BLR Handbook

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Growth & support

We choose to create an environment where each one of us receives the support they need to grow. And we believe that by investing in each team member's growth we invest in the growth of the company.

To that end, our current process focuses on 3 growth pillars:

Creating clarity around roles and responsibilities

Providing mentorship, a dedicated space for each team member to explore their personal and professional growth and ambitions

Fostering a culture of open communication, to learn from each other, improve collaboration, and provide mutual-support

Clarity on responsibilities and priorities

When we have clarity about what work to do (our responsibilities) and how to organize that work (our priorities), we can work better.

We gain clarity in three simple ways:

With our

Primary roles⁠

: we all wear one or a few hats, each comes with its own set of responsibilities.

With our Project Lead, setting project-specific responsibilities and priorities

With our Mentor, setting company responsibilities and priorities

For now, we choose not to be very prescriptive. We may learn in the future that providing more specificity is helpful (ask if you're unsure about anything!). The current assumption is that team members' will figure it out.

Support through mentorship

Every team member will be paired with a mentor; an individual that is committed to their personal wellbeing and professional success.

Goals of mentorship

Mentorship may mean different things to different people. At BLR, the goal of this practice is to achieve the following:

Improve team members' wellbeing at the company

Support team members in leveling up, personally and professionally

Create alignment with company principles and way of working

Plan team member’s growth trajectory at BLR, and support in achieving their aspirations

Activities

With our mentors, we will do the following 3 activities:

Hold fortnightly

Mentor 1-1s⁠

to receive ongoing support, build trust, and discuss anything of importance around the goals above

Early on, define a

Growth plan⁠

covering opportunities for growth and personal aspirations

Every 6 months, have a

Growth plan review⁠

to reflect on the progress to date and adjust the plan as needed

A culture of open communication

We choose to foster a culture of open communication: that means a space where all are comfortable expressing themselves; their ideas, needs, frustrations, ambitions, and more.

We believe this will help us learn from one another, improve our collaboration, provide mutual-support, and ultimately, deepen the trust we have in each other.

We identify four types of supportive communication that we will practice and hold each other accountable to:

⁠

Appreciation and recognition⁠

: we're quick to highlight how the other is contributing in an impactful way

⁠

Resolving tension, improving relationships⁠

: we explore any tension that arises between us

⁠

Helping each other improve⁠

: we're kind in sharing about the ways in which team members can improve their work or actions

⁠

Self-awareness⁠

: we strive to understand our own strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots, and talk about them honestly

Regular feedback conversations

We acknowledge that getting to a place where we are comfortable expressing ourselves across these pillars isn't trivial. To support that process, we will also hold a more formal space to have these conversations:

⁠

Feedback conversations⁠

: A few times a year, we schedule a 1-1 with everyone we've worked with to talk through anything along the four types of communication.

Eventually, we will get to a point where little to no feedback will be left to discuss in these sessions.

Clarity on responsibilities and priorities

Support through mentorship

Goals of mentorship

Activities

A culture of open communication

Regular feedback conversations

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