Maximizing Team Potential: The True Value of E-commerce Managers

As an E-commerce manager, we often measure our productivity by the number of campaigns launched, sales driven, or the revenue generated. But as we transition into more senior roles, we find ourselves doing less hands-on work and more strategic planning and team management.

Less execution leaves us feeling like we didn’t get anything done. ??

But is execution the only value we bring to our team?

I’ve wrestled a lot with the feeling of getting nothing done as I transitioned into a senior e-commerce manager role...

Slowly but surely it’s become clear to me.

The more senior we become, the more important it is that we multiply our efforts and help others level up. ??

If I improve my execution skills by 10%, the team's overall performance will improve slightly. ?? If I focus on being a force multiplier and help 3-5 team members enhance their skills, the entire team becomes significantly more productive and effective. ????

My efforts are compounded

• Provide thorough, timely, and helpful feedback on marketing strategies
• Mentor junior team members in our e-commerce systems and processes
• Address critical issues or bottlenecks that are hindering the team's progress
• Develop and review strategic plans to ensure alignment with business goals
• Participate in planning and road mapping meetings to accurately estimate efforts and resources
• Sometimes, I do help a lot with my immediate reportees when they feel incapable or don't have time. However, this is not ideal as there should be an SOP or system in place to help them.

I’m now influencing and moving things forward on a whole different level.

My productivity is improved – if we measure it by the value contributed to the team and the business goals. ????

But back to feeling unproductive... A lot of wins are harder to measure and leave us feeling unproductive.

One way to help your brain is keeping a daily + weekly summary journal doc. ??

Daily: Write 3-5 bullet points of ways you helped the team move forward.

Weekly: Roll those up into a summary of wins/learnings.

Monthly: Add bigger wins to your brag doc

You can even send that weekly doc to your manager and management. It’s a great way to manage and give visibility into your work.

It also helps them point out areas you might think are valuable, but aren’t as much, or areas you should lean into even more.

I’m on a journey to re-think that I’m still contributing huge value even without executing as much.

Days where I don’t launch a campaign are still successful if I’ve been a force multiplier. ????

How about you?

How do you think about contributing as a senior manager when you aren’t executing as much? ??♀???♂?