My company just rolled out “Team Building Thursdays,” which means an hour every week are now blocked off for activities like trivia. Don’t get me wrong, I see the value of team bonding, but with 15 accounts to manage and deadlines breathing down my neck, it’s hard not to feel resentful. I spend the entire session thinking about emails piling up. Has anyone else dealt with this? Do these activities actually help? How do you balance participation without falling behind?

Networking question here. A retired partner at the firm I used to work out reached out to me recently about attending an afternoon during the week (b4 4/30) with one of his long time clients. The partner and I have kept in touch since I joined my new firm and I feel like his invitation is a great networking opportunity since the client (who I have worked with before) is on a number of boards. Torn as how to request off as an S3. Could materialize to nothing but could be good for reconnecting.

Been asked to present my current client’s plan and PCA in second interview for a role. Am I being over cautious by not feeling comfortable with this?

Hi fishes!

I am seeing too many post about awards like rising star, Kudos, etc. People keep telling there managers recommended them for these awards.
My manager doesn't interact much with us. I consider myself as some one who has worked hard for project and other intiatives. Should I ask my manager to consider me and if yes how should I initiate it.
Part of MC team.

Thank you.

How to tell Hiring manager and recruiter that i am not joining company after signing the offer letter?
Reason: I have offer from a better company.

I don't want to burn the bridges.

Do managers tend to make a scene while you put your papers?

I’m have a new theory about why juniors always feel like idiots and wanted to see if anyone else thinks this makes sense. I’m a third year, and am the most junior person all of my teams (generally me, a senior or two, and a partner or two), and I always feel like I’m messing something up. Is this just because I never get to work with other juniors and don’t see the mistakes they make, and that it’s relatively normal? And FWIW I went to HYS and I’ve had a clerkship so it’s not like I’m not smart

Resigned last week from a job with a horrible manager. In the process learned that the other team member is toxic and poisoning my reputation in front of others behind my back. I am so relieved!

How do you deal with clients who act like they know more than you even though they don't?

Clients brought bagels this morning. I’m on a diet. What’s the move here? Suck It up and have one? politely decline? Trying to stay in their good graces and don’t wanna be rude.

How to deal with brown nosers when they are taking credit for all of your work?

Do you guys respond to emails and phone calls over the weekend or have you been able to put boundaries in place wit your boss?

Does anyone ever want to just say, "let's skip the small talk and get to the point" in a meeting? Is that just me? I think there's a cultural difference there.

I was recently let go by a Big 4 and I interviewed at Mid-size. I didn’t tell them I was let go and was hired and now working here. Recently realized, the partner I work with and my ex-firm practice partners are good friends. Should I communicate to my ex-firm partner not to share this with my current firm partner when they meet??? Or am I thinking it too much?

What are effective ways to ensure your team feels content within the workplace? There is a rise of many people feeling undervalued and not cared for as an employee. I would like to change that. No matter the job, no one should feel less than.

Partners, what are signs/examples that a project’s leadership is prioritizing the clients needs over the team beyond the normal ‘nature of client service’? Is a convo is worth it?

People of Color, how do you deal with an all-white team who doesn't acknowledge your (worthy) accomplishments while pats all incompetent employees?

How do you 100% utilized folks try to network with other folks in at the firm if you’re always at client site? Trying to get some face time with them

How much does everyone pack for a standard work week? (Men) suits, shoes, ties, etc..

Question for the ladies: I'm getting sick of spending so much time getting ready for work. Would it really matter if I tried less (eg wore my hair in a bun everyday, wore less makeup)?

Curious to hear people’s thoughts on going to the chiropractor. Some people swear by it, others condemn. Thoughts?

Hello! I have a two part question: 1) is it worth it to obtain an SHRM specialty credential if I don’t have the broader SHRM certification? 2) has anyone gotten the People Analytics or Talent Acquistion credential? If so, how valuable was it from a learning perspective? Do you feel it significantly contributed to your knowledge in either area? Thank you!

I'm about to graduate from uni and have sadly just realised that the creative industries I like aren't going to pay enough, so I want to get into consulting. Ideally in areas like marketing/branding/digital rather than MBB

I have no consulting experience and I have accepted an internship offer at an advertising firm for this summer. What steps would you advise me to take to get into consulting? Also, I get to pick between strategy and accounts for the internship - would either be more useful?

It's 9:05am and the client till isn't in yet... Wtf?

How do I start the divorce process? Do I have to get a lawyer? Help...!

I’m a freelance AD (CD level) looking to update my bio. Does anyone have examples of simple, well executed, short bios or just reccos on how to write one 🙏🏼

Confession: sometimes, when the owner leaves the exam room, I vent to the pet about how annoying their owner is.

Best way to lookup a value with multiple criteria across rows and Columns, for 3 criteria I usually do sum product. Any other tips?

I’m referencing a cell (numeric) to a text cell. Is there a way to format that number to include commas? See example in comments.

How do I compare two sheets to make sure they are identical?

What are your top excel functions you use in finance / accounting - besides vlookup - Pivots - sumifs - count - index. I have an interview coming up which will have excel based technical questions. Not sure what other functions are considered important in the accounting finance world.

What is the max salary offered by Wipro for B2 band?.....

Anyone in CA use the FORE! Trust software and have a good experience with it? TIA!

NYC consultants traveling every week. How are you managing the Quarantine restrictions? Have to travel two consecutive weeks for meetings and trying to see how the rules work

The Albertsons (Jewel) and Kroger (Mariano’s) merger would be terrible for Chicago. I doubt antitrust will allow them to retain all stores here. Maybe a player trying to enter the region will buy out those stores.

I am looking for a lower stress, mostly remote, part time job. Any recommendations? My background is corporate Income tax. 10 years experience.

Anyone working in product experimentation or innovation lab within a medium/ large scale tech firm?

"Can you make it feel more like blueberries taste?" ACCOUNT TO CREATIVE

Trying to figure out from a client relations perspective how much I need to be fluent in Google Analytics and the planning and buying process of paid media: social and search.
I want to be more fluent and speak eloquently about it so that I am well rounded in my role.
My current position doesn't allow for any hands on experience. Any advice would be appreciated in terms of how to gain the experience or course recommendations.

Who else started with small businesses and moved up to medium and large at agencies structured to handle it? I handle 40 clients and some 60 Content managers, ad managers, designers, developers, and a smattering of other positions.

Which was better? I have almost complete autonomy over what happens with small biz, but getting to focus on projects for more than an hour/month sounds nice.

How long were you an SAE before promoting to AS?

When’s the best time to go client side? Wait till I get a promotion or try to switch sooner rather than later?

When you sell a dedicated website for a special deal, do you give the CRM for free? Is vTiger CRM your advice? Otherwise, what are your most common recommendations about CRM?

Right so here’s a bit of a dilemma I work to a much higher standard at home and it’s this high standard that means I’m in line for a promotion. I’ve grown so much and I feel really strong in my role I’m also busier than ever. The problem is we’re going back into the office and I don’t want to go in if it’s just going to be senior management in asking me to get them lunches for client meetings or fetch a glass of water and cutlery for meeting rooms. Definitely not ready to go back to that….

Any thoughts on Laundry Service?

Sometimes it feels half my day is spent jumping through hoops to schedule and then reschedule meetings around senior managements’ calendars...only for them to be so late they miss the meeting anyways🙄

How easy is it to work in account management in a foreign country? which countries are the easiest to go to? what agencies are likely to transfer you abroad?

If you had a job at a big name agency in a smaller market, where you loved everyone you worked with and had just gotten a (small) raise, would you leave it for an amazing offer from a big market shop?

When cold contacting an agency (because the agency doesn’t post jobs online), is it better to contact the head of account mgmt, or the agency’s recruiter?

I got a promotion a year and 3 months ago, and got a pay raise 5 months ago. Could I still ask for a promotion to SAE if I have been supporting a team more as one? Promotions are hard to stab with.

For those of you who have had to develop a "thick skin" how did you do it without becoming a robot? In the beginning, I just cried at work all of the time. I've gotten better but I'm generally sensitive so kind of an outlier. Could use some advice, thanks

Can you lose your job if you don’t like the animosity from your creative team and speak up about it ? Genuinely worried I might be disrupting the peace by saying something 🥴 the anxiety is terrible! Do I just accept it that they don’t like me or speak up and potentially burn that bridge?

Anyone from Havas London here? If so, what are your biggest dislikes about the agency?

How long do you spend on monthly reporting for your clients?
My 3-person team spends about 15+ hours a month each writing monthly reports for our clients (99 small retainer clients). We’ve received feedback that they’re too complicated and the clients just want to know - are we on the right track, what action items are there, and what any next steps are in their strategy.
How do you simplify without losing value?

Is 7 weeks too early to start thinking I may have made a huge mistake in switching to my current gig? I left the last place because it was overr toxic and terrible W/L balance, for one that seemed to be more “fun” and more realistic hours, only to find that I’ve now been working 12 -14 hours a day and just drowning and feeling like I cannot catch up or catch my breath. Everyone is in the same boat here which is why I’m so overwhelmed so quickly with no support. Is this an immediate red flag?

Just moved up to SMB AM and I’m curious to the enterprise reps— what’s the quickest way to move up segment? A lot of people I see it’s 5+ YOE just curious if you can segment hop or if it’s a time situation.

I work for a small agency and manage our internal marketing acct. We had very few processes in place when I started. I’ve since created, implemented, and trained our dept. on project mgmt for clients and am trying to convince the owner to apply those principles to our internal jobs. They are resistant because they just want the work to be done and don’t “want to keep spending money on internal jobs”. I’m confused because we’re doing the work either way and “spending” in labor/resources.

Hi Account friends! It’s the start of a new year and I was hoping you all could share any book / newsletter / blog / course recommendations that help keep you up to snuff. Feeling a bit stale and like the last year has been a tactical grind. I want to brush up on modern thinking for our industry - the latest and greatest marketing books, strategy perspectives, creative self help, etc. to feel more alive as we start 2022.

Comment your favs and THANK YOU in advance!