For the Love of Process People…
Maybe you’ve wondered, “How does 5by5 serve so many change makers?” or “How do they get so much done?” Well, we are going to give you a peek behind the curtain. We would not be nearly as efficient or effective without our traffic manager.
What is a traffic manager exactly?
You can think of a traffic manager kind of like a crossing guard, but for client work. They assess the work that needs to be done and direct it to the right people. They look ahead to see what’s coming down the pike and either hold up their hand for it to wait, let it pass or tell it to turn around.
For client work at our agency, that looks like communicating with client managers to determine the work that needs to be done, and the preferred timeline in which it should be completed. Then, assessing the workload and available capacity of each member of the services team (designers, copywriters, web developers, etc.) to determine how much work can be done in a given timeframe. Finally, the work is assigned accordingly.
A traffic manager is the hub.
Our traffic manager is basically our Grand Central Station – the hub for all agency activity. She has to hold a variety of details in mind at any given moment. She has to know approximately how long a task is expected to take to complete. She must look ahead at upcoming work, capacity, and more to manage expectations and maximize efficiently. As an impartial third party, our traffic manager has the benefit of being able to negotiate with transparency between client managers and service team members without hedging or ambiguity on what is reasonable or possible.
Our traffic manager is the GOAT.
At 5by5, our traffic manager Heather Guthrie does this with grace, confidence and expertise every day. She’s an expert problem solver, and she has the unique ability to manage minute details while remaining a big-picture thinker. By having her focus exclusively on traffic management, we free up the rest of our team to do what they do best. (And we get to simply marvel as the artist works and be forever grateful.)
We can’t imagine 5by5 without Heather and the excellence with which she does her work!
Interested in joining our team? Check out our current openings.