How to get your team’s week off to a good start

The iGi is a research institute focusing on the development of new forms of business management. It offers training and consulting. The institute specializes in holacracy, a method of management and governance which allows an entity to organize itself, wherein each stakeholder can contribute to the organization without passing through a traditional hierarchy or organizational structure.

Margaux uses Klaxoon to deliver training sessions. She was very quickly won over by the platform’s interactive and people-centered nature, and has now started using Brainstorms and the Weekly Template to run weekly meetings for her team.

See how Margaux uses Klaxoon to start the week right with her team:

Use the Brainstorm to recreate a “chat around the water cooler” atmosphere

Margaux Chiquet is part of a five-person team. Two team members work remotely from Brittany, while the other three are based in the west of Paris.For an efficient remote work, Margaux felt it was important to keep the whole team pulling in the same direction, and she needed a collaborative tool that was easy for team members to begin using remotely. To kindle team spirit and reproduce a “chat around the water cooler” atmosphere, Margaux and her team have put in place a weekly kick-off meeting. Every Monday morning at 9.15am, they meet by videoconference for a maximum of 30 minutes, using the weekly meeting Brainstorm.

When you’re working remotely, you miss out on those chats around the water cooler, you don’t get that informal interaction. Meetings are often deadly serious and no one talks about what’s not working. Klaxoon boosts our team spirit, gets the week off to a good start, and most importantly puts us all on the same page.

Margaux Chiquet, partner and co-director, Institut iGi

Margaux opened a Klaxoon Brainstorm to check how her teammates were feeling, but also to align priorities, lift any barriers, share useful little pieces of information and, above all, to start the week with a boost of energy.

She set up her framework in six simple stages by using the toolbar to create dedicated spaces: rectangles and text to outline zones, imported images for the instructions and the week’s illustration, and photos of each team member to identify their own spaces.

Motivate the team and boost energy levels on Monday morning

Drawing on the principles of holacracy, Margaux begins and ends her kick-off meetings with a check-in round to find out how everyone is feeling.She starts the online meeting with an icebreaker featuring an emotion wheel with a wide range of the feelings people can experience.Before the meeting, each team member adds an idea to their photo and places it next to the emotion which best describes it. During the meeting, they take it in turns to explain their choices.A final check-in round is used to close the meeting. This is an opportunity for the team to give feedback to improve the next meeting. Everyone uses the emoticon bank created by Margaux to show whether their energy levels are higher, lower or the same as before the meeting.

We align our energy and that makes us feel like a united team, even though we’re working remotely.

Margaux Chiquet, partner and co-director, Institut iGi.

Update the team on each person’s workload and the week’s challenges

After a check-in round to gauge the team's mood, it’s time to talk about each person’s workload. Each team member sends an idea with their photo, using a color code specific to the team, ranging from green to red according to their workload. This means that everyone is aware of colleagues’ workloads and can adapt their requests accordingly.

Because the system is so visual, a quick glance at the Brainstorm board shows everyone where the team is up to. It also means that someone with a lighter workload can offer to help a colleague.

Margaux Chiquet, partner and co-director, Institut iGi.

Along the same lines, a period of time is spent discussing the week’s challenges and each person’s projects. The idea is not to list everything the person intends to do, but to understand their concerns for the week. On the top line of the table, for instance, we can very easily see Louis’s priority projects. Once Louis has finished speaking, the rest of the team has the opportunity to ask him about his choices. If necessary, his priorities might be adjusted to make sure that everyone is in step.

Team members use the Brainstorm board to present their projects for the week. Everyone has a chance to talk and feels involved in the projects under way across the company. Nothing is hidden, everyone knows exactly who is doing what. That makes it easier to manage each person’s needs, and above all to move forward together.

We realized that we’re much more productive when we explain our challenges for the week. It really makes sure we all have our priorities straight, motivates us and keeps us working on the projects that are important for the company.

Margaux Chiquet, partner and co-director, Institut iGi

The Brainstorm also includes an area for sharing information. It is a very quick way of keeping everyone up to date (the whole meeting lasts just 30 minutes). It can be used to celebrate the signing of a new contract, flag up an important client meeting, remind colleagues about holiday dates or simply to share a piece of information that is useful for the whole team.

Team rituals build connections

When we work remotely, building connections takes more effort. Messages can seem overly direct and be taken the wrong way when people are working alone and communicate only in writing. A visual platform such as the Klaxoon Brainstorm and a videoconference add a more personal dimension, make for smoother communication and simply connect the team together.

It really builds team spirit and connections between people. Before, I was working remotely, on my own, and I could start and even finish my Monday without any contact with the team. With Klaxoon and our new team ritual, those days are gone!

Margaux Chiquet, partner and co-director, Institut iGi

During the meeting, Margaux and her team can also access a “helping hand” area. If someone has a problem or an issue that the group can help with, they express it as an Idea, with their name attached, and drop it in the “helping hand” area.

This Brainstorm really has helped us recreate this team spirit and sense of helping each other out. We support each other for the good of the business.

Margaux Chiquet, partner and co-director, Institut iGi

This synchronization meeting is an opportunity both to tackle issues that can be dealt with on the spot and to identify subjects that will require more time and therefore dedicated meetings.

Because we discuss our needs at the beginning of the week, each person can start work having lifted any barriers they were facing and schedule meetings during the week with the rest of the team.

Margaux Chiquet, partner and co-director, Institut iGi

Get your week off to a good start with the Klaxoon Brainstorm.Use the Weekly Template to put your whole team in synch in less than 30 minutes!