A day with Lars from ganztags. GmbH

December 19, 2022

The ganztags. GmbH is a comprehensive, agile online marketing agency, which serves as an external team for its customers. The agency assists its clients in the strategic conception and operative implementation of online marketing activities. We’re pleased that ganztags. GmbH has found a home base in our Unicorn workspace. Now, let’s spend a day with their CEO, Lars.

It’s 8 a.m. Are you already wide awake, or still in a deep sleep?

My day starts at 6.30 am. First off, I take a shower, have a coffee, make my daughter a sandwich for her lunch, and feed the cat. At 7.30 I take a short walk with her to the school and back. At about 8, I check my various inboxes, prepare for my stand-up meeting with the team, and then, with a little luck, I can get the first few things on my agenda for the day finished. In the past, I wanted to even squeeze in some meditation, learning or sports in the morning, like all those funny life coaches on Insta or TikTok are always suggesting. But now I’ve more appreciation for a decelerated start in the day.

It’s 10 a.m. and you’re in the middle of a productive phase. What’s essential for you to be productive?

We mostly work remotely, and organize ourselves with tools like Slack, Zoom, Asana, Google Calendar, Notion, etc. But sometimes nostalgia gets the best of me and I grab my notepad. I can work best from home, because there I have the peace and quiet I need. My daughter is at school until the afternoon, my wife is self-employed and she works long hours. It’s just the cat that sometimes interrupts my focus once in a while, when she struts over my keyboard or runs around the place as if the devil himself was hot on her heels.

It’s 11 o’clock, your first meeting is about to start. In meetings: what’s important for you, what makes a meeting successful?

By 11 I’ve already finished the first meetings. It’s important to have an agenda, at best one that all the participants have received in advance. Moreover, people should only be present who can actively contribute to the meeting, not just be there as human blind copies. :-) At the end of the meeting, obligations should be defined and there should be clarity: what should have changed by the next meeting? Who will do what, and by when? When it’s known what’s on the agenda, and the participants are well-prepared, then a meeting doesn’t have to unnecessarily drag on. For documentation, we use Notion, plus there’s always one person taking the minutes. That way, in the next meeting, we can look back to the previous one and see if the changes we wanted to make have been accomplished.

It’s 1 p.m. and your stomach is growling. What do you do? Have a muesli bar and go out for a jog? Go over the latest analytics with business partners? Are you rather a stay-in-at-the-office type, or do you need to get out and get some fresh air?

My stomach begins to growl at the office precisely at 11.30. We really like going to Chibee (Korean food) in the Tegeler Straße, or to Mr. Haong right around the corner. Then we catch up on what’s been going on in each other’s private lives or we get philosophical about life and work. When I work from home, I fit my lunch break in where I have time for it, according to what appointments I have that day. I‘ll either make myself something quick, or get myself something to eat. Then I’ll usually have my lunch in front of the TV while watching Netflix for a little bit.

It’s 4 p.m. and you’re in a creative slump. What do you do when you can’t summon your creative powers?

Hmmm, of course there are situations where the motivation seems to have spontaneously run off somewhere, or your brain is in knots and you can’t seem to move forward with a task. What’ll rarely help is trying to force yourself. That’s when I grab my guitar (if I’m at home) and amuse myself with my musical incompetence or get annoyed with the cat. I distance myself from the situation that way, and it helps me get my motivation or ideas back. If I’m at work, I’ll get my colleagues involved. Someone might have an idea or a different perspective that can lead me to new approaches.

It’s 5 p.m. and you have a meeting with the press. They want to know more about you as a person. Has anyone in particular influenced you? Do you have a role model?

There are certainly people who I admire for what they’ve done, but it’s really my colleagues who have influenced me the most, after all, I spend most of my time with them. We’re at a manageable size and like to be open and friendly with each other. We let each other know fairly quickly if something is not going right or when colleagues are having problems or have certain wishes. Resolving conflicts, celebrating successes together, developing solutions collaboratively – that has influenced me the most. I’m regularly at that point where my mind’s overflowing with ideas, and some of them might be met with resistance, since my team isn’t afraid to tell me what they think is good and what they find absurd. That’s something I appreciate immensely! When I started with the company, it was sometimes just two of us, and I did a lot of things according to what I thought was right, I was my own benchmark. As the team grew, I had to learn that everyone has their own mind, their own way of thinking and acting, and that’s something that can bring you incredible results. I had to put my own standards into perspective, and that wasn’t so easy at first. So, my life lessons are: a) If you trust your team, let them do their thing. They’ll thank you for that and you’ll be pleasantly suprised by the results. b) If your team feels comfortable expressing criticism openly, then you’re doing everything right. c) Other minds are capable of clever thoughts. d) When a member of your team leaves, it can be sad. Be grateful, however, that you were part of their journey.

It’s 6 p.m., is the workday coming to an end or just getting started?

What constitutes the end of the work day is pretty flexible in my case. Rarely does my pencil drop from my hand right at 6 pm, so generally, I’m not a great example of the work-life balance. Thank god I have my wife and my daughter, who will close the laptop for me at those times when I find myself not knowing when to stop.

It’s 10 p.m. and you finally have time for yourself! Are you a series addict? A music lover, bookworm or binging podcast listener? What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

If I would start listening to podcasts at 10 pm, I’m sure my wife would divorce me. :-) I do like to listen to SEOHouse or the Data Sceptic Podcast when I’m out and about, or I watch coding videos on YouTube (Travesty Media or Fireship). I’m also a big fan of rock and metal – in my younger days I was also up on stage screaming away at folks. And I still like blasting the daily routine out of my head for a bit with music.