In search of greener pastures - part 1

I left University in New Zealand and headed to greener pastures (Sydney, Australia) looking for marketing work, and only applied for a Market Research role on the off chance that I would get it. MR was never my strong point at University, whereas strategy was. However, the organisation liked something about me (!!) and hired me almost on the spot.

Now, 4 years later, I’m based in the UK working as an SRE for a mid-size MR Agency. My history was predominantly private sector research (which was fine by me), but now I find myself evaluating social trends, speaking to kids about museums, talking to travellers about tourism and delivering presentations to directors!

Managing complex workloads
Depending on the level of work I have going on, I usually arrive in the office around 8.45am. Clients do not usually start calling or emailing until around 9.30am so that gives plenty of time to settle in and take stock of what is required for the day. Emails are checked, and any unnecessary ones are cleared out of my inbox. Personally, I use my inbox as a “to do” list. Anything that is left in there means I either haven’t replied or need to do something with it. The start of the day gives a great opportunity to figure out what is coming up.

Currently I am working on a presentation for a major client, as well as setting up of two other very big projects. The presentation side of things is certainly enjoyable. Because I took part in the majority of the fieldwork (it was qualitative – lots of focus groups and depth interviews) it gives me the opportunity to gather everyone’s ideas and just write!

Dealing with tricky clients
The set-up of projects can be quite difficult at the best of times, however the clients I am working with at the moment are quite difficult to manage and are busy with other work. The trick is to remember they won’t live and breath this research project like you will. Therefore, the onus is on you to make their life a lot easier, by being proactive and prompting them when need be. The moment you start making their life easier then the better feedback you will get.

Most clients I have had the opportunity to work with are fantastic. These people range from experienced researchers that have moved to client side, to those who have absolutely no idea what research is, they just know they need some. It’s all about understanding who you are working with and how much this will impact your workloads. When do I have to contact them? What are their preferred methods (some clients love email, not phone, and vice versa)? How long will I need to spend explaining this? Will this be easy for them to access that information?

My pet hates are the nitty gritty admin type jobs. Photocopying, faxing, binding etc. If you work for a smaller agency like me that is unfortunately part of the job. The larger organisations have less focus on this but I guess it keeps you down to earth. The best parts (again with smaller organisations) are the variety of work. One minute, you’re talking about alcohol, then you are sending in a proposal for an airline, then you’re in front of major government staff members before presenting something on furniture in the afternoon!! It makes life a lot less dull in my opinion!

Workloads can vary though – sometimes I will have up to 7 or 8 projects running at once (my record is 10), and others days I will be frantically scrambling for something to do. However, there is always something to be done, someone to be helping or someone to be calling! And if you do have any down time, make sure you get up to date with admin things like filling etc as it certainly helps once you get busier…

A shared experience
Again, this may be only particular to smaller MR organisations but the teams are great. Everyone is in the same boat and you have to have a personality to work in this industry. How else are you going to face up to complete strangers and expect to run a 90 minute focus group with them!!

We often have a variety of post-work drinks on Fridays or other team “bonding” sessions. Some are instigated formally, others are more informal. One that sticks in my mind is riding four-wheel drive motorbikes through sand dunes in Australia, and beating my incredibly competitive Managing Director in a race. I don’t think I was first in line for any company bonuses after that!!

Everyone learns of everyone else as well. It’s the best part of having a variety of backgrounds as someone always has experience in a particular area. I have been fortunate to work with some great senior consultants (AD’s) and managing directors in the past, and have learnt a lot from them. It is a matter of doing as they do, and then adding your own flair in as you go along.