Smiirl’s secret method to stay happy, innovative and focused

Smiirl exploring Deauville. And its objectives for the next 6 months!

Date: June 7th to 9th, 2022

Place: Deauville, Normandy

Participants: Gaël, Romain C., Fedoua, Mariia, Simon, Romain S., Alisa, Mathieu, Adrien, Omar, Laura & Charlotte

Mood: productive and party (Yes they are both compatible 🤗)

Objective: plan out Smiirl’s roadmap for the next 6 months

It has become a ritual by now, every 6 months we get together to (re)define our strategic plan for the next 6 months and come up with what is called a new Masterplan (fancy name, right?).

Here are the questions we try to address:

• Where do we want to take Smiirl? ( To infinity and beyond! )
• What are our priorities? ( Enjoy ourselves while selling a sh*t ton of Counters! )
• What’s driving us? ( Human interactions, happy clients, WOW effects sparked by ever more Counters )
• What scares us? ( Finding electrics components after Covid, abandoned Counters that just need updating! )

So here is the non-exhaustive list of existential questions posed during this seminar, that we usually call: Reboot, Masterboot, the Fly… many sweet nicknames for what comes down to a couple of intense work days.

But first things first, let’s pay a tribute. We did not invent this work method, (we already work on Counters, we are the only business doing this in the world, good enough for us) for several years now we have worked with Fly The Nest. A consulting boutique started same year as Smiirl, which was kind enough to use our young team to give their methodology a proper dry run. To learn more about them, you can click, here, here and there.

Now that everybody has been introduced, you are ready to embark with us on a trip to Deauville, MASTERBOOT mode on, JUNE 2022!

Day 1: wake up (very) early, en route to the seaside 🌊

Leaving Paris very early to reach Deauville quickly, eat wonderful sandwiches and start our first session.

The first afternoon is about laying out Smiirl’s vision for the next 6 months.

Our founders Romain and Gaël propose a summary of the current challenges, so we can all adapt to an ambitious but down-to-earth vision for the next months.

The goal is that every team member is in sync and driven by the priorities the business is about to take.

So here it is, new, shining and hopefully achievable: Fueled by its growth, Smiirl can take on new R&D projects.

Great stuff, but now we have to figure out how to reach it. So next, we’re validating key themes of work.

After hours of hella smart and intense thinking, here is what we came up with:

💸 CASH, because you know the drill “Money can’t buy happiness, but still”

 🌊 TAKE OFF of our customs Counter, after the launch of the Shopify Counter, we are eager for more product ideas. Any idea in the audience?

 🐝 CASH TEST not to be mistaken for Crash Test, the idea is to offer new products and services to our client base, adding value to all along the way!

🍆 RATATEAM because our team resembles a delicious ratatouille. Vegetables from all walks of life 🙃 tasty, full of colours, a wonderful mix! Such a great team deserved its own section with meaningful projects to make it ever stronger 💕

With our brains boiling and perhaps yours getting hot, we put an end on this first work day.

We hit the beach to enjoy some fresh air, Chef Simon then takes over to prepare a delicious Mexican meal : YUMMY 🌮

Now let’s use up the energy we have left to prepare a few drinks, put on our dancing shoes and have fun for a few more hours.

Day 2: we debate, we ideate, we move forward 🌈 

So this guy right here is Romain, he is our best and only CTO, and he can’t get enough of that Masterplan stuff!

He is: the king of animation, the master of enthusiasm, the boss of debate moderation till we all want to die.

Thanks to him we go really deep, we ideate, we think through every topic like we rarely do. He challenges, he prioritizes the hell out of every single idea. No stone is left unturned. An unclear scope has virtually no chance of survival. Romain’s role is critical to make a sharp plan come together.

With a big day ahead of us, we dive in, ready to sweat and smile!

We have our company vision, our axes to structure the Masterplan, all we have to do is fill them up with cool projects, easy peasy.

It’s time to crank up the suggestion box, time to debate the relevance, the feasibility and the profitability of every idea. Yes we like to discuss and debate A LOT at Smiirl!

At the end of this second day, each one of us has been active in defining the business’ strategy. We each had the opportunity to speak our mind, challenge and finally apply to own some of these initiatives that will be deployed in the next 6 months.

By now we all agree on vision and the full roadmap: time for celebration! Right Mathieu?

Before we leave for the restaurant, one clarification: planning months of work in 2 days may sound like a recipe for rigidity but, fear not, we have processes and interactions aming at maintaining the Masterplan’s relevance through necessary adjustments. That is a topic for a later post 🙃

We wrap things up in a nice restaurant overlooking Deauville’s sunset. Thank you l’Étage for a good time together.

Then we head back home for drinks, games and a wonderful playlist. The rest is history 💃 🕺 💫 🥂 🎊

Here’s the gist

🙃 The method is not so secret

🤯 We work hard

⭐️ Deauville is cool in June

🏝 Simon’s moves would put any Tahitian dancer to shame

🍫 Fedoua’s Tiramisu is Mamamamiia !!

🎶 As debatable as it is, Gael’s playlist takes us through the night

🍋 Gin Tonic keeps on making consensus

🦁 Romain S. is the best Reboot organizer in a long while

…OUR TEAM HAS A BIG HEART ❤️

👋 See you in 6 months for our next venture!