Hi All -
Does anyone have thoughts on alternative titles to Chief of Staff? My
organization (Series A), is considering moving away from "Chief" titles to
"Head" titles inspired by this article - <https://blog.outschool.com/remixing-
titles/>. However, "Head of Staff" does not sound great nor is it
representative of a true CoS. I'd love any thoughts or ideas anyone may have!
Hi All -
Does anyone have thoughts on alternative titles to Chief of Staff? My
organization (Series A), is considering moving away from "Chief" titles to
"Head" titles inspired by this article - <https://blog.outschool.com/remixing-
titles/>. However, "Head of Staff" does not sound great nor is it
representative of a true CoS. I'd love any thoughts or ideas anyone may have!
Review Self Assessment time! I’m stuck with how to respond to “What two
professional development goals do I want to accomplish in 2022?”
As a background: I’ve been with the company (tech startup 130 employees)
5 years and was promoted 1 year ago from a SR. EA to COS (no backfill no plans
to backfill) I’m supporting a team of 7 ELO members so I do a LOT. I’m
learning the ropes as I grow into the role (some changes include more
involvement with our Board, owning agenda, decks for our weekly ELO/leadership
meetings QBRs as well as being a more active participant, project management
with cross functional teams for weekly sprints related to our rally cry,
defining objectives, etc).
My Ask: With everything on my plate my honest response would be that I
want to grow into the role where I feel more comfortable and hit my stride so
that I can excel in it. How do I phrase this as a positive without committing
myself to taking on more work/responsibility/training/classes/etc?
Review Self Assessment time! I’m stuck with how to respond to “What two
professional development goals do I want to accomplish in 2022?”
As a background: I’ve been with the company (tech startup 130 employees)
5 years and was promoted 1 year ago from a SR. EA to COS (no backfill no plans
to backfill) I’m supporting a team of 7 ELO members so I do a LOT. I’m
learning the ropes as I grow into the role (some changes include more
involvement with our Board, owning agenda, decks for our weekly ELO/leadership
meetings QBRs as well as being a more active participant, project management
with cross functional teams for weekly sprints related to our rally cry,
defining objectives, etc).
My Ask: With everything on my plate my honest response would be that I
want to grow into the role where I feel more comfortable and hit my stride so
that I can excel in it. How do I phrase this as a positive without committing
myself to taking on more work/responsibility/training/classes/etc?
Great thread by Wes Kao on how succeeding as a generalist, detailing 11
disciplines to become a sharper operator 🔪
The 11 disciplines are here 👉
My friends Cassie and Shre are building Tripsha to help companies and communities to organize offsites and retreats. They're currently leading a Crypto Summer Camp in Puerto Rico
Also recently mentioned in the NYT.
Blurb below in case you / your company might be interested!
Tripsha makes it easy for companies and communities to organize manage company/team offsites and retreats. Tripsha makes it easier to make your offsite concept come to life and less time-consuming thanks to our purpose-built platform and a team of travel experts who can provide guidance and help to ensure your trip comes off without a hitch!
1-pager here and message Shre, the co-founder with any q's (shre@tripsha.com).
My friends Cassie and Shre are building Tripsha to help companies and communities to organize offsites and retreats. They're currently leading a Crypto Summer Camp in Puerto Rico
Also recently mentioned in the NYT.
Blurb below in case you / your company might be interested!
Tripsha makes it easy for companies and communities to organize manage company/team offsites and retreats. Tripsha makes it easier to make your offsite concept come to life and less time-consuming thanks to our purpose-built platform and a team of travel experts who can provide guidance and help to ensure your trip comes off without a hitch!
1-pager here and message Shre, the co-founder with any q's (shre@tripsha.com).
A few asks for you all 😍
I’m recruiting a (1) CoS for our CTO, (2) People Culture Associate to
report to me (company CoS), and wondering if anyone has any of the following
to help guide me:
1. Your CoS job description that wildly attracted you to your role / one
that you thought was amazing
2. People Culture job description for an associate or manager
3. Recruiting process and/or interview questions for either roles that
you love
A few asks for you all 😍
I’m recruiting a (1) CoS for our CTO, (2) People Culture Associate to
report to me (company CoS), and wondering if anyone has any of the following
to help guide me:
1. Your CoS job description that wildly attracted you to your role / one
that you thought was amazing
2. People Culture job description for an associate or manager
3. Recruiting process and/or interview questions for either roles that
you love
Question! My key focus for 2022 is building relationships with our leadership team (broadly defined, about 30 people), and I am looking for some structure or framework to guide those discussions until they become more regular and at ease. I am an introvert by nature, but can push myself (I was an elected official for many years!). I am in a new-to-me industry, so I tend to be shy in the unknown territory. My biggest objective for these meetings is to expand my principal’s reach, and equally importantly, ensure goal alignment and progression across the org. I dont want the conversations to start out transactional and focused just on the goals specific to their areas.
Any suggestions or frameworks for these 1:1s would be greatly appreciated. The cadence will vary across the team - some weekly, some bi-weekly, some monthly, some bi-monthly, some quarterly. Dependent on role/influence to corporate objectives. Thanks for listening/reading/suggesting!
Question! My key focus for 2022 is building relationships with our leadership team (broadly defined, about 30 people), and I am looking for some structure or framework to guide those discussions until they become more regular and at ease. I am an introvert by nature, but can push myself (I was an elected official for many years!). I am in a new-to-me industry, so I tend to be shy in the unknown territory. My biggest objective for these meetings is to expand my principal’s reach, and equally importantly, ensure goal alignment and progression across the org. I dont want the conversations to start out transactional and focused just on the goals specific to their areas.
Any suggestions or frameworks for these 1:1s would be greatly appreciated. The cadence will vary across the team - some weekly, some bi-weekly, some monthly, some bi-monthly, some quarterly. Dependent on role/influence to corporate objectives. Thanks for listening/reading/suggesting!
Has anyone done any recent thinking / have any great resources on setting up effective (management) reporting into the CEO?
We’re growing like crazy and finding CEO isn’t getting enough information from certain areas of the business – so trying to create a framework for managers + c-suite to report key metrics and insights upwards
Has anyone done any recent thinking / have any great resources on setting up effective (management) reporting into the CEO?
We’re growing like crazy and finding CEO isn’t getting enough information from certain areas of the business – so trying to create a framework for managers + c-suite to report key metrics and insights upwards
GREAT new piece by @ckeil titled: "How to find and crush a job as a startup Chief of Staff" 🙌
On doing the role well:
What other takeaways from the post did you have? What else would you add? Let us know 👉
GREAT new piece by @ckeil titled: "How to find and crush a job as a startup Chief of Staff" 🙌
On doing the role well:
What other takeaways from the post did you have? What else would you add? Let us know 👉
A really great onboarding overview by Regina Gerbeuax, who is CoS to Matt
Mochary (who spoke at the CoS Summit).
"If I had to break it down into several steps, I'd say criteria for success
looks something like this:
• Days 1-30: Become an extension of the way your CEO thinks
• Days 31-60: Become an extension of the way your CEO behaves
• Days 61-90: Become an extension of the way your CEO makes decisions "
How to onboard yourself in 5 steps:
1. Ask any and all questions.
2. Watch how they write.
3. See if you can start predicting the way they'll respond to questions,
comments, and concerns.
4. Document processes as you learn them.
5. Understand what fear, anger, or sadness look like in your CEO.
<https://mocharymethod.notion.site/Chief-of-Staff-How-to-onboard-yourself-
in-30-days-21e2cc3acfbf47d39f99d6ce902d3054>
A really great onboarding overview by Regina Gerbeuax, who is CoS to Matt
Mochary (who spoke at the CoS Summit).
"If I had to break it down into several steps, I'd say criteria for success
looks something like this:
• Days 1-30: Become an extension of the way your CEO thinks
• Days 31-60: Become an extension of the way your CEO behaves
• Days 61-90: Become an extension of the way your CEO makes decisions "
How to onboard yourself in 5 steps:
1. Ask any and all questions.
2. Watch how they write.
3. See if you can start predicting the way they'll respond to questions,
comments, and concerns.
4. Document processes as you learn them.
5. Understand what fear, anger, or sadness look like in your CEO.
<https://mocharymethod.notion.site/Chief-of-Staff-How-to-onboard-yourself-
in-30-days-21e2cc3acfbf47d39f99d6ce902d3054>
Hi! I recently had a conversation with our COO where she explained to me that
when she was a CoS for her CPO (Product) she had very little face time with
her Principal, that they rarely spoke to each other, she did her work by
fulfilling tasks brought to her by his team, that there were no direct
meetings with the Principal and that CoS is an extremely subservient role and
to expect a similar experience for me as CoS to our CEO. This is the first
I’ve heard of a CoS described in this way and I’m wondering if this is
typical? Thank you for any input you can provide.
Hi! I recently had a conversation with our COO where she explained to me that
when she was a CoS for her CPO (Product) she had very little face time with
her Principal, that they rarely spoke to each other, she did her work by
fulfilling tasks brought to her by his team, that there were no direct
meetings with the Principal and that CoS is an extremely subservient role and
to expect a similar experience for me as CoS to our CEO. This is the first
I’ve heard of a CoS described in this way and I’m wondering if this is
typical? Thank you for any input you can provide.
🥁 5 summaries and videos from the Chief of Staff are available now for you 🥁
1. Building the Executive Office 3.0
2. Uncovering Your Creative Potential with First Principles Thinking
3. Scaling Up! How to Expand Your Chief of Staff Role
🥁 5 summaries and videos from the Chief of Staff are available now for you 🥁
1. Building the Executive Office 3.0
2. Uncovering Your Creative Potential with First Principles Thinking
3. Scaling Up! How to Expand Your Chief of Staff Role
Support Roles
We’re looking to hire essentially a “mini” Chief of Staff for each department
in our company.
We’ve stated that as a company, we’ll only have one CoS.
This role will do more than an EA and will support the whole department as
well as the executive. They’ll work on projects that need attention,
coordinating team events, scheduling for the exec etc..
My question is, what have you all seen this role titled as?
Here are some ideas we’ve come up with:
Idea #1. W/Career Progression Titles:
• Executive Assistant
• Executive Business Partner
• Sr Executive Business Partner
Idea #2. W/Career Progression Titles:
• Administrative Business Partner
• Business Support Manager
• Sr Business Support Manager
Thanks for your feedback!
Support Roles
We’re looking to hire essentially a “mini” Chief of Staff for each department
in our company.
We’ve stated that as a company, we’ll only have one CoS.
This role will do more than an EA and will support the whole department as
well as the executive. They’ll work on projects that need attention,
coordinating team events, scheduling for the exec etc..
My question is, what have you all seen this role titled as?
Here are some ideas we’ve come up with:
Idea #1. W/Career Progression Titles:
• Executive Assistant
• Executive Business Partner
• Sr Executive Business Partner
Idea #2. W/Career Progression Titles:
• Administrative Business Partner
• Business Support Manager
• Sr Business Support Manager
Thanks for your feedback!
The 6 Steps To Being A Successful Chief Of Staff by Avery Blank in Forbes [Link]
What would be #7 to you? Let us know! 👉
The 6 Steps To Being A Successful Chief Of Staff by Avery Blank in Forbes [Link]
What would be #7 to you? Let us know! 👉
Hi all,
Curious to hear who has an EA within their company and what the scope of
his/her role is vs. CoS? E.g. is the EA role more secretary related or does
he/she also take over some of the responsbilities of the Cos?
Hi All. It’s week 1 for me in the group and really looking forward to it.
I’ve been tasked to write a strategy paper and I wanted to check if there was
a resource to go to or a templates to share.
Hi All. It’s week 1 for me in the group and really looking forward to it.
I’ve been tasked to write a strategy paper and I wanted to check if there was
a resource to go to or a templates to share.
Hey all - does anyone have some examples of performance goals you've seen for
a chief of staff? Thanks!
Hey all - does anyone have some examples of performance goals you've seen for
a chief of staff? Thanks!
What was an awesome All Hands you have done in the past 6 months? What was it?
Why was it aesome?
What was an awesome All Hands you have done in the past 6 months? What was it?
Why was it aesome?
Y’ALL can we talk about organizing slack channels? I recently put together a
comms guidelines document that’s been super well received but I’m feeling
paralyzed on making changes to our slack channel structure. generally, i know
we need to standardize our prefixes make our channels more specific b/c there
is info flying all over the place. Any best practices out there on a channel
audit or setup? Below was my first stab that didn’t get too much feedback from
the team….
Thanks in advance for the help!
Channel Clean Up
We have too many channels not enough channels depending on who you’re asking.
Either stems from a lack of purpose in the existing channels today.
• How do we generally want to organize our channels as a baseline?
• Channels dedicated for team members (daily grind/team comms)
◦ Pre-fix: #team _department
• “Catch All” General channels for each team
◦ How do we define this channel to keep it specific to the department but
general enough?
▪︎ General updates, announcements, questions from the ## department?
◦ Pre-fix: #general_department
• Specific channels
◦ Example: By existing potential product
▪︎ anything related to it like data, suggestions, user feedback, performance,
legal implications
◦ issue is:_ when do these get created? is it feature or product based? _
▪︎ What do we miss doing it this way? ex what specific channels get lost in
the noise?
◦ Other ideas besides by product? “Topic” seems too broad in scope?
◦ How when would we want supplementary channels? So we can identify prefixes
▪︎ Cross functional projects?
▪︎ Shared goals / tactics for goals ?
Y’ALL can we talk about organizing slack channels? I recently put together a
comms guidelines document that’s been super well received but I’m feeling
paralyzed on making changes to our slack channel structure. generally, i know
we need to standardize our prefixes make our channels more specific b/c there
is info flying all over the place. Any best practices out there on a channel
audit or setup? Below was my first stab that didn’t get too much feedback from
the team….
Thanks in advance for the help!
Channel Clean Up
We have too many channels not enough channels depending on who you’re asking.
Either stems from a lack of purpose in the existing channels today.
• How do we generally want to organize our channels as a baseline?
• Channels dedicated for team members (daily grind/team comms)
◦ Pre-fix: #team _department
• “Catch All” General channels for each team
◦ How do we define this channel to keep it specific to the department but
general enough?
▪︎ General updates, announcements, questions from the ## department?
◦ Pre-fix: #general_department
• Specific channels
◦ Example: By existing potential product
▪︎ anything related to it like data, suggestions, user feedback, performance,
legal implications
◦ issue is:_ when do these get created? is it feature or product based? _
▪︎ What do we miss doing it this way? ex what specific channels get lost in
the noise?
◦ Other ideas besides by product? “Topic” seems too broad in scope?
◦ How when would we want supplementary channels? So we can identify prefixes
▪︎ Cross functional projects?
▪︎ Shared goals / tactics for goals ?
Hi all. We are a fully distributed team of ~50 team members in 13+ countries. We had to cancel our IRL team retreat when Covid hit and had plans to go to Oceanside, California. We’re beginning to think about plans for a 2022 IRL retreat.
Does anyone have any location or accommodation suggestions? We’ll likely have somewhere from 60-70 team members when the time comes. We generally want to avoid anywhere that would be too difficult to get to, but we’re open to US or non-US locations.
Hi all. We are a fully distributed team of ~50 team members in 13+ countries. We had to cancel our IRL team retreat when Covid hit and had plans to go to Oceanside, California. We’re beginning to think about plans for a 2022 IRL retreat.
Does anyone have any location or accommodation suggestions? We’ll likely have somewhere from 60-70 team members when the time comes. We generally want to avoid anywhere that would be too difficult to get to, but we’re open to US or non-US locations.
Hi Friends! Does your org have a framework for which decisions get elevated to the CEO and what role s/he plays in them? My CEO is out of office for two weeks and I am already feeling the weight of my execs being paralyzed by not having his input on their decisions.
Hi Friends! Does your org have a framework for which decisions get elevated to the CEO and what role s/he plays in them? My CEO is out of office for two weeks and I am already feeling the weight of my execs being paralyzed by not having his input on their decisions.
Chiefs, I’m doing some research favorite OKR systems - refreshing my database of preferred systems. Would love to hear your favorite OKR system and what you mainly use it for. Building up the database….. :slightly_smiling_face: Thanks all.
Chiefs, I’m doing some research favorite OKR systems - refreshing my database of preferred systems. Would love to hear your favorite OKR system and what you mainly use it for. Building up the database….. :slightly_smiling_face: Thanks all.
Our team has been super productive, shipping lots of big projects so we want to thank them. Any recommendations on what to gift them (all based in the US this time)?
Our team has been super productive, shipping lots of big projects so we want to thank them. Any recommendations on what to gift them (all based in the US this time)?
Hi does anyone have a compensation consultant they would recommend?
Hi does anyone have a compensation consultant they would recommend?
Hi all - I’m going to be stepping into an interim Head of People Talent role (hybrid with CoS) as our current head of goes on maternity leave in a few weeks. If you have any recommendations on resources to read/listen to in this space or amazing People people to reach out to for insights lmk. If would be greatly appreciated!
Hi all - I’m going to be stepping into an interim Head of People Talent role (hybrid with CoS) as our current head of goes on maternity leave in a few weeks. If you have any recommendations on resources to read/listen to in this space or amazing People people to reach out to for insights lmk. If would be greatly appreciated!
Hi all! Have some of you introduced 360° Feedback? What is our approach towards Non-anonymous vs. anonymous upward feedback? Thank you :slightly_smiling_face:
Hi all! Have some of you introduced 360° Feedback? What is our approach towards Non-anonymous vs. anonymous upward feedback? Thank you :slightly_smiling_face:
Hey chiefs! My CEO doesn't yet have an EA, and we're considering getting one now that his travel schedule is picking back up.
The basic question we have, though, is what responsibilities an EA would have / whether it's really a full time job.
Any advice?
Hey chiefs! My CEO doesn't yet have an EA, and we're considering getting one now that his travel schedule is picking back up.
The basic question we have, though, is what responsibilities an EA would have / whether it's really a full time job.
Any advice?
Does anyone have recommendations on a format for investor updates? We're just looking to revise ours currently.
Does anyone have recommendations on a format for investor updates? We're just looking to revise ours currently.
Does anyone have recommendations on a format for investor updates? We're just
looking to revise ours currently.
Does anyone have recommendations on a format for investor updates? We're just
looking to revise ours currently.
Hello! I have two asks for help here and would love to hear from anyone who has experience with either.
Hello! I have two asks for help here and would love to hear from anyone who has experience with either.
hello, everyone - for recurring exec/senior leadership meetings, does anyone have a list of/some discussion topics that you and your execs/senior leaders find impactful and worthwhile to spend time on in live meetings? thanks so much!
hello, everyone - for recurring exec/senior leadership meetings, does anyone have a list of/some discussion topics that you and your execs/senior leaders find impactful and worthwhile to spend time on in live meetings? thanks so much!
Has anyone organized a remote way to recreate the social / “getting to know each other” vibe of an in person happy hour? For your exec leadership team that’s distributed across country
has anyone revamped onboarding at a fast-growth org? would love to understand how people are tackling things like task distribution + automation, scheduling, and any helpful frameworks…
has anyone revamped onboarding at a fast-growth org? would love to understand how people are tackling things like task distribution + automation, scheduling, and any helpful frameworks…
Hi everyone! This may have come up in a previous conversation (sorry if a repeat ask!) but is anyone working on their Return to Work policies? We are looking to compare with how other companies are structuring this plan and am seeking advice on whether you might be:
• mandating vs. encouraging vaccination
• asking for vaccination cards
• offering vaccination incentives (ie., monetary incentives, PTO or other ways)
• going fully remote (or offering that as a choice)
• taking a hybrid approach (3+ days in office)
• mandating returning to the office
• offering regular covid-testing if going back to the office
• changing your perks/benefits to accommodate remote and/or in-person staffing
Any best practices you have to share would be much appreciated!
Hi everyone! This may have come up in a previous conversation (sorry if a repeat ask!) but is anyone working on their Return to Work policies? We are looking to compare with how other companies are structuring this plan and am seeking advice on whether you might be:
• mandating vs. encouraging vaccination
• asking for vaccination cards
• offering vaccination incentives (ie., monetary incentives, PTO or other ways)
• going fully remote (or offering that as a choice)
• taking a hybrid approach (3+ days in office)
• mandating returning to the office
• offering regular covid-testing if going back to the office
• changing your perks/benefits to accommodate remote and/or in-person staffing
Any best practices you have to share would be much appreciated!
Hi everybody, happy Monday! Has anyone of you held a team offsite in London and has any recommendations to share? Thank you in advance! :slightly_smiling_face:
Hi everybody, happy Monday! Has anyone of you held a team offsite in London and has any recommendations to share? Thank you in advance! :slightly_smiling_face:
Does anyone have any good 'case study' questions for early business development hires? We're essentially trying to evaluate the decision-making abilities of some generalist candidates who may not have as much background in the healthcare industry.
Does anyone have any good 'case study' questions for early business development hires? We're essentially trying to evaluate the decision-making abilities of some generalist candidates who may not have as much background in the healthcare industry.
Does anyone have any good resources/courses on reviewing legal documents? I’ve had some experience, mostly industry dependent on things to look out for, but with the CoS role being so broad I’m curious how others think about their part in reviewing agreements, ndas, etc.
Does anyone have any good resources/courses on reviewing legal documents? I’ve had some experience, mostly industry dependent on things to look out for, but with the CoS role being so broad I’m curious how others think about their part in reviewing agreements, ndas, etc.
A question for those of you with fully remote teams - do you offer allowances for team members to use on co-working spaces? Why or why not? If you do offer the perk and would be open to sharing how much, that would be excellent. Thanks!
A question for those of you with fully remote teams - do you offer allowances for team members to use on co-working spaces? Why or why not? If you do offer the perk and would be open to sharing how much, that would be excellent. Thanks!
We’re looking to survey our exec team to get a pulse on what’s working and what’s not working to help inform the agenda for an offsite / potentially some leadership training. Does anyone have a survey about team work, collaboration, communication, etc. that they’d be willing to share? Or any good resources to reference? Thanks!
We’re looking to survey our exec team to get a pulse on what’s working and what’s not working to help inform the agenda for an offsite / potentially some leadership training. Does anyone have a survey about team work, collaboration, communication, etc. that they’d be willing to share? Or any good resources to reference? Thanks!
We’re considering moving away from quarterly OKRs and adopting this 6 month / 6 week planning cadence made famous by Youtube instead. Does anyone have experience running this type of model? If so, any guidance / learnings would be much appreciated!
We’re considering moving away from quarterly OKRs and adopting this 6 month / 6 week planning cadence made famous by Youtube instead. Does anyone have experience running this type of model? If so, any guidance / learnings would be much appreciated!
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
