What:
The triumphs and learnings from a last minute redesign for an intentionally virtual cohort.
Why:
The chaos of the deep pandemic had given us a false sense of complacency as our stakeholders joyfully participated in a StartX-like experience. Now the incoming founders were no longer stuck at home. While they did not want an in-person experience, the convenience of virtual participation had been thoroughly proven. Wanting and overtly human experience and the visceral return on engagement that StartX was known for over the internet was a valid expectation that it was StartX's job to fulfill.
How:
Initially, part of the change was simple as I was able to follow the same steps I had taken to successfully redesign a standalone experience. When running an in-person experience, navigating the peaks and troughs of an experience is easier. The curves on the graph are insulated by the 'social noise' coming from the participants. Noise that zoom filters out for better or worse. Comparatively, every second in a virtual experience carries more weight. Every participant has the option to leave an event at the touch of a button and use their time for a better purpose. Successfully orchestrating an experience requires taking a microscope to participant needs and uncovering and thinking about the levers that move cognitive and emotional movements in a very mechanical way. The current onboarding process did not dive deeply enough into the nuances, so my first step was scheduling 1:1 with founders. As I prepared for my interviews, I had several goals for the conversation. I needed to understand who these people were, not just members of the founding team but as individuals. As people that had lived through a pandemic and had developed their own likes and dislikes about virtual experiences. As people who were as responsible as I was for making the cohort experience a success. The significance of this conversation was not only what information I ended up with, but how I framed the questions.
Trough:
While I threw everything I had into smoothing out the founder experience. Thanks to this, my last-minute request for additional time got a record level of engagement. However, my approach to managing the change experience of my team was sorely lacking. I was so confident that this team that had been through so many high-pressure situations would once again lean into the change. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, I thought that the logic behind this decision would be compelling for everyone. My peers who had been part of strategic discussions wanted to do everything they could to support me. However, "we are doing this because we cannot afford not to," is not necessarily compelling to individual contributors, no matter how mission-aligned they are. Not taking time to intentionally communicate around the value of the change at all levels of the organization was essentially asking team members to care more about the group success over personal success. This is a luxury that I now know not to count on in a volatile ever. Proactively sharing how lack of action could affect headcount would have saved so much time.
Peak:
In contrast to my communication, my day-to-day work choices did a much better job of inviting team members to understand change at their own pace. It was a reminder that not all change management techniques need to be made from scratch. This is best illustrated by the 'Design Room.' One way I change-manage myself is transferring the vision from the digital ether to the physical. Commandeering a conference room, I put the pictures of every single founder I had spoken with on the wall. We all do our best work when we remember who we are doing it for. Visitors to the room easily understood how my inconvenient decision aligned with our "founders, first, at all cost" mission. As the insights from founders began to shape my sense of what about the 11 weeks had to change, I tacked up a service design blueprint on the other walls, showing the changes I needed and what that involved for stakeholders on the backend. This facilitated a much better understanding all around. Incidentally, eleventh-hour conversations with concerned board members were more productive when held with those who had spent time in the physical space.
Outcomes:
Despite, the tight timeline, pushing to create this change was the right decision. It packaged the StartX experience in a way that could deliver the heart of the community, across the internet without elements getting lost. Areas that I am the most proud of are:
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A new orientation that forced each involved stakeholder, whether cohort, staff member, or partner to show their best and most real self while reducing zoom fatigue.
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An icebreaker that mechanically recreated the act of being yourself in a room.
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Tuesdays with Joseph, weekly 15 minutes with the CEO to learn about another aspect of how to leverage the community.
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A prioritization and time management neighborhood "small group" that the leads told me was the best the had ever facilitated.
Learnings:
1. It is never a good time to change. Given this, it can be helpful to prepare for the initial conversation by imagining from each stakeholder's perspective on when would have or will be the right time. My guesses will prepare me to be more empathetic.
2. Hunt down the hidden stakeholders. These are the people that are too busy and too important to care about what I am doing. At some point, they may care in a hugely disruptive way, and that is a change I want to be prepared to manage.
3. being the biggest champion of a past change is no indication of someone's current ability to implicitly accept more change. There are too many variables in the equation of who trusts me enough to uproot the norm. I will always plan for everyone to need help and let myself be happily surprised.
Final Note:
While this project was my last initiative before I left StartX to begin my own career change management journey, the 'Design Room' continues to exist. It turns out that looking at the faces of real founders and sitting under a granular play-by-play of how StartX delivers value helps potential partners understand what makes working with StartX different.
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