NeverTechLate is all about teaching older generations how to use technology and the benefits of digital communications.
Their mission is to bridge the digital gap between generations and they’ve developed a program to teach older adults how to navigate tablets and use Zoom. Headquartered in New York, the founder, Florence Mauchant, tells us a bit about their journey and what was learned along the way.
Show potential investors and stakeholders you're organized
“If you're a young company and you tell a potential investor or stakeholder you have employees working from California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania to Europe, it looks disorganized. But, if you say you have a virtual working space, and in our case we have Happeo, it puts you on a different level from the beginning, and that’s a huge advantage. Investors want to know that you have the infrastructure in place to be successful. Also, as we're in the business of helping people keep up with technological development, it makes sense that as a company we also use the latest tools available to maintain a competitive advantage.”
Find an outlet for enthusiasm
“Starting a new business, one you’re immensely passionate about, means having lots of enthusiasm. We use our social intranet to share this enthusiasm. We’re constantly coming up with new ideas, finding inspiring content, feeling proud of our achievements — I have a strong sense of excitement when it comes to my work. But as much as I love talking about these things, it’s even more important to keep all this information somewhere in one central place. A place to keep track of ideas, share information with your team members, have debates, and that's easily searchable and accessible. Starting a business can have a lot of ups and downs, and having a place where you can reflect on positivity and creativity in times of discouragement is great.”
Prioritize communication
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a team of 3 or 30, starting something from the ground up can be chaotic: you're laying down the foundations. And no business can thrive without strong communications. Here are a few ways to build strong communication foundations:
- Set recurring meetings for all major projects/initiatives. If that meeting is in your calendar every other Tuesday, you’ll be able to regularly communicate, update and collaborate with everyone, providing a better chance for you to meet your project deadlines.
- Share everything, but don’t spam. In today’s day and age of notifications, constantly getting updates can be overwhelming. If you use an intranet platform you can share and store information without having everyone be notified for every little thing. Users can set their notification preferences and you can choose what form to share in. For example, an announcement if it’s time-sensitive information. What’s important is the information is stored somewhere you can find it whenever you need it.
- It’s not always business as usual. Your communications strategy should also have room to communicate on a personal level. A team that feels a connection on a personal level is more likely to collaborate successfully and feel invested in your mission. This could involve celebrating birthdays, arranging events, conversing over topics, or recognizing someone's achievements.”
Keep the machine running
“We have full-time employees, students conducting a 6-month internship, and freelancers. When we first started some of the work was getting either lost, or projects weren’t coming to completion. Our resources are limited so the need to keep things going came to the forefront very fast. When it feels like you’re juggling a million things at once, it might seem like just one extra task on your to-do list, but finding a way to make sure no work is wasted will save you eons of time (and money) in the end. We make sure everyone working at NeverTechLate shares their work and progress on our Happeo Channels, that way new joiners can pick up right where their previous colleagues left off, making onboarding a breeze for both “old” and new team members.”
