5 Ways to Maintain High Standards at a Fast-Paced Start-Up

by Michi Ferreol | Launchpad Programme Lead at ALX

To be the #1 Most Innovative Company in Africa, our teams at ALU and ALXhave had to move fast and iterate quickly. Most of us like to say that we are “building the plane as we fly it.”

Of course, this type of approach can, at times, be stress-inducing and result in varying levels of success. We have started and staffed projects that we’ve quickly had to scrap. We have also recruited and hired people whose job descriptions changed within a month of their arrival. Moving fast oftentimes has these side-effects.

At the same time, though, this nimble and agile approach has been our secret sauce to staying ahead of the game and delivering improvements efficiently. This was how we were able to receive accreditation in Rwanda and launch ALX in Kenya — both in under 6 months.

So how do we manage these trade-offs as a fast-paced start-up? How do we deliver quickly and efficiently but also maintain high standards of quality?

#1: Establish principles that allow your team members to prioritize.

At the beginning of our time together, our ALX team jointly decided on a set of principles to underlie and guide our work. We knew that we would soon get caught up in the flurry of day-to-day execution, and that these principles would be useful to return to in the most hectic moments.

One of these principles was to “think at scale”. Tied to this was a reminder to “minimize cost”. Because of these two principles, conversations around program events always highlight the need to be budget-efficient, which thus forces us to prioritize our must-haves. Recently, this helped us make the decision to cut-out certain decorations from our graduation budget to prioritize for better food. It also helped us make a decision to train our Young Leaders in facilitation to prepare them to run our admissions and recruitment experiences, which is crucial as we grow to bigger and bigger cohorts.

These principles ease decision-making for the team but also ensure that everyone is aligned in their priorities. This keeps quality high where it matters.

#2: Have conversations with radical candor.

Without the luxury of time, it has been crucial for our teams to be honest and upfront about the status of our different projects and responsibilities and, more importantly, how we feel about our progress. We do this through frequent team check-ins and 1:1 conversations with our managers. Speaking with this radical candor and openness has helped us flag and raise important issues that would have otherwise gone unaddressed.

Earlier this year, for instance, we made the decision to move our program start date by a few weeks after several team members expressed feeling unprepared and anxious for the big launch. The extra time allowed us some space to breathe and get some kinks ironed out, which led to a much smoother launch.

In addition to conversations around project progress, we also make it a point to practice radical candor around providing individual feedback. If a team member is behaving in a way that does not contribute to the team morale and dynamic, or if they are not pulling their weight, this feedback is provided swiftly and actionably through peer or manager 1:1s. These conversations center around methods for improvement, which contribute to maintaining high standards and the overall performance of the team.

#3: Celebrate small wins or unseen efforts.

One of the biggest dangers with moving too quickly is failing to recognize when tiny bouts of progress are made. At ALX, we make an effort to celebrate small wins, not only to recognize forward movement but also to fuel team spirit.

Our weekly team meeting, called our “Weekly Review”, always begins with celebrations. These include celebrating those who planned events that were held in the last week or those who are pursuing special projects outside of their regular workstreams. We also celebrate marriages, honeymoons, and new babies. We celebrate each other as professionals but also as people.

Recognizing the “invisible efforts” of certain members of the team highlights their hard work and signals what is important to the team. It also models the level of work expected from the team and raises the bar for quality.

#4: Give your team the time and space to do the three R’s: Reset, Reenergize, Reflect.

No matter how strong and resilient our team is, the constant sprint of working at ALU or ALX can take its toll, leaving us tired and in need of a vacation. The organization trusts that we know their bodies and emotions well enough to ask for a period of leave if we really need it. As long as our main responsibilities are accounted for, we are able to take this time freely.

After realizing that I had not taken time off since I started working at ALX last July, my manager encouraged me to take a week to reset. Members of our Entrepreneurship and Leadership facilitator team have also done an incredible job in covering for each other and alternating “leave weeks” — allowing them to deliver their work to high standards whilst also caring for their own wellbeing.

Other than vacation, we have also instituted regular rhythms for retrospectives and retreats, which provide time for the entire team to collectively reset, reenergize and reflect.

#5: Slow down.

It seems counterintuitive to being a fast-paced start-up, but slowing down has been an incredibly underrated and underused tactic for us in maintaining high standards. Coupled with knowing what to prioritize, taking the time to be more thoughtful and deliberate has helped us not only do, but do with quality.

We could have begun our Work-Study Program earlier in our 6-month timeline — we certainly needed the manpower, and our Young Leaders were itching for opportunities to get engaged with the community. Instead, we decided to take the time to fully assess our intern needs across the organization and launched the program in the third month. The time allowed us to map out our priorities, engage managers on their needs, and even build a robust onboarding process.

Slowing down also ensures that the community has the time to meet the organization where it is at. As the famous African proverb goes: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Michi Ferreol was born and bred in the Philippines, educated in the United States, and is currently residing in Kenya. She is an educator, a designer, and an aspiring entrepreneur…but also a foodie, bookworm and travel writer. If you would like to reach her, she would love to hear from you at michi.ferreol@gmail.com.