With open source coding, Silicon Valley mythology and crowdfunding facilitators like Kickstarter, tech start-ups have become the new punk rock. And it’s not just NoCal anymore – New York City, Seattle, Boston, Washington D.C., Detroit and South Florida are all becoming forces to be reckoned with.
And honestly, America’s work life has been altered forever, particularly after the Great Recession. Healthcare IT isn’t one to be left behind nowadays, so check out the reasons why a healthy start-up culture is important for crafty entrepreneurs aiming to revolutionize a highly politicized industry.
The Three Four Elements of a Start-Up
Alongside funding, talent and product/market fit, culture is critical. A number of start-ups are under the impression that seeking and hiring talent will promote a positive and productive start-up culture, but it’s often better to let culture help attract that top-level talent.
Doing so allows for cohesive teams and more efficient project management at the workplace – something particularly essential in an industry as intricate as health IT. Building culture allows health IT companies to first identify a vision that current and future employees can understand, establish a meritocracy (crucial for young start-ups) and develop healthy competition.
Start-ups Within Start-ups
Jack Dorsey discusses creating Square as a start-up composed of smaller start-ups. While recruiting entrepreneurial types to work for your company is risky because of the difference in work styles and potential for volatility, the payoff is immense.
It’s important for health IT companies to foster a start-up culture that hires entrepreneurs, not just run-of-the-mill employees. Entrepreneurial types usually upend conventional notions of organization and productivity, such as highly structured meetings and top-down deadlines, replacing them with spontaneous teamwork and iterative projects that allow for creativity and organic growth.
If your managers act as mini-CEOs and don’t simply supervise employees, productivity and teamwork rise quickly, allowing your start-up to grow faster.
Attitude and Ambiance
Your company’s attitude should push clear-cut values, or guiding principles by which you operate daily. These principles should be determined early on to create a coherent company identity, which will serve as a platform for challenging decisions.
Furthermore, a strong company attitude will help establish your start-up’s culture. A firm set of tenets you abide by helps you attract talent with firm workplace ethics, which is necessary to correct healthcare’s ailments.
Ambiance is a little different. This is your healthcare start-up’s emotional side, which can change overnight sometimes. Not only is this often influenced by an appropriate dress code (typically not too stuffy) and employee benefits, you should rely on management and/or executive leadership to lead by example.
The more you attempt to create a positive ambiance and work milieu, the more prone to success your present and prospective employees will be, which translates into growth for your start-up. Your company’s ambiance is especially important in healthcare, which can often be dense and seem somewhat depressing when you delve into the industry’s inconsistencies that require improvement.
Personally, I like CareCloud’s start-up culture because it fosters transparency and teamwork, and I get to write articles like these.
We’ve determined that everything from dress code and work hours to company values and entrepreneurial hires is essential to creating a healthy start-up culture and empowering your company. What do you do to bolster a positive start-up culture?
