Start-up Rockfeather in Rotterdam had the guts to ask Heartcore to develop a team session for their quarterly meetup, specifically with the goal of finding and creating a feedback method that works for them and the stage they are at. With a team of 20 young and ambitious professionals, Agavni made sure they didn’t copy and pasted other feedback methods, but to truly tap into their own creative abilities, their deeper connection with their diverse cultural backgrounds, and step into the space of sparking open-minded conversations that matter. And from there create their own concept.
Teamwork comes with growth pains
And then, how do you truly respond to that? What if you are a start-up and your ambition is to grow to a scale-up within a few years? How do you lead that in a way that the entire team will be successful in their endeavors? What if your team is young, the average age of around 25 and you all find it difficult to leave the humoristic side of dealing with daily challenges – between people, between teams, to deal with all challenges within and outside yourself that occur in relation to your company clients.
How to leave the Terrorist Lane? Inspired by the know-how of Deep Democracy it is a courageous act, to be truly honest about where you stand as a team, and then to investigate what is blocking you from stepping into that scary space: having real conversations, how to actually be able to give and receive feedback, empowering each other, doing what needs to be done, saying what needs to be said, and inviting the voices that aren’t heard.
Playground and insights
Some exercises are too simple to be true, but not easy to do. Frustrating, humorous too, but truly wonderful to do as a team. And when you make one small change so that the team ends up on the same frequency, and people get to their goal then magic happens. People are in awe. They really cannot believe it happened. And you can see that in this video. People are dying, because the process is so frustrating, scary in a funny way, and ambitious, a lot is happening at that moment. This is a way to integrate learnings, to see it for yourself, to feel what teamwork on the same frequency – or not – really means.
This is the fun part of facilitating everything about teamwork and getting people to that magic moment. Watch these 3 videos to see the process of hilarious frustration, humor, discussion, and more. Until the 3rd. Just one little small change made them successful in the end. What do you think made them successful?
Experiencing true companionship inspired by the Special Forces Approach
What makes a team a team? When do you really get each other back? How do you connect to that feeling while building your legacy, while growing your company, while being freaking busy for clients and don’t have a lot of time for the nitty-gritty-shitty details? There is a lot at stake when you are developing your organizational culture, no matter how long you exist or how big or small you are.
It is all about people and ‘how you do yourself’ within your team and culture. How you act, respond and communicate (in all its possible ways) says a lot about yourself, your team, and your culture. Team Rockfeather was open to experiencing an out-of-their-comfort zone event as a team. So we decided to ask ex-commando Patrick van der Vlies owner of RPTC Tactical and Fitness to facilitate physical exercises that relate to team performance. Together with his colleague and coach Lucien van der Sander – who is also a sports instructor at Koninklijke Landmacht, they integrated the core essence of team performance based on the special forces know-how and way of working.
Being uncomfortable together as a team creates a real bond
This team was really pushed to its boundaries. They helped each other move forward. They shifted from surviving as individuals to surviving the hardship as a team. Experiencing what teamwork – in this form – really asks from you. They made a beautiful after-movie of it, watch it here. They are gaining ground as a successful start-up and now truly see and feel the benefits of empowering each other at least through feedback that they have designed and created in their own unique Rockfeather way.
More info about this amazing start-up, visit: rockfeather.com & check RPTC Tactical and Fitness out too. From now on a true Heartcore partner in crime 🙂