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It has been a privilege to be part of the @Timely team for a number of years, but especially recently.
Here are three lessons I’ve learned from the challenges this year...
https://twitter.com/ryanbakernz/status/1285037844784795649
Here are three lessons I’ve learned from the challenges this year...
https://twitter.com/ryanbakernz/status/1285037844784795649
1) Bury your old plans
2020 was on track to be an exciting year for the business. But the future we imagined was never real (ht @GracefulLillian). When the reality in front of us changed we has to quickly put those plans behind us.
2020 was on track to be an exciting year for the business. But the future we imagined was never real (ht @GracefulLillian). When the reality in front of us changed we has to quickly put those plans behind us.
Doing this immediately meant the team spent very little energy mourning what was “lost”, so the work to be done got our full attention.
Ironically, the new path may end up being even more positive than what we had previously planned. Time will tell.
Ironically, the new path may end up being even more positive than what we had previously planned. Time will tell.
2) Talk straight
By aggregating forward booking data as the world shut down we saw the size of the problem ahead.
Rather than hide from that, we shared it publicly. I know lots of people in the sector found that incredibly useful as they worked on their own response.
By aggregating forward booking data as the world shut down we saw the size of the problem ahead.
Rather than hide from that, we shared it publicly. I know lots of people in the sector found that incredibly useful as they worked on their own response.
We did the same thing internally: a simple graph showing the revenue impact and the level we needed to stay above to avoid worse outcomes was updated and shared with the whole team regularly.
Giving everybody the information they needed to make good decisions was key.
Giving everybody the information they needed to make good decisions was key.
Btw, @Timely have been early adopters of @allhandshq, a new tool that lets you pre-record short video updates that your team can watch on their own schedule - an efficient way of keeping everybody in the loop, especially when they can’t all be in the same room at the same time.
3) Lift together
@ryanbakernz’s plan was “everybody to be affected a little so that nobody had to be affected a lot”.
Delightfully it encouraged everybody in the team to look for ways to contribute, even in unexpected places. Collaboration has created an uplift of its own.
@ryanbakernz’s plan was “everybody to be affected a little so that nobody had to be affected a lot”.
Delightfully it encouraged everybody in the team to look for ways to contribute, even in unexpected places. Collaboration has created an uplift of its own.
It’s premature to say “mission accomplished”. Timely has customers around the world. We can’t just rely on successful response to COVID in NZ. The future is still uncertain.
But it’s worth celebrating the position we’re in: looking forward with excitement rather than fear. /fin
But it’s worth celebrating the position we’re in: looking forward with excitement rather than fear. /fin
