Strategic Timeout @ CricHeroes

What comes to your mind when you hear the words “Strategic Timeout”?

Well, in my mind comes the typical IPL music with that 2:30 minute timer, which also allows me to take a short bathroom break in the middle of an exciting match. Because no one knows what will happen on the other side!

But it does make me wonder, what players are thinking on the field at that time from both sides?

Should we bring in a new bowler or keep attacking with our main bowlers? Should we accelerate the game now or should we hold the fort for 3 more overs? or may be one more break and we are closer to the dinner time ☺.

In a nutshell, how to win this match from here?(I am sure).

Yes, that’s exactly what goes on in our minds when we do Strategic Timeout (STO) at CricHeroes.

What should be next quarter’s focus? Growth, Engagement or both? How did we do in the last quarter in terms of revenue? Which initiatives we will take to achieve the key results? How do we improve our employer branding to attract the right candidates?

Basically figuring out how to win the the next quarter!

The strategic timeout may seem like taking a drinks break to chill, but both the teams are really aligning to be on the same page. Similarly, for us we need this much-needed pause every quarter and have the whole team together in one room (of course, some join remotely and sometimes, if the budget permits, we do it in a fancy hotel clubbing it with a retreat!) to align around our North Star Metric, number of matches scored.

Now setting the context for this alignment of whole team is a must and who do you think will be the best people to set that context? No one else but the captains of individual teams themselves. Days before, they work extensively to create memos, content and relevant resources to bring it out at the STO.

So, what do the founders do then?

The Founders like any organization provide the first layer of context setting. At CricHeroes, all captains have learned how to lead with context. This is where the founders play a big role helping the captains to identify where the context is missing. However at STO they come right at the end to reiterate the North Star Metric and to share our focus.

We discuss the learning of the last quarter so that we don’t repeat the same shots again in the next match; at least not against the same bowlers!

The only drawback with such debates is that we can hardly keep it within 2.5 hours. However, we have tried to transform a typical one-way boring quarterly meet-up to a company-wide brainstorming and realignment session.

In the 2021 IPL, RCB started well with the 1st wicket partnership of 111 in 13 overs. After the strategic timeout RCB team collapsed to 156 and CSK chased the target in 18 overs. It surely wasn’t just a drink break for CSK, right?

So how is your startup aligning everyone to a common goal? We would love to know what you do in your Strategic Timeout!