Why your startup company should go "back-to-school" this Fall

At Plural (fka Civic Eagle), we've informally designated September as "Learning Month" for our 11-FTE, remote team. As a seed-stage SaaS startup, we maintain a lean operation and we value any opportunity to level up our skills.

At the beginning of September, the leadership team and I asked that every teammate register and attend a conference or take an e-course at some point during the month. The post-summer months seem to be a popular time for conferences, summits, workshops, etc. And now, with conferences all across the world going virtual due to the pandemic, there is a plethora of amazing content for teams to access from their homes.

Here are three reasons why our company gives PTO for learning:

Professional development is critical for an early-stage startup.

If your team is anything like my team, you have colleagues who are hustling everyday and challenging themselves to learn the next new thing that makes them better at their job. Your team may also be super lean, with teammates covering multiple roles and filling in gaps in function where needed. The nature of this type of team culture necessitates a particular emphasis on professional development.

The case for prioritizing professional development is without dispute — it allows your team to build confidence in their skills and learn new ones; it enables your company to expand its knowledge base; it motivates and inspires your teammates to commit to their work.

Professional development is relatively low cost.

You might wonder whether the trade off of work-time for learning is worthwhile — in my opinion it is. The leadership team and I acknowledged that this Learning Month initiative would mean that some meetings would be canceled, agendas would be pushed back, and that a sprint or two would be lighter than normal. While these are important concerns for any size company, we accepted those sacrifices, betting that the knowledge gained would help propel us in the long run.

In order to minimize disruption, we made sure that there was clear communication among the team and team leads about when and which conferences were being attended, calendars were updated as needed, and time was allocated towards debriefing about new learnings. Debriefing about what was learned is a really important step in making this initiative worthwhile. The objective is to discuss and brainstorm with your colleagues about how your company can apply what was learned to the challenges you’re facing.

Professional development can help expand your company's brand.

Attending conferences and other virtual events is a great way to network while working from home, and when done properly, I've also found that it's great for organic PR.

Change your nickname on video calls to something like <Name (Company Name)> so that other attendees, moderators and keynote speakers can recognize your brand. Introduce yourself in the conference spaces designated for networking; ask questions during talks via the chat window; add speakers and panelists who resonate with you on LinkedIn; be on the lookout for your industry peers, future teammates and potential mentors. Don't be shy — be sure to engage at these events and it'll be worthwhile for your team and your business!