During our podcast episode introducing the Year of the Team, we asked some of our team members what word describes the Year of the Team to them. We’ve compiled a list of the words and what they mean to each of us.
Shantelle P. Dedicke, CMP, President & Chief Creative Officer
Listen; the word that is least expected of any CEO. I really want to dedicate this year to learning from and listening to my team.
Hillaree Durso, Senior Director of Content and Marketing
Pause; Pause to give myself more grace. To pause through hard times and mistakes, pause to enjoy good moments with friends and family, and pause to better think through solutions to try to better understand other people.
Janae Erickson, Art Director
Growth; grow the art department, grow my mindset, and grow in the right direction.
Kelsey Doar, Marketing Manager
Consistency; take small, consistent steps each day to ensure I’m working toward my long-term goals
Jodie Warner, Research Coordinator
Unique
Kayla Koger, Design and Content Coordinator
Accomplish (and present); accomplish more things and learn more things, but also be present in the moment.
Nicole Malley, Events and Content Coordinator
New; allow myself to not be afraid to try new things and learn new things from fellow team members.
Ryan Cobb, Operations Coordinator
Dedicated; stay dedicated to my goals, everything I believe in, and our core values. (Jacie stole my other word “appreciate”).
Jacie Chandler, Junior Copywriter
Appreciate; I want to appreciate the work we are doing, getting to work with the FRA team, and time with family and friends.
Alicia Perez, Intern
Community; I want to build a strong community of people who help foster a sense of learning within my work and personal life.
Make sure to follow along with us over the next year as we celebrate the Year of the Team and all the great things to come! Have questions about or for our team? Email he***@********oy.com.
Instagram stories are a fun, engaging, and easy way for you to get to know your audience. Stories can be created for multiple platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, and can be easily repurposed to use for feed posts, podcast topics, and blog posts. We’ve put together a list of 8 Instagram story ideas that help promote your business and connect with your audience!
Introduce Your Team
Sharing introductions or reintroductions of your team members through stories helps your audience create a personal and emotional connection with your brand. You can also let your staff run your stories for a day, sharing with your audience a day in their life working at your business!
Share a Customer Testimonial
Testimonials and reviews from customers are some of the best ways to show credibility. Sharing them can give potential customers the push to become a patron of your business. You can post screenshots of reviews, create a graphic that includes customer feedback, or even share video testimonials to your stories.
Share a Sneak Peek of a New Product or Service
Stories are great for sneak peeks of an upcoming product or service launch. Sharing a sneak peek with your audience will make them feel more connected with your brand as they are receiving an inside look at your products or services before they launch to the public.
Shout-out Another Business or Influencer
Your stories don’t always have to be about your business! Do you have an account you love? Why not give them a shout-out on your story so you can let your audience know why you love their page? This also allows the other person or business to engage with your stories, giving your content higher engagement overall.
Share an Educational or How-to Story
By sharing expert tips or tricks related to your industry, you’ll position your brand as a trustworthy source of information. Ask your audience what questions they have or what they would like to learn more about to gather topics for your stories.
Get Creative with Your Questionnaires
One questionnaire, known as ‘This or That’, is a great way to get to know your audience and for them to get to know your business better, too! You can either participate using a template or create your own branded questionnaire. Once you’ve uploaded your questionnaire with your business’s answers, add a blank template on your stories and ask your audience to fill it out and tag you.
Countdown to an Important Event
If you have an upcoming event, you can use the editable Instagram sticker available for running a countdown to promote it. This sticker can be used more than once in stories, allowing you to share the countdown multiple times with your audience to get them excited about the event.
Share your Latest Blog or Podcast
Look for a way to engage your audience in other forms of content you publish. Post snippets of your blog or podcast as a teaser story to entice your audience to click through and learn more from your blog or podcast.
Here are three examples of what an Instagram story could look like for creating your questionnaire, sharing a podcast, or sharing a customer testimonial!
Do you have questions about how to implement Instagram stories into your content strategy? Email he***@********oy.com.
Registered Dietitian and owner of Hopewell Health, Hope Brandt, joins our host Shantelle Dedicke for this episode of the Hello Frances Podcast. Hope shares tips on how to manage your energy from a nutritional standpoint, what has been a game changer for developing her business, advice she would give someone pursuing their own venture, and much more! To learn more about Hope and Hopewell Health, visit her website or check her out on Instagram.
During our podcast episode introducing the Year of the Team, we asked some of our team members what their aspirations or goals are for Frances Roy Agency’s 6th year. Read on to see how our team is setting intentions both personal and professional, for the year to come!
Shantelle P. Dedicke, CMP, President & Chief Creative Officer
I’m focused on optimizing my processes this year - both personally and professionally. Ironically, this means the elimination of goals. Keyword: UpSkill - “Learn new skills to become more well-rounded and to increase my own effectiveness.”
Hillaree Durso, Senior Director of Content and Marketing
Personally, I am going to make a conscientious effort to take time off and spend quality time with family.
Professionally, I am excited to push boundaries this year and get creative with new ideas for the content department. I look forward to tackling challenges in the digital space head-on and strategically as a team.
Janae Erickson, Art Director
Every year I seek to improve my skills. This year I know I will continue to improve my skills but I also want to grow the art department here at Frances Roy and be able to share what I have learned over the years with other members of the team.
Kelsey Doar, Marketing Manager
My goal this year is to focus - a reminder to stay focused and present on whatever is in front of me both when I’m working and when I am enjoying personal time with my family or friends.
Jodie Warner, Research Coordinator
I would love to take some classes to expand my knowledge of marketing and PR, work with others more efficiently, and offer more support to others.
Kayla Koger, Design and Content Coordinator
Touching different things and helping different people on the team, whether it is working on content calendars or recording podcast episodes.
Nicole Malley, Events and Content Coordinator
I want to collaborate more with the team and see what new ideas we come up with together as well as focus on social media and better understanding analytics.
Ryan Cobb, Operations Coordinator
Learning something new each day, branching out, helping everyone out on the team, bonding with the team, and winning a couple more local Addy awards.
Jacie Chandler, Junior Copywriter
Growing my copywriting skills through writing as many things as I can, helping the team in any way possible, and bonding with everyone on the team.
Alicia Perez, Intern
Personally, I would like to finish my thesis and graduate, lol!
Make sure to follow along with us over the next year as we celebrate the Year of the Team and all the great things to come! Have questions about or for our team? Email he***@********oy.com.
As the definition of the “normal” workplace continues to change, more organizations are discovering that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to the way employees work. Some employees prefer to work in the office, while others fully adapt to working remotely. We gathered some tips to help you and your team optimize a workplace where your employees may work on-site, remotely, or a hybrid of both.
Make communication deliberate.
Communication can be more complicated when it comes to hybrid teams. Clearly identifying your team’s communication channels and their primary form of contact (email, text, etc.) helps streamline the communication process for your team. Creating a system to show when employees are working, not working, or busy will also make it easier for your team to know when it is best to communicate with each other.
Leverage the power of technology.
Utilize the right technology solutions, and you and your team can maintain connection and performance regardless of location. These different forms of technology can help you manage projects and tasks, share files and data, or even communicate with other employees. As technology becomes more complex, providing technology training can help keep your team up-to-date and running smoothly.
Hold weekly or bi-weekly meetings.
Regular check-ins and feedback to your team members increases in a hybrid work environment. One way to keep communication strong is by having frequent one-on-one meetings with your team members. These meetings can be either in-person or through an online platform for those working remotely, and they could last as quickly as only a few minutes depending on what you need to discuss.
Make expectations explicit.
It can often be unclear when employees are expected to be on-site, if even at all, in a hybrid workplace. Make sure you clarify with your employees what days, times, and locations are best for in-person work for employees who need to collaborate with others. Share your expectations with all employees on where and how they should conduct their work, as this will differ for remote, hybrid, and on-site only employees.
Have any questions about the hybrid workplace and how your team can optimize it? Leave a comment below or email he***@********oy.com!
Our Marketing Manager Kelsey joins Shantelle on the Hello Frances Podcast this week to discuss the ever-changing landscape of the workplace. They discuss the benefits of a hybrid workplace from both the employer and employee perspective, how to balance business needs and fairness, and how to implement a hybrid work model that suits your organization. Do your company’s employees work from home, only in the office, or a hybrid of both? Let us know your thoughts on this episode by emailing us at he***@********oy.com.
When business leaders set healthy boundaries in the workplace, it can transform their ability to manage and motivate their employees. We’ve gathered information to help you understand what healthy boundaries are and how you can implement them at work as a manager.
What are healthy boundaries at work?
Setting healthy boundaries is different for each individual, but there are some common traits that can contribute to your team’s long-term success and wellbeing. Boundaries are healthy limits we set with someone or something. When we set healthy boundaries, we can better understand our responsibilities helping us focus on our own work, values, and standards. Overall, creating boundaries assists in identifying and communicating our personal limits.
How do you implement healthy boundaries as a manager?
One set of boundaries will not work for your entire team. You’ll have to spend time learning what works best for your people. Some may require a more rigid structure to be efficient and creative, while others may require more freedom and flexibility to function at their most productive level. Effective boundaries depend on understanding your employees and their characteristics to ensure that you set ones they’ll be eager to follow.
Most companies already have a few boundaries set in their workplace. These codes and policies likely exist and spell out expectations on things like handling confidential material, manner of dress, and expected conduct. Employees adhere to these boundaries without direction from you as their manager, and this is a great starting point when deciding what additional boundaries you may want to consider. Use boundaries as a way to create an environment people enjoy and support the accomplishment of company goals.
Lastly, managers must keep an eye on interpersonal boundaries between employees and themselves and employees. These interpersonal boundaries ensure that coworkers can work together productively with fair workloads. Weak interpersonal boundaries can lead to certain employees being taken advantage of as they take on too heavy of a workload, which often leads to feelings of stress and burnout. As a manager, there may be times when you also set boundaries for yourself, such as dedicated personal time. A simple and direct boundary on what times you are working and reachable for your employees will go a long way in stopping non-emergency emails or phone calls when you’re off the clock.
Have you set specific boundaries in your workplace? We’d love to hear what works for you!
Are you having a hard time setting boundaries at your job? A big reason workplaces lack boundaries is that technology allows us to lead 24/7 work lives. That said, employees are happiest and most productive when they set boundaries and prioritize time for themselves outside of work. We gathered some steps that you can take to set healthy workplace boundaries.
Assess Your Boundaries
Before you communicate your boundaries, take some time to assess them, their limits, and their stipulations. Your boundaries will stem from your life’s priorities, such as your home life, relationships, and passions. Once you have the boundaries you need to focus on, you can start setting limits. One example of a limit could be not checking your email in the evenings after 6 pm so you can focus on time with your family.
Communicate Upfront and Clearly
Once you have set your limits, the next step is to communicate them to your team clearly and confidently. It can be as simple as letting your team know what hours you will be available for work conservations so that they are not contacting you at all hours of the day. Another great way to protect your boundaries is to communicate with the team what constitutes a work emergency so that you’re not fielding minor issues during your time off.
Delegate Work and Say No
An important part of establishing boundaries is setting expectations about the work you will do, work you are willing to add to your existing workload, and the work that is outside of your responsibilities. When asked to do work outside of your responsibilities, you might have the opportunity to say no or delegate work to someone who is more suited to do the task.
Prepare for Pushback
Even if you take all the steps to create and communicate your boundaries, there will still be times when someone oversteps them. Don’t view these boundary-breakings as a step back, use it as an opportunity to remind your coworkers of the boundaries you have already communicated with them and how they can respect them properly.
Have questions about how you can set healthy workplace boundaries? Leave a comment or email he***@********oy.com.
Setting healthy boundaries in the workplace is different for each individual, but when they are set you’re sure to be more energized and productive. Shantelle Dedicke hosts this week’s episode of the Hello Frances Podcast with guest host Hillaree Durso to explain their experiences with settings boundaries and tips to implement when setting boundaries of your own. They also share questions they ask themselves and questions you should ask yourself to learn if you have healthy boundaries. Questions for Shantelle and Hillaree? Email us at he***@********oy.com.
The Tiger is known as the “King of all Beasts” in China, and maybe it began with our team reading Todd Henry’s book, “Herding Tigers” but the 6th Anniversary Frances Roy theme “Year of the Team” required very little brainstorm. Around our agency, we’ve embraced the Creative Tiger concept and every member has led with strength and braveness. We will build on this foundation and expand our capabilities through a clear vision, uncompromising leadership tenets, and a desire to grow.
Vision Boarding
If you know the Frances Roy team then you know we love a good vision board session. So much so, that we practice vision boarding on an annual basis. Our style is individualistic and free form with an “anything goes” momentum. We kick off the “Year of the Team” on July 1, 2022, with visual representations of our intents and purposes.
Established Team Tenets
We are planting a firm flag in the ground with a leadership philosophy that provides room for supported experimentation while encouraging mentorship without hierarchy. These tenets are born from our Core Values.
Call for Local Talent
As our competitive and collaborative landscapes change, team development remains at the forefront. We are always in pursuit of talented individuals to add to our team of creatives. Are you a Creative Tiger?
I take my service to this team seriously. Simon Sinek says, “The responsibility of a company is to serve the customer. The responsibility of leadership is to serve their people so that their people may better serve the customer.” Frances Roy’s Year of the Team is our time to optimize and scale, not just our service measures and client base, but our mentorship and intellectual bandwidth. I have no doubt that this begins with listening to each member of FRA and supporting them to the best of my ability.
Send us your portfolio: he***@********oy.com
by Shantelle Dedicke
