Stop Being the Bottleneck: A Lean Marketer’s List of High‑Impact, Low‑Effort Moves

When you wear every hat, speed comes from systems—not heroics

TL;DR: Install request triage, set clear guardrails, template everything, and automate the boring bits. You’ll ship more with less stress and fewer “is this done yet?” pings.

1) Add a Request Triage Form (15 minutes)

Here’s exactly how I explain it to a stakeholder: “If it isn’t in the form, it isn’t in the queue.” Build a simple intake in Notion/Typeform/Google Forms capturing goal, audience, channel, deadline, owner, budget, success metric, and must‑have assets. Make goal and deadline required so you can reject or rescope vague asks on the spot (e.g., “Let’s aim for next sprint with a clear CTA and a defined audience”). Auto‑route submissions to a Slack channel (#mkt‑intake) so everyone sees priorities and nothing happens in DMs. Add an SLA at the top: We respond within 24 hours; not all requests are accepted.

Inspiration: Atlassian Team Playbook (great for alignment rituals)

2) Publish a Simple Prioritisation Rule (RICE or ICE)

Tell the team, “We score everything the same way, so the best ideas win, not the loudest voices.”

Use RICE (Reach × Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort) for nuance or ICE for speed.

Example: A homepage test that reaches 40% of visitors with medium impact and 80% confidence but one day of effort will outrank a fancy video that hits 5% of visitors and takes two weeks. Put scores in a public sheet, sort weekly, and draw a line: everything below the line becomes Later.

Intercom’s RICE guide.

3) Define “Ready” and “Done”

I tell requestors: “If you give me these inputs, I can go fast.”

Your Definition of Ready might be filled brief, final copy owner, brand assets linked, single approver named, realistic deadline.

Definition of Done might be QA passed, UTM/trackers set, files in drive with versioning, changelog posted, approver sign‑off.

Paste DoR/DoD at the top of every brief. When someone tries to sneak in a late change, point back to the DoR/DoD you agreed.

4) Time‑box Feedback Windows

Set expectations early: “Two rounds of review, 24–48 hours each, then we ship.”

Put dates on the calendar, send a Loom walkthrough to make feedback easy, and collect comments in one place (Doc/Design file, not Slack). Late feedback rolls to the next iteration. This creates a predictable cadence and stops last‑minute derailments.

Tool: Loom for fast, visual feedback

5) Create a One‑Page Brand & Voice Cheat Sheet

I give contributors a single page that says: who we are, how we sound, words we avoid, and three example lines. Add value props, proof points, and two “hall of fame” examples. Drop the sheet into every brief so SMEs aren’t reinventing tone with each draft. This alone can halve your edit cycles.

Example frameworks: Basecamp Shape Up (great on shaping work)

6) Use an Approval Matrix (RACI‑lite)

Say this out loud: “Only one person can say yes.” Create a tiny table for common assets (ads, emails, LPs) listing

• Responsible (who builds),

• Approver (one!), and

• Consulted (legal, product).

Paste it into briefs and your wiki. When extra opinions appear, thank them and route back to the single approver—no more design‑by‑committee.

Reference: GitLab Handbook for clear ownership norms

7) Template Your Top Five Assets

Think of templates as speed‑rails.

• For ads, lock the structure: hook → benefit → proof → CTA.

• For landing pages: headline → value → proof → offer → FAQ.

• For emails: why now → story → proof → CTA.

Add merge tags, UTM patterns, and a checklist to each template so anyone can self‑serve. Store them in a shared folder with fool‑proof names like EMAIL_Launch_V1_template.

Template gallery: Notion Templates

8) Install a 10‑Minute Daily Stand‑up (Async)

Tell the team: “No more status meetings unless we’re deciding something.” Post a daily Slack check‑in with Yesterday / Today / Blockers before 9 a.m. Use a recurring reminder so it runs without you. If a blocker needs discussion, jump to a quick huddle; otherwise, keep moving. The thread becomes your searchable log of progress.

9) Batch Work with “Focus Blocks”

Block two 90‑minute sessions in your calendar every day and protect them like meetings. Announce to the team that replies will be delayed during these windows. In each block, do one category of work, all copy, then all QA, then all approvals. Use inbox‑pause, close Slack, and keep a mini “parking lot” note for intrusive thoughts. You’ll double throughput without working later.

💡 Tip: Inbox pausing with Inbox When Ready or your email client’s focus mode.

10) Ship Small: Adopt a “Two‑Day Slice” Rule

I break big, fuzzy projects into slices that can ship in 48 hours. Example: a “new website” becomes a hero test (day 1) and a pricing clarification module (day 2). Each slice ships with tracking and a single hypothesis. Stakeholders see progress quickly, and you get real data to prioritize the next slice, no more month‑long mysteries.

11) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Repeats

When I notice I’m doing something the second time, I record a Loom and narrate the steps while I work. Then I jot the 5–7 steps with links and acceptance criteria, drop it into the wiki, and tag an owner. Keep SOPs to one page so people actually read them. Revisit monthly; if we didn’t use it, delete or merge it. Then look at how you can automate some of those tasks!

12) Reuse Like a Pro (Content Recycling)

At brief time, decide how a piece will multiply. A single webinar turns into one blog post, three LinkedIn posts, five shorts, and a nurture email. Build modular assets (quote cards, stat blocks) so designers aren’t starting from zero. Plan filenames and folders so everyone can find and reuse the bits without asking you.

Playbook: Zapier blog on automation ideas

13) Automate the Boring Bits

Pick the top three repetitive jobs and automate them this week. Examples: auto‑UTM links when someone pastes a URL in Slack; lead routing from forms to CRM; welcome emails with dynamic content. Start with Zapier/Make and your ESP/CRM. Document the flow and measure time saved—this makes the case for doing the next three.

• Tools: Zapier • Make

14) Build a “Stakeholder Lunch Loop”

I book a 20‑minute, no‑slides coffee every second week with sales, product, and support. Agenda: biggest blocker, any customer learnings, any upcoming risks. We agree one action each and log it in the channel. This simple ritual pulls forward surprises and prevents the constant “got a minute?” pings.

15) Provide “Negative Briefs”

Add a block that literally says “This is NOT…” Example: not a rebrand, not a new audience, not a video, not a price change. This gives you a gentle script when ideas creep in: “Great thought—that’s out of scope for this brief, but let’s capture it for a future test.” Rework plummets because expectations are clear.

16) Create a Screenshot‑First Report

Execs skim. Instead of a 20‑slide deck, I paste annotated screenshots: GA4 chart with 1‑line takeaway, heatmap with one insight, winning ad with CTR and spend. One page, three insights, next steps at the bottom. People read it, understand it, and act on it—without a meeting.

17) Pre‑Mortems Before Launch

Run this script: “It’s 30 days post‑launch and it failed—what happened?” Capture the top five risks, assign an owner, and write the mitigation now (e.g., If performance CPC > $3 by day 3, pause and swap creative B). This turns fear into a checklist and gives everyone permission to raise concerns early.

• How‑to: Atlassian’s project risk plays

18) Guard Your Calendar with Office Hours

Choose two recurring windows (e.g., Tue/Thu 2:00–3:00 p.m.) for reviews and Q&A. Stick a Calendly link in your Slack bio and intake form. When non‑urgent asks appear, funnel them to office hours. Concentrating feedback keeps your mornings clear for maker work and trains stakeholders to plan ahead.

19) Set SLA Expectations in Your Footer

Put “Standard turnaround: 3–5 business days” in your brief and intake form. Add a line for expedite policy (e.g., “Rush requests require a trade‑off: one other item moves to Later”). You’ll get fewer chasers and better quality inputs because people know the rules of engagement.

20) Use a Lightweight Kanban

Share a simple Now / Next / Later board in Trello/Asana/Linear and make it read‑only for the org. Add owners, due dates, and brief links to each card. Cap Now to 3–5 items so you’re truly focused. When someone brings an “urgent” request, open the board and ask which Now item they want to swap out.

• Example tools: Trello, Asana, Linear (pick one, keep it simple)

21) Document One “How We Work” Page

Centralise everything—intake form, priorities, DoR/DoD, templates, office hours, and your Kanban—on a single wiki page. Pin it in Slack, share it with every new stakeholder, and link to it in your email signature. When questions come, reply with the link; your process scales without more meetings.

External Resources Worth Bookmarking

• Prioritisation: Intercom’s RICE

• Team Rituals: Atlassian Team Playbook

• Async Collaboration: Loom

• Process & Ownership: GitLab Handbook

• Automation Ideas: Zapier Blog

• Scoping Work: Basecamp Shape Up