Private: From Phonebooks to Googlebooks Part 2 – By Liz Donehue

It’s officially 2015. The past year was a great year for me. The Seahawks won their first Super Bowl, I got to try steak tartare for the first time without my body launching a Moonlight Sonata-esque attack against my internal organs, and I landed a job that I really like.

I officially joined the Prospectr team in October of 2014. I was hired based on my ability to construct (and deconstruct) a sentence without any additional help, my effective communication skills, and my professional experience with all things social media (I joked in my interview that Facebook was my full-time, unpaid internship, something companies sometimes frown upon, but I couldn’t think of a better way to put it: I am literally on Facebook all the time. None of my friends or acquaintances can have a doctor appointment or go through an excruciating breakup without me knowing about it. Your move, NSA).

When I first interviewed with Prospectr, I was impressed with their minimal design and open layout. The color scheme of the office actually matches the hues featured on their website, and it didn’t look like an operation that could be shut down and moved to Cleveland overnight (sorry, Ohio). I was welcomed with a smile, a handshake, and a dog.

A dog! A dog.

Romulus, a Weimaraner puppy still gleefully unaware of his growing size, bounded towards me with a huge tongue and playful gate. “I get to work with a dog!” I thought. Obviously he wouldn’t be reporting to me unless he had to relieve himself, but I was happy with the thought that there would be a four-legged friend around the office. Romulus made my possible place of employment seem like home, which was one of the aspects that excited me about joining Prospectr. Plus, the walls weren’t asylum white and there was free use of this thing called a “Keurig.”

Google mentions that when people take a new job, they’re primarily concerned with four different things: their role and responsibilities, the company’s track record, the industry, and compensation. I remember during my first week of work, I was also entertaining this professional process:

Oh my god, am I doing this right? Is this within my realm of responsibilities?

Prospectr has a proven record of growth over the last few years. Did I finally find a position at a secure business?

The marketing/lead generation industry always needs “people people,” and I’m a good fit for that.

I wonder if they spelled my name right on my paycheck.

Of course, there are many other facets and inevitable habits when taking on a new position, things that normally one wouldn’t think of or be obvious right away. Google highlights some aspects of jobs that aren’t as stark as asylum white walls:

• Messiness can be considered a badge of courage. Your desk isn’t supposed to look like a surgical suite. With papers, Post-Its, and legal pads occupying most surfaces, your clutter can become a symbol of an efficient workforce. As of now, my desk consists of two legal pads, a few marketing books, coffee cups, a half empty Nerf gun, and more than one Jimmy John’s menu. I literally don’t need to leave my desk to make any progress or have some fun when 2:30pm rolls around.
• HiPPos aren’t just the oversized, scary wet horses you see on the African savannah. HiPPos, or the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion, are often the primary decisions implemented within larger companies. Some companies are trying to implement a “meritocracy,” the idea of that the quality of an idea should matter, and not the person who merely suggests it. A meritocracy supports equal participation instead of a hippo trampling whoever it wants.
• Nesting people in their appropriate teams or departments is good for an efficient work environment. At one of my previous positions, if I wanted to meet with another member of IT, I had to leave my office, walk down a hall, take an elevator, walk down a longer hallway, talk to a guy named Gary who would then drive me across town to an abandoned Dairy Queen just so I could talk shop. Not really, but you get the point: people work better in teams, and they work more efficiently if they’re situated in a similar location.
• The size of those nests are equally important. Imagine you bring back a box of a dozen donuts for your team. Now imagine that the run for those donuts is like Walmart opening on Black Friday (or Thursday, if you’re Target). As opposed to the Running of the Frantically Overworked Employees, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, uses something called “The Two Pizza Rule:” teams should essentially be small enough to enjoy two pizzas. Individuals are welcome to equal slices of the workload, ideas, and brainstorming. If not, someone might lose an eye, which is way more expensive than a third pizza.

As I write this, Romulus the Smiling Office Wonder Dog is romping around. Someone is using the Keurig and even filled it up when its water tank was empty. One person is laughing, and another is having a poignant conversation regarding all the details about our small little professional family, complete with one television and one dog. Now that I am completely aware of my role and the responsibilities it entails, (and that my name on my paycheck is spelled right,) I can enjoy the less traditional aspects of our office while keeping productivity at a maximum.

Liz Donehue
Prospectr Marketing