Remote work is here to stay, as it has been proven efficient in a long list of industries, PPC agencies included. In fact, the remote work model tends to be a particularly good fit for digital businesses like PPC agencies, whose activity is 100% online. However, while there are many benefits to running a remote PPC agency, there are also some challenges to overcome, especially when it comes to communication issues. In this article, we will discuss one of the most common communication issues remote PPC agencies face: overcommunication, what it is, and more importantly, how to address it.
Read on to find out more.
5 Benefits of Running Remote PPC Agencies
The wonders of technology have made the world seem a lot smaller. It is now easier than ever before to communicate and even collaborate with people from across the globe.
Businesses have turned to a remote work model because this brings many benefits for both employers and employees. This is particularly true in the case of remote PPC agencies, whose work is not dependent on people working together in the same room or even the same country.
Truth be told, there are quite a few benefits to running a remote PPC agency, some of the most important ones including:
- Lower costs for the company: In a remote business, there are no costs associated with renting and maintaining an office; that money can be used otherwise. For example, it can be invested in online marketing tools or it can be used to organize a teambuilding event.
- Access to a wider talent pool: In a remote work scenario, an agency can hire people from all over the world, thus having access to international talent.
- The ability to cover several languages and cultures: By hiring people from several locations, a PPC agency can also offer its services across several territories and time zones.
- Better work-life balance: Employees have more control of their time since they don’t need to spend any time commuting for work or meetings.
- No distractions: Productivity can be improved, as employees can manage their space and time so that they are not easily distracted.
Overcommunication Inside Remote PPC Agencies: An Issue
While there are many benefits of running a remote PPC agency, there are also some challenges. The biggest challenges usually involve communication issues. When you run a remote team, you can’t simply call people into the same room and make them talk to each other, so efficient communication within remote teams can be a bit … complicated.Â
Fortunately, there are many tools and techniques out there that can help with remote communication. As a remote PPC agency manager, you will have to pick the right ones for your team (and also use them wisely).
For example, you might be tempted to fall into the very dark, twisted, and wordy pit of overcommunication. It’s natural to want to be as clear and as straightforward as possible when you communicate with your team, but overcommunication can be a bit much in many ways. They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so it’s easy to understand why some managers might feel tempted to overcommunicate with their team.
What is over-communication? Simply put, overcommunication happens when the same message is being communicated several times to the same audience. This can be a problem as it affects productivity if people spend too much time on communication issues. Furthermore, it can also lead to frustrations within a team if the people feel that they are “spammed” with the same messages over and over again.
How can you spot overcommunication in your remote PPC agency? Here are the most common scenarios:
1. When communication turns into micromanagement
There is sometimes a very thin line between communicating too much and micromanagement. Overcommunication can lead to micromanagement when the team members are losing their autonomy and no longer feel that they are entitled to make their own decisions.
If you are communicating – and soliciting information – so often that you are always up-to-date with what each team member is doing, you have a problem of overcommunication. For example, if you are working with your design team on each step of the design process, always giving them suggestions, you might end up hindering their creative freedom. Why is this a problem? This will affect people’s ability to work independently and will in time lead to a lack of productivity. Your business will simply not scale if you invest too much time and effort into overcommunication.
2. When communication interrupts the productivity flow.
Spontaneous meetings at the wrong time can be a real pain. While sometimes things really are urgent, ask yourself if what you’re trying to communicate is really that urgent that you should interrupt productivity. For example, if an account manager is busy configuring new campaigns for a new customer, it might be a good idea not to interrupt. Setting up campaigns requires a lot of thought and attention and you don’t want your team to get distracted.
Too many unwelcomed interruptions can affect productivity. When communication is interrupting the work of your team, you are probably dealing with overcommunication.
3. When employees feel that they are spammed with internal communication.
Nobody likes an inbox filled with internal communication stuff, and PPC marketers make no exception from this rule. This is a problem both because it will get people frustrated and because they will start to ignore the received communication in order to focus on daily “relevant” tasks. Needless to say, this creates a double problem: your employees will be unhappy and your communication inefficient. In other words, this is a recipe for disaster. Ouchie!
How to Fix Overcommunication Issues in Remote PPC Agencies
If you feel that overcommunication may be an issue in your remote PPC agency you will want to fix that as soon as possible before it affects the productivity and the well-being of your team. While there is no one-size-fits-all magic potion when it comes to team communication, you can fix overcommunication issues by:
- Setting an internal communication plan
A good communication plan is a good idea when it comes to ensuring efficient communication within the team. Make sure you set up both regular team meetings, and regular updates. Find a frequency that works and stick to it. For example, you can have a weekly video meeting with your team to discuss ongoing tasks, and a monthly newsletter to share general news. Then also set up different meetings for specific tasks or urgent issues.
At the same time, don’t communicate every little piece of news as soon as it happens – keep that kind of communication for “big” company news.
2. “Could this have been an email?”
You have probably seen this meme circulating on the internet – the one about how a meeting could have been an email. This is a very relevant meme that has probably emerged from employees’ frustration of being dragged into endless meetings due to overcommunication. You don’t want that to happen in your remote PPC agency. Before setting up a long meeting involving many team members (the more people, the longer the meeting will be), just ask yourself if that meeting could be summarized and shared in a written form.
3. Always ask for feedback
If you are unsure about overcommunication in your remote PPC agency, just ask for feedback. Your team will know best how informed (or not informed) they feel. Ask them personally, during meetings, or during review sessions. Your team is in the best position to tell you how your internal communication is going. The more feedback you get, the better you will understand how involved your team feels.
Communication within a remote PPC agency can be challenging, but it is not impossible to handle it efficiently. A bit of planning and consideration towards everybody involved can help you overcome communication issues. But just as overcommunication can be a problem, so can poor communication. In part 2 of this article series, we tackle the topic of overcommunication in remote PPC agencies. What communication issues is your agency facing? We’d be curious to find out!
