Managing professional and personal relationships

In today’s episode Mattias talks about the importance of having clear roles and balancing personal and professional relationships.

The recap of the week

The momentum that the team has been building up since the summer vacation ended is still going and strong and Mattias is very happy about that. Henrik and Dennis from the sales team are currently working with some hand-raisers from last week and are trying to convert those into customers. This process typically takes about four weeks.Mattias on the other hand has done a lot of teaching in CRM for both iGoMoon's customers but also for his own team. At the beginning of the week, he also had a meeting with another HubSpot agency from Norway he has been reaching out to for a possible collaboration. The meeting went well and more meetings are scheduled to discuss a possible timeline and responsibilities etc.

Things Mattias could've done better

Firstly Mattias emphasizes how much of a great experience it has been to get Ulf, the new board member, into his team. He explains that sooner or later every growing company needs to find the right time for them to invest in someone who has the right experience and can really help to solve problems within the company. Often these people can detect inefficiencies like bottlenecks and lack of processes. Even before Ulf joined iGoMoon's board, Mattias and his business partner (and iGoMoon's CTO) Erik have found things they wanted to improve, however, they often failed to execute the strategic implementation. The reason for that is simple: lack of time. Mattias explains that it can be very tricky to solve these problems when from 8am to 5pm you are busy with all the daily executive tasks. During that time they are working on short-term things and don't have the time to focus on the necessary long-term solutions.

The importance of clear roles

Another challenge for Mattias has been to shift between his various roles as a founder, partner, and CEO. The relationship between him and his business partner Erik obviously shifts depending on which role Mattias puts himself in at that moment. Something that Ulf has helped them to understand is how important it is to have clear roles, even if that means that Mattias is the CEO from 9am - 5pm and needs to act as his business partner's boss. Another new implementation is also that Erik needs to report to Mattias and Mattias needs to report to Ulf. Before that, no one held the two of them accountable and Mattias explains that in the beginning that can feel a bit strange and as if someone is controlling you. After all, it is clear to everyone involved that all these innovations are necessary in order to keep the company growing and have the right processes in place for the future.

Balancing personal & professional relationships

Another aspect Mattias talks about in this context is how to manage being a business partner and a friend at the same time. Mattias is a very empathic person, who leads with his heart. This can sometimes be complicated when being someone's boss. He explains that it is even more complicated on a business partner level. To a certain extent you can even compare a romantic relationship with a business partner relationship, says Mattias. He adds that there is a reason why couples go to therapy together after many years - they have a shared vision for their future but maybe everyday life and routines have slowed down their journey. In this scenario, the "therapist" is Ulf who comes in as a third person with an objective view on things.

What Mattias has learned

Mattias accidentally deleted his Vidyard account, which he seemingly will not be able to recover.

Celebrations of the week

Mattias gave out a lot of Kudos to his colleagues this week and is very happy with everyone's work. Also, a couple of small deals were closed.

💡 EPISODE TAKE AWAY
Always define the roles clearly with business partners.

How do you balance personal & professional relationships?