Group on Facebook
Connect with 15,000+ other digital marketing agency owners. Share tips, ideas, and strategies for growing and scaling your Digital Marketing Agency. Click Here To Join The Facebook Group.
