Things I wouldn't have known if I were alone, and things that were possible because we were together, all learned after joining Elifunt

Hello, this is Park Ji-eun from Elifunt.

Since Elifunt is comprised of people whose profession is content creation, we have a culture of recording self-reflections after the three-month probationary period. Finally, it was my turn! Actually, I had jotted down various notes, intending to write them once my probation ended, but when it actually came my turn, I found myself hesitating a lot. (Haha) In the end, it is only now, well over a month after my probation ended, that I am writing this post.

From in-house to agency, from solo marketer to team

Upon joining Elifunt, I chose to transition from an in-house to an agency environment, and from a solo marketer to working with colleagues. This decision was driven by two considerations.

1. What kind of worker am I good at?
2. What should I do in the future?

Although I have gained diverse experience and accumulated my own know-how as a marketer, at some point I realized that simply performing familiar tasks well is a slightly different matter from discovering what I can do even better in the future. As these concerns accumulated, I naturally began to want to work in an environment different from my previous one. With the desire to expand my potential in a new setting, I joined Elifunt.

My perspective has broadened as I have experienced various businesses.

I have always been very interested in various industries and businesses. However, while working in-house allowed me to delve deeply into a single business, the range of industries and businesses I could actually experience was limited.

Since joining Elifunt and meeting clients across diverse industries, my range of experience has broadened. As I understood each client's business and target audience, and deliberated on tailored strategies and content, my sources of inspiration naturally diversified. What is interesting is that I gain ideas even from clients in completely different industries. I consider how an approach effective in Industry A could be applied in Industry B, and I also find new insights in how other businesses solve their problems.

I believe that having diverse experiences isn't simply about knowing more industries, but about diversifying the very perspective from which you view a problem. In that sense, my current environment is enriching my way of thinking as a marketer.

We are building a collaborative work culture together

I worked as a solo marketer for quite a long time. I had to handle most of the tasks alone, from executing work to setting direction, making decisions, and taking responsibility for the results. So, while I had expectations for working in a collaborative environment, I was also worried.

How will different ideas be reconciled? How will decision-making take place? If it is different from the way I am used to, will I be able to adapt well?

However, these worries completely disappeared during a two-day, one-night workshop I went on about a month after joining the company.

At Elifunt, we have 'ground rules' that we follow together during projects and communication . We establish these ground rules through an annual workshop where team members deliberate, listen to each other's opinions, and reach a consensus. These rules are listed in our weekly meetings, which are held every week for the entire year.

In fact, in corporate life, there are rules you have to follow without knowing why they were created or without the members fully understanding them. However, at Elifunt, team members were creating rules while brainstorming ways to work together better. They did it by sharing ideas and debating intensely together!

As a result, I felt a sense of responsibility to protect the culture we created together, going beyond the idea that I simply had to follow the rules. Through this experience, I realized that a good team culture doesn't start with merely having good rules, but rather with the process of creating those rules.

Taking a step forward from the point where I would have hesitated if I were alone

Elifunt's team culture has actually had a huge impact on my attitude toward work.

As a marketer in my seventh year, I thought I had significantly developed my practical skills, but at some point, I began to feel difficulty moving on to the next stage. There were times when, even though I could see the direction, I hesitated about whether I should try something more daring or how far I should push. Now, however, my approach to resolving these concerns has changed.

At Elifunt, we actively encourage experimental endeavors, so regardless of the task, we can consider a bolder approach rather than sticking to existing methods. Of course, this doesn't mean blindly trying something new. It is accompanied by a persuasive process of preparation that explains why the strategy is necessary, what hypothesis to test, and how to execute it to achieve results.

In this environment, there are things I might not have attempted if I had been alone after much deliberation, but now we are able to think about them together and execute them more actively. It is slightly different from simply working faster or becoming better at my job. It is closer to the feeling that the scope of my possibilities is expanding and I can see just how far I can unleash my capabilities!

Testing ChatGPT Ads is one such example. At Elifunt, we used this unfamiliar advertising channel as an opportunity for a learning experience. Rather than being confident that we could do well from the start, we began by formulating questions about what we should verify.

After running the advertisements, we took the time to review our initial hypotheses one by one based on the results. We examined what matched our expectations and what differed, and organized the lessons learned from the process into content that could be shared with our customers. It was an impressive experience to go beyond simply trying out a new channel and instead develop the lessons gained from our collaborative experimentation into insights that would be helpful to our clients.

The fact that we can think together and create results, instead of struggling alone to find the answer like this, gives me courage.

So, here's how the past three months at Elifunt were!

Looking back, the past three months were a time to adapt to a new company, but it was also a time to re-examine the way of working that I had been accustomed to.

Experiencing various industries has broadened my perspective on problems, and building a culture with colleagues has allowed me to rediscover the meaning of collaboration and think and act more boldly in my work.

What I liked most was that this change didn't happen simply because I was placed in a new environment. I believe it was possible because I had colleagues with whom I could share diverse perspectives, a culture that respects each other's opinions, and a team capable of turning new initiatives into actual implementation.

So, if you ask me if I found the answers to the two concerns I had before joining the company, the search for those answers is still a work in progress! I feel like I am gradually discovering what kind of person I can become through the process of working with my team members.

Although there is still much more to experience and learn, I feel like I have leveled up quite a bit in the past three months alone. I look forward to the time ahead at Elifunt, where I will think more broadly, try things more boldly, and create even better results!