Passionate About Quality
One of the things that the team at Mavenlink is most proud of and vows to protect is the high quality of the Mavens that have joined our charter community. There is no question that the individuals and firms that have signed up to date are impressive both in the depth of there expertise and there ability to deliver valuable services to the small business clients that need there help. As we continue to roll out new features to showcase the talents of our Mavens, you will see us work passionately to maintain the high caliber of professionals that we hope our clients and maven community come to expect from Mavenlink.
Measures in place:
- Screening of Maven profiles, backgrounds and experience
- Requiring real names and robust profiles for transparency on the site
- Linkages to other social and business networks
- Community Feedback- Ratings provided by peers and Clients relating to quality of services and real work performed on Mavenlink
- Building a business model that targets quality of service not quantity of providers or bidders
- Groups for peer to peer development and education
Upcoming Maven Programs:
- Updates to the find a Maven experience
- Enhancement of the Maven Profile and Mavenlink promotion and marketing of individual Mavens
- Training, Skill Development and Career Development to succeed as Mavens in the new economies of work
- Additional Screens to validate certifications, background
- Development of a business connections within Mavenlink focused on expanding your trusted personal network for getting work done
Our goals for these initiatives are pretty straightforward. The quality of the Maven community is critical to build Client trust. When deciding whether or not to conduct work within Mavenlink, we know potential Clients are interested in assessing not only the Mavenlink platform but also the resources available to them, often starting their evaluation of the site at Meet our Mavens. The expertise and targeted coverage of our Maven community will continue to be a differentiator for us all. Additionally, we want to develop a level of trust between Mavens, enabling the community to swarm together and collaborate where appropriate to solve complex, multi disciplinary challenges and projects. If we are successful in developing a strong and talented pool of expert providers, there is limitless potential in the work that can be done by the community. If we are successful, Mavenlink will be a site that enhances, not detracts, your personal brand.
New Feature: Multi-User Projects & Workspaces
It is my pleasure to introduce our latest major feature - multi-user projects and workspaces. It was through some of the initial feedback of our community that we prioritized this feature and made it happen ahead of other things we have planned and we could not be happier with how that worked out. As we have been testing it over the last few days, we realized that it really does take Mavenlink's workspace and project capability to the next level. It brings Mavenlink in-line with how most of us work: in groups.
What does this mean for you?
When you post a project or engage as a Maven, you will have an opportunity to invite a colleague to the project to work with you. Whether it's to collaborate on the project together or hand off to another resource within your company, we think you'll find it very useful to team up on projects.
We're going to be layering on roles/privileges over the next few weeks as we begin getting feedback from our community. Please let us know either directly or through GetSatisfaction (feedback tab on the right) what you think!
New Ways to Work
Media, television and bloggers alike are clamoring about changes in the way people work. Journalists, Economists, Academics, Businesses, and just about every one you run into these days, seem to agree on a couple of things.
One, the market need for short term, contract based, Just in Time professional services is growing. Small businesses, pressured more than ever to do more with less, are turning online to find talent and ways to complete projects without adding permanent staff (see Wall Street Journal, Negotiating the Freelance Economy).
Two, there are no signs of any near term returns to the 9-5 cubicle life. The corporate world as we know it has forever changed, driving a new perspective on the future of work. (see Time Magazine, The Future of Work). The internet, the opportunity presented by remote collaboration, and the diminished loyalty between employer and employee will continue to cultivate a growing community of professional consultants working on a contract basis as opposed to a permanent full or part time basis.
What remains to be seen is how small and medium sized businesses are going to effectively get work done in this new world. At 26% of the current US workforce, and growing, the 40 million plus freelancers clearly offer an unprecedented value to these businesses desperate for their services. But how do you sift through the maze of providers to find the right one? Can you build trust and rapport between a business and a provider while avoiding the inefficiencies of face to face meetings? Are the tools and technologies in place to successfully complete a transaction once a business and provider engage?
These are the questions that Mavenlink will answer over the coming months with the help of our growing community. Small and medium sized businesses will finally have a place to find and engage with professional consultants and expect high quality service. Highly talented Mavens will finally be able to shed the negative connotations of the freelancer label, spending time in a work environment that compensates them fairly for their efforts and develops the skills that are going to be necessary to succeed in this new economy.
