Three ideas. Take what's relevant.
1. Scaling
The start-up to scale-up phase is the last stretch where changing direction is cheap.
Pivot at a startup and it costs a meeting. Pivot in a large scale up and it costs a restructure.
I worked at a startup where the roles, titles, and direction changed every six months. It was fast paced yet everyone adapted. It worked because communication was excellent from the founders.
Before your next change (big or small), recognise who is affected, what they'll hear from you, and when.
If they'd find out about it in a corridor, you've left it too late.
2. Onboarding
Onboarding is the first true experience a customer has of your company. In many businesses it's handled by whoever has spare capacity.
If a dedicated onboarding team feels like too big a leap, then start smaller.
Offer one person the project of being accountable for the first 90 days of every new customer.
Note the learnings, see what they'd do differently if it was their whole job, and measure the customer impact.
Use the information to make a decision on a dedicated role.
3. Transition
I went through an acquisition where a close-knit UK team of 50 became a global team of 250 overnight. Processes, products, teams, management, priorities, and personalities all had to merge.
If I went through that again, these would be my priorities:
Find out who decides what. Don't assume the old chain of command survived. Ask early, and ask more than one person.
Keep your customers steady. They didn't choose this change. Tell them what stays the same before you tell them what's new.
Build new relationships in the first month. Find people in the wider team who can explain how things really work from their point of view, how that impacts your role and team, and build a partnership going forward.
If you need more detailed mentoring, read about my coaching style, hear direct from my clients, and book in a discovery call to see if we’re a good match.
