It’s been a tough year, to put it lightly.
But before we close the book on 2020, it’s important to take stock of the good that emerged despite overwhelming hardship. That includes wins at work, where teams across the globe quickly pivoted and relied on creativity, resourcefulness and empathy to accomplish new goals and refine their skills.
Damon Lanphear, CTO at Seattle-based 98point6, said his team felt the events of the last year acutely. As a healthtech company that connects patients to doctors via an app, 98point6 had been working on contactless, digital alternatives to in-person visits long before COVID-19 emerged. Yet with the onset of the pandemic, there came an increased demand for 98point6’s services, and the company found itself needing to scale quickly.
Streamlining and updating processes is a step every successful startup must take, but doing so virtually posed new challenges.
“We were proud to be able to support our patients from day one of the pandemic,” Lanphear said, “And we’re even more proud of how our teams successfully rose to the challenges of accelerated growth and continue to build an amazing patient experience through our app.”
In a conversation with Built In Seattle, Lanphear reflected on the past year’s obstacles and opportunities for growth. He spoke to how his team tackled challenges with compassion, the valuable lessons they all learned and how the company as a whole will take those learnings into the new year.
What's your proudest achievement of 2020?
Leading up to 2020, our team worked hard to provide on-demand, affordable primary care 24/7 to patients nationwide. With the development of COVID-19, convenient access to care without having to be present in doctors’ offices became critically important.
We were proud to be able to support our patients from day one of the pandemic and we’re even more proud of how our teams successfully rose to the challenges of accelerated growth and continue to build an amazing patient experience through our app.
What was the biggest challenge of 2020 for your company, and what did your team do to overcome this challenge?
As a result of our growth in 2020, our technology organization had to adapt quickly — transitioning from a flat organizational structure to small squads of engineers. This already challenging reorganization was made considerably more so by having to be executed remotely.
In order to ensure our new managers felt supported during this time, we designed leadership training sessions in combination with structured opportunities to exchange feedback and valuable insights virtually. Investing in this level of support made all the difference in successfully evolving our organization to keep pace with our growth and ensure we maintain the same strong team culture among our engineers.
Inside 98point6
What's the most important lesson you learned in 2020, and how will you carry that lesson with you into 2021?
The events of 2020 had a widespread impact on the hearts and minds of everyone at 98point6. We learned the importance of dedicating even more time to carefully listening to what our employees are going through and creating flexibility for our team members to take care of themselves and their loved ones.
Looking ahead to 2021, we will continue to prioritize open and candid conversations, knowing that this will only further lay the foundation for strong workplace culture and professional growth.
