Alchemist INside Forum - Stuart Harvey, CEO, Datactics
Stuart Harvey, CEO, Datactics
Datactics, a fast-growing Belfast-based tech company, providing data quality and matching software to a growing number of international banks and Government departments, has seen its team double in size over the last 18 months, creating many new teams and leaders.
Recognising the importance of communicating the company’s vision clearly so that everyone understands what they are trying to achieve, they sought out a forum in which existing and new managers and team leaders could participate in strategy and goal setting as they tried to scale the business.
Stuart Harvey, CEO at Datactics explains: “We wanted a process that we could run as a regular monthly activity. It needed to encourage high-honesty, high-respect conversations alongside discussions facilitated by an external advisor who was a good listener that could steer the conversation well.
“Some of the Datactics team had worked with Alan previously, including using Lego Serious Play, for facilitating discussions around technology strategy. He knew our business well and we trusted him.”
Working on multiple projects simultaneously, Datactics has a young team (median age 30) that is learning as the company grows. Sales must work with Software Product who in turn work with Client Success, so accurate and effective communication between groups while working on multiple agendas is vital.
“Although our projects are very stimulating, it's important to keep everyone involved and motivated,” says Stuart. ”So while this is partly about outlining measurable objectives, it’s arguably as much about winning hearts and minds.
“We have a very open culture here at Datactics and feel that the communication around Alchemists INside suits us well. I’m finding the forum a great place to identify possible points of resistance and, as a team, to encourage each other to be positive and optimistic,” he says.
“I would recommend this approach to other scale-up businesses. All companies, whether technology focused or not, must adapt with business trends, competition and digitisation. Alchemists INside has allowed us to discuss these important issues and develop our understanding of how we retain talent and address questions around other topics such as workplace flexibility.”
Let the “Alchemists INside” Forum, (an in-company version of our successful Alchemists Forum), help you, as Business Owners and CEO’s, harness the collective capabilities of your in-house leadership team. Unlock greater performance to build a greater enduring company by making greater decisions, inspiring greater thinking and achieving greater performance. Contact Alan Branagh alan@alchemistsforum.com for more information.