Meet Maddy, who leads our Claims team 👋 She's here to answer 10 quick-fire questions about working at Marshmallow, including career progression, team building and her most used emojis (of course).
1. What team do you work in, and what’s the team’s overall goal?
I’m in the Claims Ops Team. Officially, we “ensure the best outcomes by making high quality decisions, being proactive with our communication, taking ownership of the customer experience, and eliminating fraud.”
Basically, that means trying to transform the way car insurance claims are dealt with in the industry. We want to create a better process so that customers feel less distress and anguish in (what’s nearly always) a stressful situation 💕
2. What does a typical day look like for you at Marshmallow?
No two days are the same - it’s great! Because the team is working in such new territory, you never really know what you’re going to be involved in, or what new project you might be trialling.
As a team, we’re coming across questions that haven’t been answered or even asked before, and testing new ideas to see how they work (or, in some cases, don’t work). Sometimes that means we make mistakes, but as a team we can laugh about it and move forwards!
New projects can include testing the best way of handling customer communications by finding out if they prefer text message, live chat, or emails. But sometimes projects can be more rooted in the team, like finding out how to best manage workloads.
Recently we’ve been looking at the level of access we give to our suppliers, creating fewer points of contact between them and the customer so that everything’s much more streamlined, and less confusing too!
One of our current projects is still top secret, but involves some proper market-leading stuff. We can’t wait to launch it 🚀
3. What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced while working here? How did you overcome that?
Some days you can’t finish a task that you had your heart set on completing. You have to learn to accept that your focus today might not be your focus tomorrow - just enjoy what you’re doing now, and don’t be too precious about it. We’re all about moving fast to make the biggest impact on projects 🏃
4. What tools do you use on a daily basis to empower your work?
My team! They are the ones who are the experts in what they do. In my role as a Team Lead, management and delegation are super important, and communication is a key tool,
I love leading a team because it means I get to empower people, and expand the horizons of their roles to help them develop. When things are a bit more tricky, I can always rely on my own manager, Tom. He gives me support and guidance on things like timeframes or deadlines. There’s never a straight ‘no’ answer from him - he’s incredibly flexible, which I really value 🙌
5. Looking back at your time at Marshmallow, what are you most proud of?
Claims is brand new to Marshmallow and we’ve created a team from scratch. We’ve developed what the Handlers do each day, built the processes, established (some!) structure from nothing, and hired people into brand new roles.
I’d say I’m most proud of helping to build this function, and for all the amazing work we’ll be able to do thanks to our strong foundations 💪
6. How have you developed your skills while at Marshmallow?
I used to be quite nervous about presenting to people, or standing up in front of a group. But, at Marshmallow, I’ve been involved in presenting during the Ops All Hands and presenting to the Board. Now that I’ve got access to facts and figures that showcase our team’s achievements, I absolutely love presenting! It’s always a bonus when I manage to get through it without stuttering, too.
Leadership is a really important skill in my role. I’ve been a Team Leader at 3 different companies, and nowhere has helped to develop my Leadership skills like Marshmallow. Marshmallow’s the only company I’ve worked at where micro-management is genuinely discouraged. We’re the complete opposite and actually want to encourage autonomy and empowerment. We live by our Take Ownership value, and let people have full control and autonomy over their work.
The output has been miles above the teams I’ve led before. Staff are happier and better performing, so it’s a win win! 👏
7. How do you see your career progressing at Marshmallow? Does Marshmallow help support you in that?
I want to continue down the management route, and I’ve had some really open conversations with my own manager about this. We’ve created a clear path for my career, and outlined the expectations of me in order to get there.
The timeframes are all transparent and it’s well supported. Tom doesn’t expect me to do it all alone; he helps by getting me involved in things that will help support my development 🤗
8. Favourite Slack channel?
I really like All Ideas Welcome. There are some weird and wonderful suggestions in there, like ‘shall we include Marshmallow recipes to our pages?’ There are fun recommendations, as well as more serious business insights 📊
9. Favourite place to relax at lunch?
If I’m working from home, I’ll take my pug, Peanut, out for a walk so I don’t get too distracted by Slack messages. I’m a proper foodie, so days in the office mean a trip down to the food market - I love looking at all the options 👀
10. Most-used emoji?
😂 - because my teammates are alway making ridiculous comments and having a laugh, they’re so much fun!
Fancy joining Maddy's team? Or just want to know more about working at Marshmallow? Head over to jobs page here.
