Consider the marketing communications (marcom) creation process from concept to final product. This process with each role involved is familiar to most marcom professionals. Depending on the size of the company, a marcom department may have some variation of a marketing strategist, content creative, graphic designer, public relations specialist, and a digital media coordinator. Collectively, they work as a team to help a company sustain demand and preference for a product or service using marketing tactics delivered through communication vehicles.

However, what if you find yourself pivoting from one marcom profession to the other, all to manage the marketing and communications needs of more than five major departments? It may be an ego boost to know you have the skills to do it all, but how much time will pass before you become winded and disengaged?

If you’re the sole person in your department, invest in these five tips while waiting to turn your team of one into a team of many:

Set Boundaries

If you work in a company where several major departments depend on marketing and communications, setting professional boundaries will come in handy. Being a one-person department should not be a surprise to other department leaders. It’s in their best interest to be flexible and willing to comply with your processes.

  • Develop and enforce a project request system.
  • Beware of phrases from fellow employees, like, “We only need you to pretty up this marketing material … ” or “If you can just pop this up on the website … ” Make sure department leaders fully understand their own request and the time it’ll take you to complete their project.
  • When you receive project requests without a deadline or with an aggressive deadline, communicate your priorities and work with department leaders to create a realistic timeline that’ll satisfy all parties involved.
Stay Organized

It’s stressful enough knowing you’re the only person to create the communications plan, write the content, edit the content, design the collateral, etc. Staying organized is critical to meeting deadlines and maintaining sanity.

  • Create a to-do list. It doesn’t matter if it’s on paper or electronic. It’s helpful to see what you need to do and have the ability to prioritize the items.
  • Create an email filing system with folders and subfolders. Mark emails as complete once you finish a task. When sending emails to colleagues, flag the email and create reminders for the recipient, if possible.
  • Use a calendar to track project deadlines and workstream time frames.
Dive In

Have realistic expectations of how much work you can accomplish for the day. Know which projects are priority and begin working your to-do list. Block out distractions by closing your office door. If you work in a cube, listen to music, a podcast, or download a noise-blocker app.

Walk away

If you’ve made progress on a project, but notice you’re running out of steam, walk away from the work. Taking a break will help you refocus.

Get Help

The ultimate goal is to hire qualified candidates and grow your team. If that’s not possible due to budgetary constraints or other company priorities, speak with your leader about hiring an intern or temporary employee. You can also ask to receive help from other employees or outsource a portion of the work.

Being a team of one is not the ideal situation, but it’s possible in the short term. Unfortunately, over an extended period of time, the load becomes extremely heavy. Outsourcing the work while building your team is a great way to stay engaged and avoid burnout. Otherwise, there may be major repercussions for you and your company if you remain a department of one.