Co-Lab Days (in person)

1 Purpose
2 Guidelines
3 In-person VS Virtual?
4 Process for in-person meetings

Purpose

MOSTLY AI embraces a remote work culture that allows our team members the flexibility and autonomy to work from any location that suits them best. We believe in the power of remote collaboration, but we also acknowledge the value of in-person interactions to strengthen relationships and foster creativity.

The purpose of In Person Co-Lab Days is to is facilitate occasional face-to-face interactions among team members to promote camaraderie, foster interdepartmental collaboration, break down silos, encourage creativity and innovation within MOSTLY AI.

We hope to empower Mostlies to work together more effectively but also cultivate a dynamic and inclusive work environment that nurtures innovation and breakthrough thinking.

Let's embrace this opportunity to break barriers, ignite innovation, and unleash the full potential of MOSTLY AI. 🚀

Guidelines

The Co-Lab Day Policy outlines the guidelines for organizing and conducting occasional in-person meetings and small group gatherings to enrich our team's experience and enhance our collective success.

On Co-Lab Days, teams or individuals are expected to reserve the day for collaboration, project unblocking, and brainstorming sessions with other teams or departments. Teams or individuals will have the opportunity to step away from their regular routines to get shit done and engage in cross-functional activities that promote knowledge sharing, problem-solving, and creative thinking. Sometimes being inside the same room helps us think outside the box and/or tick many boxes.
1. Block your calendar with the subject “Co-Lab Days“. This way all Mostlies will understand what you are up to this day.

Goals and Objectives: Before each Co-Lab Days, teams or individuals should set clear goals and objectives for the day. These goals should align with the overall objectives of MOSTLY AI and can include initiatives such as problem-solving, process improvement, cross-training, or ideation sessions.

Activities: Teams or individuals are encouraged to engage in a variety of activities during Co-Lab Days, including but not limited to:
1. Joint project work: Tackling shared projects or initiatives that require input from multiple teams or individuals.
2. Brainstorming sessions: Collaborating on creative problem-solving or generating new ideas for innovation.
3. Shadowing and knowledge sharing: Spending time with another team or department to understand their work processes and share knowledge.
4. Workshops and training: Conducting or attending workshops or training sessions to enhance skills and capabilities across teams.
5. Deep work and Get shit done: Combining two things that are very dear to Mostlies, and making the most of a focused and uninterrupted time to engage in complex problem-solving, creative thinking, or high-value tasks that require undivided attention and cooperation.

Accountability: Teams or individuals need to document their activities and outcomes from Co-Lab Days. This documentation will serve as a valuable reference for future projects, learning, and continuous improvement efforts.

Communication and Reporting: Teams or individuals are encouraged to share their experiences, successes, and key insights from Co-Lab Days with the wider team through presentations, reports, or informal discussions. This will help foster a culture of transparency, learning, and collaboration.

In-person VS Virtual?

Long story short please use common sense, but see the pros and cons of each below:

	Pros	Cons

Pros

Cons

In-person

We encourage the virtual setup for most interactions, and these in-person meetings should be considered when remote collaboration becomes challenging.

Examples:

Projects that require more abstract thinking.
Project proposals.

Fosters personal connections.
Immediate feedback + Real time discussions = Quicker decision making and problem solving.

Travel and logistics.
Lack of flexibility.
Environmentally unfriendly.
Pricey.

Virtual

While cherishing in-person interactions, we must remain mindful of our remote-first culture. Key decisions, discussions, and major updates should be asynchronously communicated and documented, and shared with the entire team to ensure inclusivity and transparency.

Examples:

All team standups and other recurring meetings.
Check-in meetings.

Cost-effective and time-saver.
Flexibility, convenience, inclusiveness.

Lack of interactivity.
Impersonalized environment.

Example #1

Ellis, a dedicated member of our CX team had been grappling with a complex project involving a demanding client. Despite their best efforts, Ellis was unable to find a satisfactory resolution to the challenges at hand. Frustrated and feeling stuck, Ellis longed for fresh perspectives and expertise beyond their immediate team.

Thanks to Co-Lab Day, Ellis saw an opportunity to break free from their deadlock by pairing with the Marketing team to explore potential solutions and gain new insights.

They are based in 4 different countries and have very busy professional and personal agendas, so they decide to meet virtually.

During their collaboration session, Ellis shared the details of the customer's pain points and challenges with the Marketing team. Together, they brainstormed innovative approaches to address the client's needs while aligning with MOSTLY AI's marketing strategies.

With the Marketing team's input, Ellis was able to refine the approach and develop a comprehensive solution that not only addressed the client's concerns but also incorporated marketing strategies to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. The collaboration didn't stop there; they continued to work together to fine-tune the solution and create a seamless customer experience.

Example #2

Kris, a talented and dedicated DevOps Engineer had been facing a perplexing challenge within the infrastructure environment. Despite extensive troubleshooting and research, Kris found themself stuck and unable to identify the root cause of the issue. Frustrated by the roadblock, Kris yearned for fresh perspectives and expertise from Ellis (CX), Robin (QA) and Ariel (AI Engineering Lead) but couldn’t find a 4 h slot to work with them.

Thanks to Co-Lab Days, Kris met Ellis, Robin and Ariel in a coworking space in Milan - because 3 of them live nearby and 1 was only a 2h train ride away - where they worked together to analyze logs, review system configurations, and conduct in-depth testing.

Throughout the day they identified a potential misconfiguration that had gone unnoticed by the DevOps team, which shed new light on the issue, providing a fresh angle for investigation.

Their combined efforts helped uncover an underlying issue related to the deployment process, which was impacting system stability. With this breakthrough, Kris was able to rectify the misconfiguration and implement a more robust and streamlined deployment pipeline.

Process for in-person meetings

In-person meetings must be pre approved by the Team(s) Lead(s) of all participants.
Advance notice is needed. If VISAs are needed, a minimum notice of 1.5 months should be given.
Location: prioritize a location where the majority of the attendees are based. If 3 people attending live in A, B, C different cities, than pick one of those taking into account accessibility and convenience for the majority of attendees. Opt for a location - A, B or C - that is well-connected and easy to reach, minimizing overall travel time and expenses.
The Travel & Expense Policy must be followed.
Roles and responsibilities are defined below:

	Each person	People and Operations Team

	Each person	People and Operations Team
Getting a VISA	It is of each person’s responsibility to apply and for the VISA in a diligently and timely manner.	The People & Operations team will support your VISA application by issuing an invitation letter. In some cases, some embassies will also require an Austrian EVE document, which can only be issued by the Austrian provincial police directorate at an in person appointment. A member of the People & Operations team will apply for the first available slot, which on average takes 2/3 weeks to get.
Booking travel (trains, flights, etc)	Each person should book their travel following the Travel & Expense Policy.
Booking accommodation	For singular trips (ex: you’re attending a conference, visiting a client, etc), each person should book their accommodation following the Travel & Expense Policy.	For groups/teams events, the People & Operations will support with suggestions and make the bookings.
Booking a coworking space		The People & Operations team will support with suggestions and make the bookings.

This policy will be reviewed periodically to assess its effectiveness and make any necessary adjustments to ensure it aligns with the evolving needs of our remote-first culture.