Set Non-Negotiable Deadlines
If you work outside of higher education, you might assume summer is a quiet period on campus. But for enrollment marketing leaders, July is the most consequential inflection point of the year. It is our final opportunity to lock in the plans, timelines, budgets, and handoffs before the August inquiry wave hits.
When you are managing multi-million-dollar media allocations and making sure internal teams and agency partners are working from the same plan, your non-negotiable rule must be to keep everyone aligned and eliminate wasted spend.
The Power of Ownership
When centralizing a complex marketing portfolio or preparing for the high-volume fall season, I have learned that the key to eliminating wasted spend and missed deadlines is clear owners, dates, and follow-ups. You cannot just launch a campaign and assume the handoffs will happen naturally.
Every action must have an assigned person and a firm follow-up date. Even if the activity needs to move, every step needs to have its place, and each person needs to know their part. We have to set the standard now, establishing that every action needs an owner before the fall rush makes proactive planning impossible.
Building Team Buy-In
Inevitably, friction will arise when operational deadlines are enforced across different departments. Rather than viewing this as a roadblock, we must use it as a tool for alignment.
That strict accountability is absolutely essential and a practical way to keep everybody connected. When the people responsible for their part help build their timeline and then adhere to it, it creates some buy-in so that everybody is invested in the outcome. Monitoring that investment is also important, and seeing that in both staff and vendor relationships is key to keeping them healthy.
Above all, be good at providing context. For example, if you know you need something done for a certain date three months from now, explain to the person responsible for the resources you'll need and tell them about your deadline and why.
You “Ken” Quote Me
From working in this industry for more than 20 years, I’ve collected countless notes, ideas, and scribbled thoughts along the way. That archive is what led me to create this blog. Here are a few of my own original quotes from that treasure trove that inspired this article:
"Every action has to have a person assigned to it with a firm follow-up date."
"Identify the people who are responsible for their part and create pathways for them to ask questions to become invested in the outcome."
"Tell your team what they need to know. It should not be complicated to keep it simple.”
Let's Discuss It!
How do you enforce non-negotiable deadlines while keeping your teams sane? I'd love to hear your approach and connect on LinkedIn.