I was in charge of over 20 marketing employees on campuses all over America for a delivery service called “CrunchBox while simutaniously working on a marketing team back in the office. (Name has been changed to protect privacy) It was the first day of school at CU Boulder for over 35,000 college students and it was my job to spread the word about the town’s fastest growing delivery service in town.
The job was for me to show everyone how to do guerilla marketing. they needed to hand out promotional items to as money college students on campus as possible. From beach balls to lighters with bottle caps, my team was spreading the word as fast as possible. No one would go home without knowing what the #1 delivery service in Boulder, Colorado was.
In a Ted Talk video, Simon Sinek quotes “people don’t buy what you do, they buy what you do it.” People used us. They used us because they believed we were fun and original. We were fast. We were cool.
The job to market on campus wasn’t easy. I had to teach a team of people how to explain what a product was in under 10 seconds..to every single person walking by. I was really good at motivating them to spread the word. How? I got to know my employees. I walked with them and asked them what they wanted to do after they graduated, what their strengths and weaknesses were, their major, if they were in a sorority, and so forth. These types of questions allowed me to figure out what they would be comfortable with doing on campus, and what they would struggle with.
All was well with my team for a very long time. But back at the office, with the team I was on, everything was falling apart.
This was due to a dysfunctional team. Inside those closed yellow doors there was no communication. Leaders were not present. There were no managers in the office to help inspire and motivate the team weekly, daily, or monthly.
Communication was done over email and occasional text message. Commands were listed off and sent through the computer with a swift goodbye. We missed interpersonal interactions... face to face meetings were no longer apart of our weekly routine. It was uninspiring. The only feedback received was when something went wrong such as the numbers going down, and more tasks on top of current responsibilities.
The team was burnt out. We were functioning as individuals, not as a team. Each one of us had our own markets that we were focusing on, without helping each other. One person would be focused on University of Indiana while another would be focused on their market in another city. We sat at a table, but didn’t speak.
Then everything changed…
They switched our entire agenda and had us all focus on every market together. They divided the new tasks based on our biggest strength. I was told I would now be in charge of all of the marketing teams, in all of the markets. This was around 30 people total.
They told me that my biggest strength was motivating people on a team. I think this was because I would perform the tasks with them, and get to know them as people. I felt empathy for them, but also knew how to explain what we were there to do. I would set common goals, such as getting rid of 2,500 postcards by the end of their 5 hour shift. When they all worked toward a common goal, they all felt a sense of satisfaction when it was completed.
Unfortunately back in the office, we never got to experience that sense of relief. You would think once our duties switched to a common goal to help all the markets instead of one, it would help. The problem was now we were separated by tasks, not markets. Each person now was either focused on social media, cold calling, obtaining drivers, or manging the team. We weren’t setting common goals for the team, or helping each other with anything. Tension built when some employees felt that their duties had been shifted to more responsibilities than their colleagues.
Motivation to continue to spread the word dwindled, and people started to quit. Some of the longest lasting employees turned in the said goodbye due to a lack of appreciation, built up tension, lack of trust, job security, and unclear goals. By the end, even the best employees were gone.
This experience made me realize that when the core team has a lack of direction, trust, and security, that you no longer have a reason to be motivated. You no longer want to stay somewhere, where everything feels unnoticed. If the motivation is gone, who’s going to buy something that nobody truly believes in?
