Organization Activation Case Study | Postcard Travel Club
In January 2024, Postcard Travel Club had confidence in the value it was creating for both the partner community, which had grown to 71 properties across 23 countries, as well as the community of +2,500 conscious travelers that we had built. The foundation had been established in terms of getting the “right people in the room” who were values-aligned, and now it was time to shift towards strengthening the organization’s ability to deliver on the next phase of the concept, which included continued growth of the community, enhanced user experience, increased engagement with the platform, all to build towards launching a number of revenue streams. Based upon this, I stepped in with my background in Organizational Development and working with other start-ups who were preparing to scale, to help activate the organizational capacity of the Postcard Travel Club team.
Discover: To establish our organizational foundation, I decided to draw heavily upon the framework of the Entrepreneurial Operating System, which includes a “set of concepts and tools that comprises a complete business management system that empowers entrepreneurs to reach their business goals and improve the lives of every individual the business affects.” This framework offers a free assessment, which helps you determine where you might want to invest time and energy in terms of strengthening the core of your operations. The book Traction also offers insights on which of the tools you should consider prioritize implementing, when you are introducing the system within your organization. I interviewed a number of colleagues who had effectively leveraged this framework, to hear their perspective on how they had approached implementation, and the key impacts that it had made on their organization, to consider what our priorities and approach might be.
Design: Based upon this data gathering, we decided the key areas to focus on in the following order were:
Creating a Vision Traction Organizer - Gets everyone in the organization moving in the same direction by getting a clear picture of where your company is going and how you plan to get there.
Introducing Team Meetings - We took inspiration from the Level 10 meeting format, which creates a standard structure for productive meetings, and incorporated our own playful spin to reflect our own core value of “fun.”
Establishing Rocks - Helps each team member be focused on measurable priority that will move your organization forward.
Creating an Accountability & Impact Chart - Provides clarity about who owns the major functions of an organization and identifies the primary roles and responsibilities for which they are accountable.
Creating a Scorecard - The scorecard lets leaders get an accurate pulse on the progress they are making towards organizational goals, and gives them the ability to predict results.
Defining Core Values - It is one thing to decide where you want to go, and it is another thing to decide how you will uniquely approach getting there, which Core Values help define.
Deliver: We rolled these different tools out in a series of all team meetings, to orient people to these various aspects of Postcard’s evolving organizational development and explained the value they were meant to create for our team, ensuring the “why” was understood. We introduced a slack channel as our internal communications tool to facilitate conversations and dialogue between meetings. And we guided each of the “departments” or what we call “circle leaders” in implementing these tools through follow-up 1:1 meetings, which allowed for co-creation of goals and objectives that felt aspirational but also attainable. We have decided to focus on one core value a month to facilitate a discussion about how we will uniquely express that value, and what we want it to look like through actions and behaviors within the organization. Thus far, we have focused on the value of Innovation, Optimism, and Generosity with valuable insights from the team about how to imbed these deeper into our culture and operations.
Debrief: We have conducted our first retrospective after our first quarter of leveraging the EOS tools and establishing the foundation for our culture and values. Each of our “circle” leaders reflected on the following:
What were your “rocks” for the quarter?
What progress did you make towards those rocks?
What was your biggest challenge(s) or learning in the “quarter?”
What was your greatest victory or joy-filled accomplishment in the “quarter?”
What are your highest hopes for the path forward for your circle (aka what’s next?)
This afforded us the opportunity as a team to reflect on some of our key accomplishments, collectively and individually. These included:
Growing our representation of partner properties from 24 countries to 33 countries as we seek to build a global brand.
Growing our storytelling team from 3 members to 8 members to support publishing content on behalf of our growing community of 200+ partners.
Publishing 186 partner stays globally, out of which 98 partner stays were published from India.
Successfully creating a “Postcard brand video” to expand our storytelling efforts to new media formats, and clarify our brand narrative among both our conscious traveler community and prospective partners.
Launching the Postcard Search feature to increase engagement and discoverability of our partner properties by leading with immersive experiences.
Organizational Activation Testimonial
"At Postcard Travel Club, the efforts to enhance team cohesion and organization have truly transformed our work environment. The regular team meetings Elizabeth facilitates not only fostered accountability but also brought us closer together as a virtual and cross-cultural team. Engaging in team-building activities, like group meditation and reminiscing about our favorite childhood games, offered profound insights into our collective purpose. Personally, I found these group discussions incredibly powerful.
The operational improvements, including clear metrics, a defined organizational structure (which is less about hierarchy and more about flow), and inspirational goals, have had a tangible impact on my productivity and sense of alignment with our aspirational vision. Feeling appreciated as a team member has been uplifting and motivating through the definition and expression of our core values, including generosity. I've also witnessed the positive effects on other team members who have become more intentional and successful in their roles, as a result of these enhancements. As an example, in the Storytelling Circle, I enjoyed watching relatively new staff members step up to the challenges of leading a circle, creating workflow charts, and prioritising tasks.
This cohesive and intentional approach will undoubtedly propel Postcard Travel Club toward greater effectiveness in fulfilling our mission and vision. By nurturing team spirit, unity, and clarity of vision, we're ensuring consistency in our interactions with travelers and partners. Moreover, the emphasis on individual strengths and collective goals instills a heightened sense of responsibility and accountability across the team, paving the way for impactful outcomes."
