Week 8 (2019)

Now that we have covered many of the essential building blocks of your startup, it is time to turn our attention to the most important piece of them all: YOU! A startup simply does not exist without the individuals who are starting the new organization. At this moment in time, you, the founders, are the most important thing to your startup. This week we will help you align as individuals, and as a team. We are going to encourage you to have deep, sometimes difficult, conversations with each other. Our goal this week is to give you some best practices on how to have meaningful conversations with your team.

This week's content is organized a bit differently. For best results, have everyone on your team read through the content in its entirety, and then select one person to facilitate a team meeting (this week's assignment), following the steps outlined below. For individuals without a team, identify a few mentors or coaches who will be willing to do this activity with you.

1) Setting the context & ground rules

Before you start any meeting, it is important to for everyone to understand why you are meeting. What is the purpose of this meeting? What do you hope to accomplish? You should also set some ground rules, such as; during this meeting we will not be checking email, we will not speak over each other, and we will refrain from assigning blame.

We encourage you to meet this week to talk about your team. Some goals you may want to achieve include learning how to work best with each other, identifying how much time and energy you can each commit to the startup, and understanding your varying levels of commitment.

3) Sharing your strengths

Great job at sharing your purpose, and understanding where others on your team are coming from. Now, let's switch gears to talk about work your different work styles. To do so, make sure everyone on your team has completed the High 5 Test and knows their strengths. As a group, share and discuss your strengths with each other. How do your strengths complement each other? How may they cause conflict? How can you leverage each others strengths to build your startup? Do your team's strengths align with your different roles and responsibilities?

4) Identifying your weaknesses

The conversation about strengths will likely transition into a conversation about weaknesses. Use this time to talk about things that drain your energy. More often than not, one of your team members will gladly step up to take over that action!

At this point you can also state things that bother you, but don't point fingers! Practice by saying: "When _____ happens, I feel _________ because _______, and I would prefer for _______ to happen instead."

For example, you may get annoyed when someone does not respond to your email or text. This is a great opportunity to bring that up, but make sure you offer a solution! The conversation might go like this: "When I do not receive an email response, I feel frustrated because I am not able to get my work done. I would prefer if we figure out a better communication system or procedure. Perhaps we can start using Slack?"

PRO TIP: If things start to get too heated, reset the conversation by acknowledging why you are having this conversation. Don't lose sight of your collective purpose!

5) Setting your rituals

Now that you are wrapping up your meeting, take some time to acknowledge your "rituals", or come up with some new ones! We have found that rituals (or traditions) are an incredibly important part of starting a startup. By setting these rituals early, and practicing them often, you will be creating a solid culture for your team. It is important that ALL team members take part in these rituals - no excuses!

Some examples of rituals you may want to start include:

• Weekly team meeting to check in about the status of work, and plan for the week ahead

  • • Side note - We have found this to be one of the top things any young startup can implement. Remember, no excuses!

• Monthly celebration of successes and failures

• Quarterly volunteer event at a local non-profit

• Yearly report to friends, family, supporters, and customers

6) Taking next steps

You did it! You held a successful (maybe at times hard) team meeting. We encourage you to continue to have these conversations, especially as you grow your startup and encounter rough spots along the way.

To close out this week's content, consider some of the following next steps:

• How will you ensure you follow through on what you commit to as a team?

  • • We will briefly address this in Week 10 when we talk about incorporating as a company. There are some legal protections you will need to put in place, namely in an operating agreement.

• Do you need to recruit any new team members?

  • • There is no right answer about where or how to find new teammates. Our best suggestion is to network locally, and try to identify someone with complementary strengths and experiences to your own.

• Take a break! You have been all working crazy hard! Spend some time outdoors to refresh and inspire you so that you continue to push things forward.