The Noblest Route to Wisdom
(according to Confucius anyway – and who am I to argue!)
January is often considered to be the most depressing and miserable time of the year. Yes the parties are over and you probably spent too much money over the holidays, leaving you a bit short. But, for me, early January at least, is a fantastic opportunity to pause and reflect on the year gone by and the journey ahead.
2013 in the world of Skills Hive was a whirlwind year, we were officially recognised as a Sexy Start-up, embraced a huge amount of activity and even though some of it seemed to be taking us a little off course, it all led to more opportunity and further potential collaboration.
At the beginning of the year we had a pretty clear picture of what our hopes, dreams and plans looked like for the next 12 months. While we knew it was important to remain adaptable a lot of time and effort went into setting goals and objectives.
In addition to continuing the initiatives from the year before, that were mainly focused on growing the number and quality of worker profiles, we also wanted to spend more time engaging larger business users. There were 3 main objectives…
– Sell subscriptions / solutions to larger businesses
The financial model was originally designed on the premise that businesses were ready to build their own project teams and manage them through the Skills Hive dashboard. While a number of innovative micro businesses were already thinking in this way, the majority of companies we found need time and guidance to develop their approach to project management and agile recruitment. So, while we didn’t sell subscriptions to businesses we were able to adapt our model to provide more in the way of training, consultancy and hands on project management during this phase of our business life cycle.
– Build bespoke versions of Skills Hive under licence
Having identified a number of interested parties the year before, we expected 2013 to see one or two white label versions of the Skills Hive system set up. As those discussions progressed it became clear that this approach was not necessarily the best way forward. While white labelling was a pretty standard approach in the 20th Century, we now believe that enabling individual users to curate their own cross platform experiences is a more appropriate and “future proof” model for 21st Century agile business.
– Upgrade dashboard tools
User feedback had helped us draw up a strong development roadmap which included the introduction of more search options and more significant changes to the way specific tasks could be delegated and tracked. However, the plan was to deliver these within the bespoke version development where they were also requirements specified by clients so as not to duplicate effort. As the bespoke builds were delayed and then cancelled the introduction of these elements has rolled over into the New Year. The good news is that the time spent discussing and exploring the options allowed us to evolve our thinking around the role of the dashboard and the integration of other existing tools via APIs, such as shared drives etc that exist on other platforms.
What actually happened was far more exciting than the plan (which is usually the way things work out!) This was fine because we have a clear understanding of our vision – “We help people find meaningful project work so that business is more adaptable and sustainable” – and can ensure that everything we do contributes towards this mission.
– Moved into a tech business incubator & got actively involved with a movement in Croydon
As video is such an important element of the Skills Hive system we jumped at the chance to apply for a place within the Ravensbourne business incubator. This not only gave us access to all the amazing facilities on offer (which we have been making good use of!) but also placed us at the centre of a vibrant community of tech companies within an innovative and forward thinking educational institution (that was also a prospective client!)
But you don’t have to join just one community in this world, we belong to many and one of the most pro-active and capable movements we are a part of is definitely Croydon Tech City. We got to present the Skills Hive solution at the July event and were also invited to debate the future of start-up employment contributing to a special report submitted to Government focusing on what can be done to address skills shortages.
– Secured training and project management contracts building on consultancy offering
We created lots of additional opportunity for workers in the Skills Hive this year by taking on more hands on Project Management, building teams for clients and managing the delivery of their projects through to completion and review.
The largest and most complex was undoubtedly the Slenky + Sony Take Your Shot Campaign that involved regional teams of freelancers and students as well as cross functional working with Sony and their marketing agencies.
In the IT arena we have formed several international teams of developers led by UK systems architects and account leads to build and upgrade a number of sites including ExPat Explore and the game changing Profit Through Ethics movement as they launched the Responsible 100 system as an engaging alternative to CSR “policy”.
Since the autumn our training courses are being rolled out for students at University of Greenwich under the Personal and Professional Development programme syllabus to help prepare undergraduates for a more fluid and project based employment market. At the same time we are launching our first workshops for businesses through the Ravensbourne Business Incubator, providing guidance for creating virtual team strategy that delivers revenue growth.
– Won funding award for collaborative project to develop wavelength matching
For some time we have been exploring the best way to help individuals and businesses find the right people to work with, communicating the subtleties of how they view and interact with the world in order to establish “best fit” for effective collaboration. Late on in 2012 I met Jazz Rasool and quickly established that he had already made amazing progress in this area. There was a clear match in our own wavelengths and so we began to look into how we could work together to develop a joint solution to take to market. Joined by another like minded business leader, Gavin Peacock, Skills Hive led the submission of an application for R&D funding through the excellent London Fusion initiative and the Resonance Trust was born!
So what’s the plan for 2014, I hear you cry, and how are you going to end up doing something else entirely! Well, we do have plans and we would be happy to end up adjusting them somewhat, just as long as it means we are helping more people find meaningful project work so that business is more adaptable and sustainable.
Long term that means…
– Refreshing the site and technology that sits behind it (including wavelength matching)
Applying what we have learned about the need to enable individuals to curate their own user experience across the tools and platforms they want to use, we will be architecting the next version of Skills Hive around API connectivity, setting up integrations and connectivity with the most innovative service providers on the web starting with the Resonance Trust.
Mid-term we want to
– Prove the concept for Skills Hive powered business incubators
Working with Goldsmiths University we plan to demonstrate the power of putting Skills Hive tools and methodology at the centre of a physical business hub, bringing together the virtual team strategy and personal professional development elements to support entrepreneurs and the people who want to work with them. The model we are designing for this will ensure more start-ups not only survive but thrive and grow into sustainable businesses, because of their agile and adaptable structure and resourcing plan.
What you can get involved in right now…
– Create or update your Skills Hive profiles to include video responses to live opportunities to join project teams
Once you have read the details about the roles you can prepare a short 60second piece to camera (just on your phone or laptop if need be) that demonstrates your understanding of the Trends affecting that industry and the role specifically, the potential Impact of those trends on the company, their Possible responses or options for dealing with the impacts and how your Skills could be the Solution they are looking for.
– Help test and develop the wavelength matching tool
As part of our funded research and development programme we are building test groups to help us refine the way we identify, communicate and match the wavelength of individuals, teams and even businesses. If you want to help please learn more on our project page and click on the links to register, follow the instructions and complete the online questionnaire to join us at the cutting edge of collaboration!
– Come and get social in person at one of our Skills Hive Swarms
The Swarm is an informal pop-up collaborative workspace hosted at London Universities. Feel free to drop-in for all or part of the day, take part in one of the organised sessions or just do your work in a new environment and chat with others over a coffee. The next one is in Greenwich on Thursday 23rd January, we’d love to see you there! Just head to the EventBrite page to register for FREE
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