What You Didn’t Know About Work

This is how most of my weekday morning’s start;

Monday– “What? How fast did we get here? But anyway…”

Tuesday — “Work flow!”

Wednesday — “Got to remind myself why I’m doing all this.”

Thursday — “Now we’re getting somewhere!”

Friday — “New me, who dis?”

Before we get into it, I’d like to share a different perspective with you. When you look at life as a whole, there are ups and downs, good and evil, happy and sad etc. The only constant is you. All other things happen, they may disrupt the peace somehow but they balance out on their own. Shit pops off when we get addicted to one feeling/phase and demand each and every experience in life to give us that feeling. Work, family, leisure and love all have different contributions to your life, none on its own can give you everything you want. You have to balance everything out to get that perfect mix.

That being said, here are 3 great keys to unlocking fulfilment at work. (Please scrap the phrase “Happy at work” I’ll explain why)

Know yourself.

You may ask, ‘How the hell does this have to do with my 9–5?’ Well, it has EVERYTHING to do with it. Being self-aware will boost how you deal with situations, colleagues and pressure more than anything else. Staying true to yourself will especially help you;

Attract your tribe (people who are like minded and have similar value systems)

Subtly let people know what you’re about. People rarely mess with assertive folks, and if they do and there are consequences, they had it coming.

Handle issues your own way, which will improve your relationship with your workmates. No one likes sheep, with the lions is where people are at.

Wrapping this up; genuine trumps cool ANY DAY! Cool people get the most attention, but, genuine people get the most progression.

Work is work, not life

Work, ideally, is supposed to fulfill you, give you purpose and meaning in life. This doesn’t necessarily bring about happiness, but contentment and satisfaction. If it does, cheers to that! Here are a few tips to a content work life;

Don’t sweat stuff, instead, put in effort to get better results.

Talking about work issues doesn’t work. Doing something about it turns an issue into an achievement.

Work friends are just that. Don’t expect them to match up to your lifelong friends or family.

Do not do the most. Do what you can.

Get a life

You’ve got to work on yourself harder than you work for your employer. Yes. That way, you bring more value into the organization. My CEO (Martin Kiarie), once said, “What sets apart the good from the great, is what they do during their personal time.”

You are ALL you’ve got. Work on you, build you and appreciate you. Only then will you be able to do great work for others, build a company and appreciate your work place.

Again, hustling is no fairy tale. This is the battle of the fittest, and, the best way to enjoy the fight is to master the art of work.

By Clara Rincuni,

Content Manager at Bean Interactive Ltd.

 

Remember when you first stepped into high school? Or onto your campus at college? What about your first day at work?

Was the first thing that loaded in your memory what you felt?

I am positive (I can bet my money even) if I were to ask you the question, ‘how was your first day at…’ (Fill in the gap with anything you want), the response I would get, is about how you felt.

 

Emotions have a huge effect on how you act and fit into new environments.  Especially how you feel on your first day of work-sitting at your new desk, working in a new environment, so much  learning and catching up to do, so many acquaintances to make, nailing your first assignment, making it through probation successfully, Oh my! The list is endless! Emotions have a big impact on your potential.

But, some may be thinking, ‘how can I control how I feel? I can’t help it.

That’s bollocks!

What you need to realize is that your emotional system can give you an advantage in making decisions, if you use it properly.

So keep those annoying little things (nerves) at bay, by doing these things on your first day of anything:

 

• Eat-have a proper breakfast before heading out. The ‘ hungry man is an angry man’ mantra is no joke
• Remember the qualities that got you the job in the first place. And no, it’s probably not that envious academic background. Use your confidence, attitude, organization skills
• Make it your business to introduce yourself to your new colleagues- join in on coffee breaks. This is where you will learn the unwritten rules of the office. The team will accept you easier and faster.
• Stop shuffling your feet and ASK! ASK! ASK! It is the only way you will get to know how things work around you and not look like a clueless newbie.

Many people think of their emotions as something they have to manage and control, rather than something they can use. Evolution has given you an internal system that stores of a huge amount of data about any situation. This is something to work with rather than view as tiresome. Just like the thumb on your hand, emotions have evolved to help you, even though they might seem to get in the way sometimes.

So, use your nervous feeling to shoot to success alright?!

*cool beans*

Written by- Stellamaris Thuku, Content Manager aka the Newbie

 

 

 

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”

Albert Einstein.

 

That quote defines working at a digital agency.

You see digital marketing is a fairly new term in the Kenyan industry. It is growing at an exponential rate as corporates and start-ups have found a way to engage consumers, and also market their products through social media in a strategic way using analytical tools.

My internship adventure has been full of surprises. I call it an adventure because it is an unconventional industry with “no clear guidelines”. It is not like working at a bank or a “regular job”. You can check in to work with your pair of converse or have hair as long as The Jackson-Five. Your work is your word and you better stand by it.

Working at a digital agency entails having fun, by creating unimaginable ideas and turning them to reality. It brings back memories of when we were kids and we would have impossible ideas. I am privileged to be working with people who have brilliant minds and ideas. They are able to envision the future of marketing and advertising. When you are working with people and they challenge you every day, then to me you are in the right place to work and grow as an individual and in your career.

Working at an agency is very fun because you work in environment that is full of activities, for example:

1. Having a theme of clothes on a particular day, like last Friday we had a vintage theme so you had to bring your old skool game
2. Taking selfies every Friday
3. Celebrating birthdays every month with a cake

The advantage of such an environment, is that it gets the best out of you, as you grow ties with your colleagues. Some have become more than colleagues, some have even become brothers.

At Bean Interactive we have this saying- ”#KYS” Know Your Shit. Pardon my French but you better know your shit. By being passionate about your work and your ideas. It is like any ordinary job, like if you ask Chris Kirubi why he is successful, he will probably tell you, “I love what I do.”

It is a very competitive industry as there are not so many “hands-on” digital agencies out there. Competition is very high. It is why you have to be good at what you do, by:

1. Doing constant research
2. Learning trends of consumers
3. Interacting with social media.

“Work hard play hard” that is also another quote that people follow. I am amazed by the levels we go to perfect our work so that the client can approve the work, or before the deadline reaches.

But after that we always have “Omera” by our side, as we can order a cold one baada ya kazi

 

Written by Wayne Njaaga- Content department Intern

 

 

 

I will protect you!

In my organization, and many others I trust, there are different departments that do different work. In mine specifically, we have:

The creative team– These guys create and design things out of thin air. The take the ‘put the nini over the whatever and mash it together to form a kasomething’ and make it into a picture the client didn’t even know they wanted, and are now irrevocably in love with.

The media team– These guys buy media. They go into the internet and tell Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google (anyone really), ‘we need to show this ad to this specific person’. ‘Which person?’ the internet asks. ‘This 25 year old married woman living in Nairobi, with her child and husband, who likes to eat from KFC and hang out at Blankets and Wine. This person’. ‘OK’ the internet replies and responds.

The technical team: These guys deal in ones and zeros (not the alphabet, like us, mere mortals). They literally open up the part of the website nobody cares about, and make it sing and dance. The client goes, ‘can this picture move up and down and then stop moving and turn blue when it is clicked on?’ and they say, ‘yes, that’s possible’ and make it happen. Geeks!

The finance team: We rarely see these guys. They are always running to the bank or some other ‘money place’. We side-eye them when our salary is late. And smile at them when we need the requisition we have put into the system, expedited. Normal guys at the end of the day, but they have a certain atmosphere around them (of money).

The strategy team: The client wants to do this, that and the other, and they have no idea how- these guys will tell them. With pretty pictures and graphs, they will draw out a road map for ANY campaign. They are like tour guides- ‘Welcome to the internet, I will be your guide’.

The account management team: We are the protectors- the electric fence between clients and the rest of the team. Our main work? Communication- we are constantly emailing and calling clients. We cry in secret and get angry alone. We do not show that we are stressed. We are a buffer, which takes a lot of guts and emotional intelligence.

A client says, ‘you are useless! Where is my creative work?’ and copies the entire world and their mother.

We respond, ‘I’m sorry you feel that way, I will check in with my team and get back to you as soon as possible. Please accept my sincere apologies’.

We go into the bathroom to regroup, come out and say with a smile, ‘Hey (guy in creative team), have you finished with the work for (disgruntled client)? When can I have it? Thanks, see you later’.

And go back into the bathroom to finish crying or go into the bar for a drink.

Being a buffer is lonely. There is no one to be the buffer for you!

 

Written by- Kitt Kiarie, Account Manager

This may be the most IMPORTANT THING you will read all day.

Now ask yourself why I have your attention. What grabbed you? What made you want to keep reading? How come you’re reading even now? Let me take a guess: First, I hit you, hard! With a simple but solid statement. Second, I made the line stand out by presenting it on the page all by itself. Third, I gave the line greater impact by capitalizing some of the words.

Great writing requires relentless editing. Play around with words and phrases and sentences until each line grabs demands for your reader`s attention. How do you create this type of writing? Its simple: Write First, Edit Last. First, get a rough draft down. Then, go back to edit it to perfection.

Let me try to show you what I do with a few specific examples:

“The door was opened by Judy.”

Say that’s a line on copy you’re working on. It’s not bad, but it isn’t good either. It’s too passive. Alittle editing can help this line out.

“Judy opened the door.”

Getting better, isn’t it? Now we have someone doing something. That’s active and much more involving. There’s life in the sentence now. But is it the best line? Nope. So let’s try again:

“Judy kicked open the door.” That would grab your attention, wouldn’t it? But I think we can do better.

“Judy kicked open the door!” Now we have an irresistible line! Start your story with that one and your reader is bound to go on to the next one.

Every line has to work to keep your reader’s attention. The radio is calling, the television is calling, the phone is ringing, the sun is shining, the refrigerator has food in it, there’s a new movie at the theater—your lines have to keep your reader nailed to the page, or you’ll lose them. There are simply too many distractions in the world for you to offer mediocre writing.

You must rewrite your material to perfection.

 

Written by- Judy Kaguchia, Head of Content

Friday 2:30pm

Client: ‘Hey, I know this is last minute, but could you please do a proposal for us? We need it by Close Of Business’

Me: ‘I’m sorry?’

When you’re an account manager at a fast rising digital agency, people expect you to work miracles. They want you to make their day. They need you to wow them, day in, day out. They are waiting for the sun, stars and unicorns to come out of your mouth. They know you can do it. You’ve done it before.

And, THAT’S where the main problem is.

YOU’VE DONE IT BEFORE.

But wait, let me explain. There were so many wonderful coincidences that came together that enabled you to do it THAT other time. You were bright and early. Your baby was not sick. Your creative team did not have as much work. Your media team was having fun in their corner and in a good mood, and ‘yes, they could do that for you right away’.

And today? The media team is away on training, the creative team is swamped with ‘that other client’. The strategists are on leave. You have been playing catch up with your work all morning. You are potty training your 2 year old and she has not gone number 2 for 3 days because she doesn’t want to do in the potty. You are stressed. Your client is stressed. Your daughter is stressed.

Take a breath.

Watch a funny video.

Have a drink of juice.

Call your mother and laugh about your sister.

Get back to work.

Work miracles.

You are super- AM!

Written by- Kitt Kiarie, Account Manager