A Culture of Continuous Improvement
As we begin the new year, processing the year end results (AWESOME) and working on plans for 2020, I’m reflecting on how Avalon has grown and evolved since its founding in 1997. We’ve moved forward and evolved as a firm in ways I couldn’t imagine 23 years ago—including our collaborative work spaces and work-from-home options that have given Avalonians necessary flexibility for a better work/home balance.
Last year as a company we embarked on a series of introspective projects, looking hard at the way we do things and searching for opportunities for improvement. As a client-focused company, we are not only benchmarking what we are doing on clients’ behalf, but we are also looking at better ways to work. As one staff person recently commented, we have a culture of continuous improvement.
As we reset for the new year and implement our Avalon Client Experience (ACE) plans for 2020, I’m certain that we’ll evolve this year in ways we haven’t anticipated.
ACE is a set of initiatives that involves auditing, reviewing, and improving our company and its processes with our clients’ perspectives in mind. An ongoing, deep evaluation to help us ensure that we are constantly innovating and striving for excellence in everything we do. It’s all about looking at how we do things—with and for our clients—in an open and transparent way to really dig into what’s meeting our clients’ needs and what’s not.
Nothing was left unturned: We forensically researched how to make meetings efficient and effective—with staff trainings on meeting management and even meeting recordings to review later to see who is/isn’t interacting and what resonates. We are also reframing our creative approach to more effectively tell the stories our clients’ missions inspire. And considering our place in the industry as leaders and mentors.
ACE also involves ensuring the right fit—progressive clients who share our values and appreciation for a healthy work culture.
So we’re proactively working on our systems and methods in this new year and new decade. It’s this focus of continuing to improve that helps us do better work for our clients so they can achieve their critical missions.