My first month at Six & Flow: Sarah

Starting a new job is a painful process. You don’t know anyone or anything, you don’t get the office ‘in jokes’ and you’re praying you don’t make a fool of yourself within the first 10 minutes. You want to prove yourself. You want people to like you. You want to succeed!

We're hiring! Find out more about the current vacancies at Six & Flow.

First Week

Despite all of these mixed feelings, I was genuinely really excited to get started in my new role as Office Administrator at Six & Flow. That’s down to a couple of reasons. First, the job advert, a bit of social media stalking, and my interview process assured me Six & Flow was the place I wanted to be. Second, I’d previously been working remotely from home and I couldn’t wait to be back in a buzzing office environment. I never thought I would be keen to start commuting again! But hey, life holds many surprises.

From the moment I read the job advert I knew I’d found the right position and company for me. The role itself is diverse and offers the chance for me to get involved in various areas of the business (which is what I enjoy doing). I’ve worked in operations for many years and after trying my hand at Sales for a short time, I was happy to be back where I belonged.

The other thing that became obvious was how important company culture is at Six & Flow, and I hold that in high regard. Having worked for many different companies over the years, the places I’ve been happiest are the ones where employees are encouraged to grow and develop while simultaneously being able to express their creative freedom; places where employees are encouraged to have fun and show their personality while proving they have respect for each other and can be honest. That isn’t an easy balance to find, but it’s certainly what’s valued here.

Oh, and they have dogs. Lots of dogs, who regularly come into the office (which was the cherry on top for me).

So, with high expectations ahead, I certainly wasn’t disappointed in my first week. I received a friendly welcome from the team as I settled into my new office surroundings (which are very nice), I got to hang out with a couple of dogs, and I joined in some competitive rounds of Articulate!

I’d like to point out I did also do some work. I spent a lot of time getting familiar with all the new systems and internal processes (which I’m still getting my head around). Having never worked in the marketing industry this is a whole new world for me, but as growth is what this company is all about, I think I’ll be doing a lot of that as I delve deeper and get my teeth stuck in.

Second Week

I feel like my first week went really quickly, but the second has flashed by in a blink! I think that’s a good sign. So what did I get up?

Well, I wanted to spend some more time digging into internal processes and understanding who does what and how everyone fits together as a team. Luckily, there’s a lot of documentation covering all aspects of life at Six & Flow so I started swotting up.

One of the things I looked at first was client on-boarding and seeing exactly what’s involved. What really struck me is how much thought and detail is put into each stage and how the different areas of the business work together to ensure our clients receive an amazing experience right from the get go. Transparency and communication are key to making sure both parties get the most they can from the process and ultimately achieve the success we’re all looking for.

Alongside this, I was also keen to spend some time chatting to different members of the team, hear about what they did, and try to get a feel of their general outlook. Part of what makes work enjoyable for me is really getting to know my colleagues and building meaningful relationships. Otherwise, what’s the point, really? Just turning up to get your work done and getting by with minimal interaction is not my idea of a positive workplace.

The other main focus for me has been getting stuck into the finance side of things: credit control, invoicing, understanding our client accounts, and all things related. It may not be considered exciting or glamorous by everyone (or anyone?!) but it’s an essential part of any business, Luckily, it’s also something I find interesting.

As I mentioned before, I like the fact that my role is varied; I get the chance to wear different hats and try my hand at a lot of different things. One minute I’m ordering yoga mats, the next I’m supporting a recruitment campaign. Having said that, there is one job that has fallen to me which hasn’t been easy: organising the company Christmas party. Gulp! After much to-ing and fro-ing it’s finally sorted, but the responsibility did weigh heavy on my shoulders.

And the yoga mats? They’re for the weekly office yoga sessions. Yep, another perk of working for Six & Flow!

Third Week

It’s funny how things can go from new and scary to settled and relaxed in such a short space of time. I’m really starting to bed into life here at Six & Flow; I’ve shed my newbie nerves and have been enjoying the learning curve that goes hand in hand with a new job. This has mainly been thanks to such a warm team of people who have wanted to help me settle in as painlessly as possible and have made a real effort to integrate me into the company.

As I mentioned previously, I’ve been looking at the finance side of the business and this week I delved into Float: a cash flow forecasting tool that connects with your accounting software to help you keep track of your company's cash situation.

Float have a certification for business which I completed and found really helpful as both an introduction to cash flow and to finance software. I’m going to be honest and say I’m no financial expert, but that’s the whole point with this service; it makes it really easy to get a clear, precise view of what’s happening with your business's finances.

It’s all based on real-time information and gives you an accurate picture of your past, current and future financial position. It allows you to set and track budgets, which is what I’ve been spending a lot of my time looking at. It also has some great features like being able to run different scenarios to see what could happen if you take on new staff, move offices, receive a late payment or pay that big bill.

Alongside Float, there are some other tools I’ve been getting more familiar with. Harvest for tracking time; Tettra for documenting processes & policies; and CharlieHR for - you guessed it - our HR requirements. All of these services are integral to managing the team and in turn our and clients as effectively and efficiently as possible. But alongside all the new software to get my head around, I’m delighted to be back using Slack again after a period of absence. Sounds bizarre but it’s been like welcoming back an old friend into my life! It’s well designed, easy to use, and helps teams to collaborate and stay connected with ease - what’s not to love?

Fourth Week

This week has been another steep learning curve. I’m new to the world of inbound marketing, and with Six and Flow being a HubSpot diamond partner, I wanted to gain more insight into what that meant.

Luckily, HubSpot Academy is the perfect solution to level up my knowledge of the industry. I’m pleased to say I’m now Inbound certified! But not only that, I’ve also learnt some interesting stuff. The certification covered various topics from the basic fundamentals of inbound, defining a company’s purpose, creating buyer personas, plus more. The course is broken down into easily digestible chunks with videos from different HubSpot trainers delivering the content along with helpful slides inserted throughout. But not only that, as you work your way through the modules, it gives you the option to download the slides and transcripts to keep for future reference. All in all, a really helpful way to improve my understanding in this area.

I’ve also been digging into as many webinar and training videos as I can get my hands on. I’m thirsty for knowledge and as one of Six & Flow’s brand values is Growth, this is a fantastic opportunity for personal development.

The last four weeks have been a whirlwind, but in the best possible way. I feel I’ve learnt a lot in a relatively short space of time and I’m keen to start putting my knowledge into action;

I’m excited for what comes next!