As Asymmetric Applications Group pursues its 2026 growth plan, Mark Hope articulated a deliberate restructuring of how the team operates — moving away from a model where senior people (including Mark himself) absorb low-value tactical work, toward one where each role has a clearly defined focus area and a "floor" below which they should not operate.
This structure is designed to free Mark for business development and strategy, empower account managers as the primary client relationship owners, and establish Gilbert as the head of performance marketing.
Mark's role is explicitly scoped to two functions:
"My role needs to be two things: business development and strategy. And that's it."
Mark identified that he was spending significant time on tactical execution (HubSpot tasks, Salesforce work, website edits, email signatures) that should be delegated. This is treated as a structural problem, not a one-off issue — if Mark continues absorbing low-value work, new client acquisition stalls and revenue growth is at risk.
What Mark will provide to account managers:
- Strategic direction and the reasoning behind campaigns and initiatives
- Availability for client strategy reviews on request
- The why and what; the team figures out the how
Account managers are described as Mark's internal customers. Their responsibilities span:
"You are the most important people in the company. You are my customer. I need to make sure you have what you need from a strategy perspective."
Account managers are expected to be client-facing; specialists like Gilbert are primarily internal resources who brief account managers rather than leading client calls directly.
Gilbert has been elevated to lead all performance marketing, defined as any paid advertising channel:
Anup reports to Gilbert. Additional team members may be added to his reporting line as the team grows.
How account managers should work with Gilbert:
- Brief Gilbert before client calls to get a current read on campaign performance
- Use Gilbert as an internal expert, not a client-facing resource (unless a specific technical situation warrants it)
- Use AI tools (ChatGPT + exported Google Ads data) to independently analyze performance before or after consulting Gilbert
Below the account manager layer sits a delivery and support tier responsible for execution tasks that fall below the "floor" of senior team members. This includes:
The concept of the "frame" is central here: every team member has a floor (work beneath their skill level that wastes their time) and a focus zone (the work that actually creates value). Senior people should never do work below their floor — it should be delegated to junior staff, interns, or support roles.
Mark introduced a mental model for role clarity called the frame:
Example: Mark sending an email signature to a client is below his floor. It's fast for him to do, but normalizing it means he ends up spending hours per day on low-value tasks. The fix is a clear delegation path — not just willpower.
The goal is to raise everyone's floor over time as junior staff develop and processes are documented.
For this structure to work, several operational foundations need to be in place:
See also: [1] (if created)