a years’ worth of work to implement those ideas
once we’ve selected them. Any Advisory Board or
Dev Team member can add to that idea list during
that 60-day period. From there, the Dev team meets
every month and checks in with the advisory board
every quarter. How often does the Incubator meet?
KP: The two teams meet separately once a month.
There is a joint Advisory Board and Development
Team meeting every quarter. There are many more
small group meeting developing initiatives between
the monthly meetings.
Can you tell us about an Incubator idea that
fulfilled a client need or improved service?
KP: When we saw 3D Laser Scanning become more
readily available, the incubator investigated whether
this was a technology that we should adopt. At first,
we thought it could be an add-service for clients, but
after we started using it and applying it on projects,
we found that it was an efficiency gain for us on
our renovation projects. If we were doing a large
infrastructure project or something similar, it made
sense to implement 3D laser scanning technology.
It made collecting field data much more efficient by
eliminating the need for us to go the field multiple
times to check for additional information. We have
two 3D laser scanners and we’re utilizing more 3D
photography in the field as well. Can anyone at P2S can join the Incubator?
KP: Any staff member can apply. This year we have
added an application process so people can indicate
their interest to join. It formalizes the processes and
makes it easier. Some people might have had an
interest in joining or had an idea to share but they
didn’t know how to get involved and they didn’t
know who to ask. In the past, we would invite people
who said they had an interest and once a year
we’d adjust the membership. We are trying to not
overlook anyone with this new application process.
Our hope is that people who weren’t involved before
but have been wanting to get involved, now have a
more transparent method to join.
Why are there two distinct teams within the
Incubator?
KP: The Advisory Board and the Dev Team grew
out of our original Incubator concept, which was
one unified team with about 12 people. As we grew
as a company, more people wanted to have some
involvement in the incubator. They wanted to know
how they could enhance their entrepreneurial skills.
That’s when we began the Advisory Board and the
Development Team. The Advisory Board is typically
more experienced staff that can help drive the
programs and provide focus. The Development Team
is where most of the work is done on investigating
and drafting business plans on different initiatives.
Advisory Board members are also involved in each of
those initiative teams but most of the development
work is being done by the Dev Team. They coexist
and complement each other. The Dev Team has its
own structure with co-leaders driving and tracking
their efforts. The Advisory Board tries to foresee
other needs that we might not be addressing with
the Dev Team.
What are some ideas that have come out of the
Advisory Board?
KP: The New Hires Program, the Advanced Mentor
Program, the new hire training curriculum, the ideas
for these all came out of the Advisory Board. The
idea to establish commissioning as a horizontal
service line also grew out of the initial Incubator.
When did the incubator start? Who thought of the
idea?
KP: As we were starting to grow out of the recession
of 2008, we saw a need to work on internal and
external initiatives. External being client service
areas and the internal initiatives were geared toward
company processes and project management. It was
Kent (Peterson) and Ssusan O’Neill, who had been
focusing on leadership training at P2S who came
up with the idea. They saw that there were a lot
of great ideas floating around and thought about
how we as a company could harness that and put
in a process and formal structure to further develop
ideas.
What do you see in the future of the P2S incubator?
KP: I think the incubator will continue to produce
great ideas. Our San Diego office is involved in the
Dev Team and Advisory Board. The structure we
have serves us well for getting participation from
our branch offices. As our branch offices get more
remote, we may have them fly down for a day of
in-person meetings. We’d have to work out those
details, but I’d want to have any mid-sized branch
office involved in the incubator too. The program
has worked out better than we ever anticipated,
and it will continue to be an important asset as we
continue to expand.
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