Join a small team, make a big impact

Drawing on my experience of building and running small teams, I'm going to share a few ideas on how to make yourself immensely valuable inside a startup or small team.

Transcript

1. Join a small team Make a big impact
2. Andy Higgs Co-founder + COO Akkroo Designer + Developer @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
3. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk How to be insanely valuable
4. Don’t be a jet, be a rocket @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
5. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Some Things I’ve Learnt in Life
6. 1 @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk 1
7. Don’t run with scissors @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
8. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk 2 2
9. For best results, colour inside the lines @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
10. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk 3 3
11. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
12. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk APPLE CRUMBLE
13. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk NOT SO GOOD
14. You’ll end up eating what you make so make sure it tastes good. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
15. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk How To Apply This Lesson
16. Lead capture for businesses who exhibit at events.
17. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk $0 $1m $10m $100m Find Product/ Market Fit Growth Hypergrowth
18. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
19. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Role Buddy Culture Buddy Leader Buddy New Team Member
20. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk YOU ? PRODUCT SALES MARKETING
21. 3 STEPS TO ADDING IMMENSE VALUE @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
22. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Envision the best case result Apply your team values Involve others
23. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Envision the best case result Apply your team values Involve others
24. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
25. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
26. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Dull Awesome
27. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Envision the best case result Apply your team values Involve others
28. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Culture is the soft stuff that fills the gaps between the hard work done by everyone in your team.
29. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Values are a great way of helping to distill a culture into something expressable, which allows you to communicate it quickly and easily.
30. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
31. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Use values as acceptance criteria.
32. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk “Every company has a culture. The only question is whether or not you decide what it is.” Jason Cohen - WP Engine
33. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Envision the best case result Apply your team values Involve others
34. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
35. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Limited Rich
36. EXAMPLE @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk What does new team member onboarding at Akkroo look like now?
37. EXAMPLE What does new team member onboarding at Akkroo look like now? @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Sandro
38. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Role Culture Lead New Akkroomate
39. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Envision the best case result Apply your team values Involve others
40. • Quickly get new team mates up to speed • Enable them to become effective quickly • Setup good, tight feedback loops • Demonstrate & share our values • Make it enjoyable! @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk What does on-boarding success look like?
41. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Envision the best case result Apply your team values Involve others
42. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk MAKE AN IMPACT
43. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk MAKE AN IMPACT
44. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk USE JUDGEMENT
45. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk BE CURIOUS + INNOVATE
46. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk BUILD TRUST
47. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk BUILD TRUST
48. Culture & Values chat Team introductions @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk EMBRACE THE JOURNEY
49. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Envision the best case result Apply your team values Involve others
50. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
51. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
52. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Envision the best case result Apply your team values Involve others
53. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk The results?
54. In the previous 12 months half our team changed 20% never made it through the first 6 months 50% @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
55. Since we implemented this 12 months ago, zero people who started on-boarding have not made it to the end 100% @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
56. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Onboarding was super useful. I would say “friendly challenging”, because there were lots of thing to do and setup, but it was detailed like a friendly tutorial. Everyone seemed eager to help too, which was nice. “
57. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Key Takeaways
58. Lots of opportunities to apply this! How you do customer development calls How you market new product features How you roll out new software across the team How you develop an team engineering manual How the meetings in your week are structured @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
59. Become insanely valuable. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Add immense value.
60. Choose your ingredients wisely. Create richer results by engaging others. Know & apply your cultural values for greater outcomes. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
61. Be deliberate. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
62. I am not saying this is the only way. Just one way. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk
63. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk In a startup you have to eat what you make.
64. @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk akkroo.com THANKS
65. Apple Crumble - http://www.freeimages.co.uk/galleries/food/dessert/slides/apple_crumble.htm Ruined Jesus - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/world/europe/botched-restoration-of-ecce-homo-fresco-shocks-spain.html Headless Figure - https://www.flickr.com/photos/75752531@N00/66883761 - CC 2.0 Badly coloured cat - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mononukleoza/4500199835/ - CC 2.0 Baby face - https://faceriot.wordpress.com/category/sour-face/ Sunil - buffer.com NASA @aajhiggs andyhiggs.uk Credits & Image Licences