The Ultimate Recipe for Client Project Success: Infuse Heart and Passion into Your Work

The success of a project is most often a factor of the passion, commitment, and enthusiasm of the team seeing it through. At Kalamuna, our mission-driven approach to client projects means that we’re invested in the outcomes that our partners strive for—which has been shown to produce better outcomes. What happens when you don’t have investment, pride, and heart in a project at its outset? The answer, unfortunately, is that the results of a project can be less optimal than you’d hope for.

As an agency, we spend a lot of time with clients and care for them and their organizations. We want them to have a great experience and get a website that best helps them meet their long-term goals. Caring, creating a connection, and wanting the project to succeed all help us to do better work, and our enthusiasm and commitment to mission-driven organizations means that we’re always motivated to create the best outcomes.

In this blog post, I'm going to show you how to ensure better client project results by connecting with their mission and investing in outcomes from the start. So, let's dive in and find out how to foster the conditions that will help you and your team put love, heart, and passion into each and every project.

Wanting a connection

While in my post-graduate web design program, employees from various large agencies presented their experiences of agency life to us. We were told that if we refused to work on a project for ethical or moral reasons, we’d be fired, and that we couldn’t pick and choose what we worked on. It was up to us to find a way to push through an objectionable project and try to find some semblance of acceptance with what the organization was doing so we could still put our best work forward. I was blatantly opposed to that, as I didn’t want to compromise my values. For example, being a vegetarian and animal lover, I’d never work with a factory farming company. And, as someone who loves and respects all people, I’d never work with an organization that promotes hate of any kind. I was privileged to be able to choose to start my own business after graduating so I could work with organizations I felt good about supporting.

Meaningful work

Years later, I realized there were agencies like Kalamuna that worked solely with mission-driven organizations. I felt relieved knowing that if I chose agency life, I wouldn’t have to face the reality I was told about years earlier. Working at an agency that partners with mission-driven clients that inspire me such as Fluence Training, New Day Films, and The Older Individuals who are Blind Technical Assistance Center (OIB-TAC) has been an amazing experience so far. I help causes I care about and make a positive difference in the world. I’ve been lucky to work with clients that strongly believe in their organization’s purpose as well, with everyone involved truly caring about the success of the project beyond monetary reasons.

An article from the Harvard Business Review states that “three out of four employees expect their employer to take a view on the societal and political debates of the day,” and if employees are disappointed about their employer’s view, employee engagement drops by a third. At Kalamuna I’m comfortable knowing that we all have very similar, if not the same, views. We have diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) social hours where we can talk about our experiences and opinions without judgment, we openly post on our website and social media about our societal views, and work with companies that hold similar stances. We’re outspoken about what we believe and it’s a part of what makes our relationships with management, coworkers, and clients so meaningful.

No workplace is perfect, and Kalamuna is no different. Perspectives of team members can come into conflict, disagreements can be had, and conversations need to be worked through. Fostering a culture that is open-minded, facilitating a willingness to have hard conversations, and making everyone feel welcome is hard work. But it is 100% possible when you have a team that is united in achieving common goals.

The recipe for better results

It’s much easier to feel motivated, focused, creative, productive, and optimistic when we involve our hearts. Here’s how we do so throughout our projects and have created a recipe for better results:

Passion for our field

We enjoy our chosen careers paths. Whether it be design, development, project management, or another field, we have genuine passion for our work. We come from a mix of different educational backgrounds, but what we have in common is we love what we do.

Mutual care, respect, and societal viewpoints between coworkers and management

Before even applying to work at a company, it’s critical to know if it could potentially be a good fit or not. Looking through Kalamuna’s website and social media, it's visible that the organization clearly focuses on equity and respect amongst employees, and consistently takes a stand on relevant social issues. This attracts those with similar values and viewpoints like me, leading to a positive company culture. Even though we work remotely, we’ve managed to create genuine friendships with each other.

Desire to work with mission-driven organizations to better society

Having a team of like-minded individuals works both ways. Not only are people applying to Kalamuna to work with mission-driven organizations, but during the interview process interviewers are ensuring that there is a passion and desire from the applicant to better society through their work. Looking through our employee bios, it’s clear that we all have progressive causes we’re passionate about. This includes those in management, as the desire to work with mission-driven organizations starts from the top. Leadership shapes what Kalamuna is about and where we want to go, which is to better society.

Willingness to have an open mind and learn

Not every project is going to be love at first sight. What’s important is to always keep an open mind and be willing to learn, which can result in seeing an organization in an alternate light. This is different from turning a blind eye to an organization with values we don’t agree with. Instead, it’s about seeing an organization for what they truly do to better society. A project may appear as not ideal at first, but with an open mind and learning about the organization, it’s easy to find aspects that are inspiring and make us genuinely excited to work with them.

Drive to delight and connect with clients who care about their organization’s purpose

When we’re passionate about our field of work and who we’re working with (mission-driven organizations), it’s easy to have an honest connection with clients. We share their sentiments on the importance of their organization's cause and work well together to achieve the same goal.

Motivation to greatly enhance the user experience so the organization thrives

For an organization’s website to succeed, the site needs to have a great user experience. We are motivated to provide the best user experience possible to aid users in learning about the organization, seeing its benefits, creating a connection, and taking action.

Dedication to make a positive impact in the world

All of us at Kalamuna want to make a positive impact in the world. We each exhibit dedication to different causes, live life with our values at the forefront, and make a difference during and outside of work. We’re here to leave the world in a better place than where we started from.

More than a job

When we work with our clients, we put our hearts into every step of the process and aim for solutions that are beneficial to the organization, its site’s users, and its impact on society. We want to amplify their message, provide users with a great experience, and affect positive change in the world.

Are you a mission-driven organization interested in working with us? Get in touch!

Are you looking for a job at a mission-driven agency? See available opportunities!