Last month, our Leadership Team convened for our annual Major Strategic Offsite. The gathering included strategic initiatives to continue our mission of building out the best product possible for our customers. The MSO included an added bonus: a special, hands-on visit to Habitat for Humanity, San Gabriel Valley.
Habitat for Humanity aims to decrease homelessness for populations in our very own backyard. Did you know that “California has the 3rd lowest home ownership in the nation”? In an effort to support Habitat for Humanity’s goal of “creating more opportunities for low-income working families to own a home in California”, our team was tasked with creating fifteen walls for two families in need.
“With our mission centered on student success, Aeries Software recognizes that it is impossible to separate the personal and familial demands that students face from the purely educational ones within their school settings. Housing instability is just one such challenge that has drastic effects on students and their families. We immediately recognized that the mission of Habitat for Humanity and for Aeries Software closely aligned in our desires to help families establish certainty and give their children a place to thrive,” said Brent Lloyd, President of Aeries
Our team found many similarities between building the framework for a house and the framework for a great product. Separated into sub teams with specific tasks, our company values guided our mission for the day.
We collaborated to build an action plan that would be efficient, timely, and capitalize on everyone’s strengths. Much like building a great product, building a house takes the skillset of all divisions.
We were respectful: for our teams, our work, our mission, and the families we were serving. When the sun beat down, we kept our eyes on the prize.
Sometimes, things didn’t go according to plan. Mismeasurements or improper hammering meant returning to the drawing board for a quick fix, but our team members remained mutually supportive.
Strokes of brilliance appeared when we allowed ourselves to be vibrantly innovative. Throughout the day, our pace continued to increase as we found effective shortcuts and solutions from thinking outside of the box. At times, this meant increasing the number of people measuring, while others meant repurposing wood to new project pieces.
Most importantly, we were customer centric, keeping the needs of these families at the forefront of what we did. We are committed to understanding and empathizing with the families’ needs, just like how we tailor our products to the needs of our users and students.
Brent added: “With housing and rental affordability a constant uncertainty shared by most families across the nation, bringing our leadership team together to assist in solving that challenge for even just a few deserving families felt extremely gratifying.”
Together, we can continue to build strong communities and positive changes in our society. Because when communities thrive, our students thrive.
To learn more about how you can get involved with Habitat for Humanity, click here .
