Open Org: Why We're Launching Bootcamps

So John and I wrapped up our first ever Open Org cohort a week or so ago, and whilst we loved it, they loved it, and the outcomes across their businesses were incredible ??, we spotted a few things along the way we felt just weren't quite hitting the spot for us.

So we decided to do a retro.

And we decided to share the details of that with you in true Learning in Public fashion.

TL:DR

• As a formal accreditation for 'Leaders', 4 weeks was too fast. We all craved more time. In 2024 the Open People Leader Accreditation will likely move to a longer, bi-annual format with small groups of 10.
• We're launching Bootcamps, open to larger groups, but also open to People & Talent folks of all levels across the world. (We've been inundated with requests to join from so many people that we didnt really design the initial course for. So this will change that.) Welcome one, welcome all. You can read about these and apply for our January one here.
• These new cohorts, will still be 4 weeks, but more financially accessible ￡500 (+ VAT where applicable)

The Feedback..

So we hit an average feedback score of 9.16/10 from our first cohort for overall value, and 9/10 for whether they would recommend it to a peer. Great right? Sure, the numbers were good but it was the qualitative data and anecdotal feedback along the way that we found more intriguing and telling.

• A good few mentioned early on how cool the OpenOS (our Notion Resource hub) was, but also that there was 'a lot there' Translation = this is overwhelming, help me navigate and find the info I need more easily
• A handful mentioned a few times that the time was flying by, and wished it could be longer (6-8 weeks)
• Specifically this was in relation to getting the work done, and outcomes delivered Translation = For a course designed around action-orientated mini projects in your business, this is fast for a Sr (often solo) People Leader to action.
• For the few getting their companies accredited as part of the cohort, there wasn't much time dedicated solely to checking in on accreditation - something we've learned from quickly.
• Workshops and Coaching calls felt a tad short (30 mins), and could have benefited from being 45 (This was our own feedback to ourselves)
• We maybe could have guided more pre-cohort and pushed to define some more concrete outcomes before Day 1.

The Outcomes...

We got a heap of unreal feedback that we've used to guide on how we can improve OOC2 and OOC3, both of which kick off in November!

• Workshops will be slightly longer
• We're working on connecting people sooner, with onboarding happening a little earlier on to help with 'orientation'
• We'll complement that with some more bespoke curation of resources and content for individuals when they land on day 1.
• We'll increase roundtables. Sept was 2, but they drove real value so we'll add more.
• We'll launch a Bootcamp... reasons below..

Why Bootcamps?

Our Cohort's were designed very specifically. We wanted them to be intimate, hands-on experiences for people & talent leaders who had the agency and ability to drive immediate change in their business. That meant a fair few stars needing to be aligned... we needed:

• Leaders, not by title necessarily but those with decision making ability
• Ones with aligned leadership teams, who were bought into 'open culture' and the change needed for that
• Ones who were employed, who had a company they could make changes within
• Ones who also had the time capacity to start driving this change

Whilst plenty of these people exist, and we have continued to fill up cohorts (OO2 and OO3 start soon!), we spoke to dozens upon dozens of people & talent folks who applied and wanted to get involved with our movement but simply couldn't because of the above.

But the growth of any movement requires numbers, and for us to also neglect the amount of energy, passion and desire we were feeling from the people & talent community around transparency would have been a huge opportunity missed for this movement.

So, we've designed something that people & talent folks of all levels, and situations can get involved in; employed, unemployed, junior, senior... it doesn't matter.

If you give a sh*t about raising the bar, doing something progressive to future-proof your career and the idea of Open Culture lights a fire in you then this is for you.

If you're interested, you can read all about them here. We're filling up spaces now for our Jan 2024 one, and if this resonates with you, we'd love to have you aboard, you can apply here.

If you've read this far, as always, thanks for following our journey!

We appreciate you! ??