July 16th, 2008 by Scott Annan
I just got back from an intensive two-day brainstorm / working retreat with the team up near Mount Tremblant in Quebec.
It’s difficult trying to make the best use of such a short period with everyone in the same physical location – it’s only happened one other time – at the beginning of this project – and it’s unlikely to happen again.
The highlights of the meetings:
- A lot of progress was made on how we integrate the customer management, customer portal, and team collaboration modules. We discussed where they overlap, and how we can ensure smooth transitions for all of the different roles of the people who will use the software.
- Huge progress in design. I think we have an excellent, innovative navigation and data structure model that will make it easy to find information quickly without feeling overwhelmed by the screens.
- Some killer features. Like a combo twitter-like IM / mobile notification and communication platform that is extended across the apps. Or a scrollable, graphical timeline view of all information about an account in the company section. I am really excited about some of the concepts that are playing out.
However, for me the biggest challenge and opportunity that came out of the last two days is how we are going to “name” the software. We came to a conclusion that we are not doing traditional CRM or support management – and that our software really “humanizes” the relationship that companies have with their customers. So we’re looking for a name that will reflect this.
Any ideas?
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July 13th, 2008 by Scott Lake
This is going to be a good week. The MG guys are all going to be in town for one last monster session before the final push in the development of the four products. This is where the designers and developers will start working together to deliver the most innovative CRM possible. I know that Scott A. and Mike will be interested in what the BV02 guys come up with on the UI side. I think that whatever it is, it is going to be amazing.
My job will be to walk everyone through the social media strategy surrounding the product launch and roll-out. The blog so far has been interesting but as the product becomes more real, we’ll be able to really pull the curtains back so you can see for yourself why we are so excited about this application. After all, seeing this application in its finished state is really what people want.
On the roll-out side, one of the things that I want to do is have MG present the new apps at as many community events as possible. Mostly at barcamps, democamps and meetups in almost any city. If you’re hosting one of these, I’ll likely be in touch soon.
Photo courtesy of Waspmeat
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July 7th, 2008 by Scott Annan
This morning Andrew and I had a breakthrough design session.
Despite weeks (months?) of him telling me he felt outside the development process and unable to insert himself in the project, and weeks of me responding EXACTLY the same way (”then change the process!”), I feel we broke past the communication barrier and established a new level of collaboration.
We’re starting to come up with some pretty fundamental and game-shifting ideas.
I’m not sure we could have gotten here sooner, but I feel like we could have. I think that if Andrew had asserted himself earlier by forcing these working sessions we could be two or three weeks ahead of where we are now.
But more importantly, if I had listened to what Andrew was trying to say, and tried answering differently, instead of saying the same thing louder, he may not have had to assert himself at all.
Teamwork is tough. Remote teamwork is even more tough. Remote teamwork with different skills and attitudes and priorities, and a really short timeline is really, really tough. With all the tools and processes in the world, its still hard to pull off.
Especially when you involve creative people!
Photo by instatick
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June 22nd, 2008 by jeff
Scott and I grabbed a quick sandwich at Goonies on Friday. A series of last-minute meetings and the need to deliver on a speech request (read: It’s 9:30, I need to see something from you by 3:30, but I can’t meet you until 11:00) had hijacked what was supposed to be a casual Friday after a long week.
In an abridged meeting, Scott and I talked applications, we talked community, we talked web site messaging and we talked blog.
The reality is that the ebb and flow of creative inspiration, work/life demands and basic motivation do not always contribute to a healthy writing process. But to get everything together by September and to keep people in the loop, we need steady production. For our plan to work – for our blog to work – the whole team needs to be turning out written material with regularity.
As we headed back to our respective afternoons Scott and I agreed that we would meet again on Sunday to bring Scott L into the discussion to brainstorm suggested topics and find ways to motivate and encourage each other.
Starting with no direction takes too much energy. If everyone has a few ideas to work from, we may be able to yield a higher return. It’s the blank page that’s the killer.
Sure brilliant ideas can come from nothing, but sometimes there’s a need to summon brilliance (or at least quality writing) when you’re just not feeling it. Having a defined topic, a critical path and a deadline can be incredibly motivating. This fact was crystal clear later that day as I hopped on my bike, having just hammered out two days worth of writing in three hours.
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June 4th, 2008 by jeff
We spent a lot of time talking about the right message for Mercury Grove’s splash page before there was much to show for it.
I think that this particular task took on serious significance for Scott A. There’s a lot riding on this call to action and so it needs to be just right. We need to hit the right chord with potential customers/ community members, find our voice and phrase it smoothly enough that readers won’t give it a second thought. It’s a lot to expect from 50 words.
With several discarded drafts, it’s easy to lose site of the progress being made – however incremental. Our meeting at Dunn’s was valuable – there’s nothing like blueskying over smoked meat on rye – but the more business-minded contingent of the group shot our idea to pieces before I was hungry again. First comes frustration, then comes perseverance.
Later that night, it took a shift in thinking and a 45-minute conversation with Scott A. to brainstorm a new direction. We still had nothing concrete, but we knew what might work. Scott wanted to bounce the idea off a few people.
Working this problem through has been purley collaborative. There are a lot of really strong writers working together so a bit of a defined approach might tighten up the way we work through drafts.
That said, all this stop-start contributes to an intimate appreciation of who we are, what we do and how we’re going to tell people about it. Try having the same high-level conversation 20 times over, but explaining it in a different way with different vocabulary each time and you’ll see what I mean.
I understand Mercury Grove more today than I did yesterday. And I’ve been saying that since day one.
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June 1st, 2008 by Scott Lake
Since we are getting really close to the official re-launch of the MG site and the re-design of the MG blog, Jeff Meldrum, Scott Annan and I got together to go over the final messaging for both sites. Not having a background in communications, this process was a bit new to me. It was great to listen to Jeff because he is a pro and does the communications for some many big wigs around Ottawa. Even though we are talking about maybe two paragraphs of text, those words mean something and it is a lot of work to write exactly what you mean.
Like most MG meetings, this one was full of “thundering brainstorming” and the ideas were flying back and forth at a high rate of speed. We chose, Dunn’s Deli in downtown Ottawa for the meet. It’s a pretty old school place which is good for these types of discussions because no one thinks any different of three guys in a heated / passionate discussion over a smoked meat sandwich. Check the sites out on Monday and you should see the fruits of our labour.
UPDATE: Scott Annan is obviously working on the weekend because when I saved this post, the new design was up.
If you want to see more pics of the meeting or other MG pics, check out our flickr site
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May 22nd, 2008 by Scott Lake
The one frustrating thing about working with social media companies that is that alot of them are not very social when it comes to customer service. Setting up a simple Linkedin group for Mercury Grove is a great example of this. It begins with filling in a short form that describes the group you are setting up. Ok simple enough. I fill it in and am told that my group will be reviewed shortly and to stay tuned. I thought that was interesting at the time since it introduced a social component to the sign up. That means a "real person" was going to review what I submitted and make a decision about it.
I was really surprised when a day later I got an email saying that the group was rejected. The email was from a "real person"and said that the group was rejected because…
LinkedIn reserves the right not to accept applications from groups that do not have an existing member base or affinity or that do not serve a business or professional purpose.
Come on, I’m creating a group based around a company that wants to connect with current and potential new clients – how does this not serve a business or professional purpose. So I thought ok, at least I have someone that I can write back to and plead my case with. So I put together a nicely worded email explaining again what we are doing and that it serves both a business and professional purpose. The response was automated saying that a service professional will be in touch sometime and that my Question Reference number is 080739-001073. So much for social.
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May 21st, 2008 by Scott Annan
Today marks the end of the first month. We’re now one quarter of the way into our “project” to launch four apps in four months. We’ve spent weeks preparing strategy, building wireframes, discussing tactics, and creating code (lots of code). Specifically we have:
- Defined the team and roles and responsibilities
- Defined 80% of product specs through our software design methodology
- Defined a launch strategy
- Developed 80% of the code for one application
- Refined our existing Collaboration software (to launch next week)
It’s a great start, but we’re still short on some core areas:
- Finalized Project Plan
- Brand platform definition
- Marketing copy
Our new site will launch before the end of the week and we’ll start our communication blitz next week – which will add a lot more pressure to the team. Already everyone is running at 100% on various projects – the next three months will require clearly defined deliverables and first-class prioritization from everyone for us to achieve our goal of “Outrageous Success”.
The other ingredient we’ll need is a lot more positive momentum. A groundswell. I believe that success – in business and in life – is based on momentum. It’s hard to stop something that is accelerating quickly, or on a steep decline.
One month into this project I am optimistic, but we really need to accelerate. Now it’s time to regroup, go public, and continue moving – faster.
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