Behind the scenes of IBM Fast Start 2021: Enriching the Experience and the Results (Part 3 of 3)

This is Part 3 of my series: Behind the scenes of IBM Fast Start 2021.  In Part 1, I set the stage for our annual global sales kick off and shined light on our exciting differentiators. In Part 2, I elaborated on our how we divided to conquer the critical items: communications, content, video production, and enabling our managers and valued partners.

In Part 3, I'll conclude with how we embraced experiential learning, focused on emotional intelligence and neuroscience to diversify the learning experience, delighting our participants 360 degrees, enriched the human experience via storytelling and mindfulness… and much more. 

Enriching the Experience

Our digital expo remained intact and functioning as it was not directly impacted by the outages. The only challenge we faced was creating a simple way to enter the environment. We already identified and incorporated all of the flagship qualities we wanted (e.g., networking, interaction, and fireside chats). We also had click-to-chat features, swag requests, and digital booth sponsorships for 70 partners (as well as all of the major IBM brands). We opened the expo with many nervous sponsors – us included – and in the end it turned out to be an outstanding experience. The achievement would not have been possible without the incredible duo of Sue Healy and Andy McCloskey, who are both genuinely hardworking and detail oriented. They refused to accept defeat and pushed through all the challenges to create a memorable experience for our sponsors and attendees that can be summed up beautifully in a short bit of feedback we received.

“I have to say, this is the best virtual tradeshow platform I have participated in since Covid started.”

Mission accomplished. Throughout any experience, dynamic forums for conversation and connection are crucial. This is why the digital expo included things like live chat and even the ability to request swag. And in our bootcamps, even in our revised experience, our pivot included plans to recognize our most vocal and engaged colleagues. Thank you to our partners at BI WORLDWIDE who went above and beyond to create this platform for us.

Engaging with Gamification

We took a different position this year with regards to gamification. In prior years, we used leaderboards to lean into the competitive behavior traits of our teams. The challenge in a large enterprise is that only a few people will ever be at the very top. If you find yourself in position 758, is that good? Ultimately, the leaderboard we want to see is one where #IBM is at the top – and it will take our full salesforce ecosystem pulling together to make that happen. That means switching to gamification that reinforces different behaviors – competitive, yes – but also a culture of coaching, of entrepreneurial thinking, of risk taking, of empathy. So our team watched for these new selling behaviors and rewarded sellers daily who espoused them. We created a large stage for *many* winners at the top of a shared leaderboard. Sellers were awarded based on what each of the session organizers observed – participation in chats, open forum discussion, and contributions through some of the interactive experiences peppered throughout the digital sessions. Special thanks to Rebecca Reyes and team for leading this effort on top of other workstreams, too. 

Captivating Through Storytelling and Mindfulness 

Emotional Intelligence, Mindfulness, and sharing personal Women’s Experience stories are vital components of our annual learning experience. We offered Human Experience sessions for every segment of our annual learning – Worldwide Kick-off, Manager Bootcamp, and Seller Bootcamps. The Human Experience sessions focused on mindful breathing, mindful movement, mindful inquiry, humor, diversity, and inclusion. Fireside chats rounded out the Human Experience as participants explored neurodiversity, intersectionality, and everyday applications of mindfulness. Our Women’s Experience session had 24 IBM speakers between our Americas and EMEA bootcamps. They shared their personal stories of challenges, triumph, strength, vulnerability, and inspiration.

The objective of the Human Experience was to increase connection – connection with Self, connection with clients, and connection with the broader global community. The majority of the Human Experience sessions provided an opportunity to practice mindfulness – mindful breathing, mindful movement, and mindful humor.

As we closed out 2020 and bravely marched into 2021, companies continued to face the challenges of a remote work environment – burnout, isolation, and lower employee engagement. Many companies around the world have embraced the implementation of mindfulness programs as a way to combat the stresses of a virtual working environment and to increase employee engagement and productivity. One US insurer trained 13,000 employees on mindfulness, resulting in a 28% reduction in stress and an estimated $3,000 annual productivity improvement per employee. The Fast Start team recognized that offering a mindfulness portion to our virtual training would positively impact participants, increase learning retention, and increase overall participant engagement. 

Between our EMEA and Americas bootcamp sessions, 24,058 IBMers attended at least one Human Experience session. We received overwhelmingly excellent feedback:

“I am 60 years old and took my first yoga class today – I have been at IBM 35 years – and never thought I would see yoga @ IBM – but it is great!”

“Delighted that IBM is focusing on personal growth as a foundation for professional growth.”

“Excellent – we need more of this @ IBM these days”

“I’ve never taken mindfulness before and can truly use the learnings”

Only truly passionate Mindfulness practitioners like Patrick Kozakiewicz and Marta Haynes can make a wave like this!

Aligned to the theme “Believe in Yourself; Be You,” the Women’s Experience focused on IBMer’s stories to build understanding, drive allyship, and create an even more inclusive environment. Authenticity was key throughout the Women’s Experience. Through the keynote sessions (and supporting fireside chat and mentoring program) we were able to candidly and authentically address areas ranging from mental health and Imposter Syndrome – to the inclusion dimensions of gender, race, sexual orientation, physical ability, neurodiversity, and gender bias in technology, among others. 

IBMers where encouraged to share their stories via video in the Be You Galleries. You can view some of the stories here. Based on the success of the program as a part of Fast Start, the “Believe in yourself; Be You” message is being continued through IBM Women’s Groups across several markets. 

“Thank you all – great messages and love the 'being real' it is so important that we are honest…”

“Thank you for sharing and helping us break barriers – opening up and getting accepted with difference is absolute wonderful thing :) BRAVO!!”

"Absolutely inspiring! The power of Belief... believing in ourselves and keeping people who believe in us close!"

The Results

No one likes the “fail” in failing forward. Did it all go smoothly? Not everything, especially not in the beginning. Some aspects were determined and communicated as we went. However, we committed to deliver this learning experience and we did everything in our power to make it happen on the scheduled launch date. There may have been some “slick” features we lost when we pivoted, but we believed in ourselves and we believed in the goal: enable our sellers with the learning they need to succeed. 

Lewis Pugh, one of our fantastic Keynote Speakers, said

“If you're a pioneer, you don't know what is going to happen until you dive in, because nobody else has been there before. So, all the worry – all the fear – is on your shoulders. It's much easier going second.”

We pioneered our way through daily calls and knowledge sharing on what we could do and how to make it happen. Frustrations and pressure were heavy but we knew that were in this together and were as committed to each other as we were to the goal. We rose to the challenge. We fought turbulence and took risks. We did this together as pioneers.

I am beyond proud of my team and extended IBM family for the commitment, resilience, agility, and creativity they brought to meet, on time, our commitment to provide world class sales enablement despite an insurmountable obstacle. We spent so much time collaborating and bonding during this “pivot” that we grew closer, as a team and as an organization. 

Despite our technical difficulties in the beginning, our results prove that all the hours, blood, sweat, and tears paid off. The average NPS score of the Americas and EMEA sessions was 62! The Expo brought in over 13.5K unique visitors! The Women’s Experience session had an NPS of 81! Our Manager’s Bootcamp had an NPS of 61! We awarded almost 500 Technical Certifications!

I’m immensely #grateful for the many believers in this #deep #learning #experience, those who are #SalesEnablers by profession, and others by passion — their commitment is equally unquestionable. Finally, my very special thank you to, Olivia Davis the brain and soul of the design of the digital experience, and so much more. Melissa Fizpatrick and Alana Roach our comms ninjas for their infinite elasticity in finding the right words, color, and tone. And especially Alex Josephs and Sonia Kobdish who have been on this roller coaster with me each step of the way, riding each “drop of the stomach” relentless like no others #NeverGiveUp!

Up next – Asia Pacific and Japan. Every year Fast Start presents unique challenges and obstacles. I don’t think I’ll forget this one anytime soon.

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