Release 5.27 (May 13, 2023)

Click on the links below to jump directly to a specific feature:

NEW Conversations feature

Shortcut for updating your Profile Picture

Visual enhancements to Assessment Report page

Come To Me When - Updated guidance

Accessibility: Branding color update (for default settings)

StandOut Team Member 90-Minute Certification

Conversations
New Feature: Building connections at work

Organizations understand the importance of employee connection now more than ever.  We’ve heard from many clients who are looking to help employees feel more connected to their leaders, their teammates, and their colleagues, which in turn helps them feel more connected and engaged in their work.  Great conversations are the foundation of connection, and we’re thrilled to introduce you to a brand-new area of StandOut, which we’ve designed to be a connection hub for all members of your organization.  We’re calling it Conversations, and it will facilitate discussions within and across teams using a strengths-based lens.

Watch this short video and read on to learn more:

The Conversations homepage features four sections: Interactive Conversations, Conversation Guides, In-Progress Conversations, and Conversations History.  

1. Interactive Conversations: Users are guided through an in-platform experience to record and share answers to key questions. The first Interactive Conversation is Milestone Connect, which prompts Team Members and Team Leaders to discuss recent wins, challenges, and the future. Milestone Connect builds upon the weekly Check-In, but with a longer focus and deeper dive, allowing Team Members to be seen in a more meaningful way.

Those who have used Milestone Connect in the past will notice that it’s moving from the My Check-In page to Conversations Home with this release. Anyone who prefers the PDF Milestone Connect experience will still be able to access it via the Resource Hub.

2. Conversation Guides:  Users will be able to download new interactive PDF guides to assist them in having meaningful conversations. Conversation Guides may be used offline, and some even have links that will take users to other relevant sections of StandOut.  This section will grow over time, and with this release we’ll have Conversation Guides available covering three topics:

• Our Check-In Partnership: Facilitates a conversation between a Team Member and Team Leader to examine what’s working well and what they may want to adjust in their weekly Check-Ins.
• Understanding Our StandOut Roles: Guides a discussion through which users can dive deeper in their StandOut Roles and identify how Roles show up in their work. 
• Connecting with Colleagues: Provides conversation starters to get to know someone in a new way focusing on strengths and StandOut Roles.

3. In-Progress Conversations: This section shows all Interactive Conversations currently in-progress, which are also visible on the My Check-In page.  If you’d like to close a Conversation before it’s completed, click on the drop down and select “Archive”. This will move the Conversation to the Conversations History section, where it will no longer be editable.  The other person involved in the Conversation will receive a notification of this change.

4. Conversations History: All inactive (completed, archived, etc.) Conversations will be shown. Users will be able to view the detail page of the Conversation and download a PDF. Visibility is consistent with Milestone Connect in that Team Members will be able to view content they’ve entered but not content entered by their leader, while Team Leaders will have visibility into all content submitted.

Conversations will be defaulted to “On” for all clients who use Check-Ins. It can be easily found on the Top Navigation panel of your StandOut homepage. Users will see an “About” modal the first time they land on the page, containing details to introduce the feature. If you’d like to turn Conversations off, or turn off just the Interactive Milestone Connect section, please connect with your Client Success Partner.

A new Conversations Usage Report will be available with this release, providing practitioners with the ability to quickly track who has and hasn’t completed Conversations, while keeping all other content entered confidential to the related participants.

With the creation of the Conversations homepage as a centralized location for all In-Progress and Completed Conversations, we’re adjusting some of the notifications previously used within Milestone Connect. The email notification that users previously received once they completed their portion of the Milestone Connect Conversation, providing a link to the detail page, is being removed. Users will now be able to easily access their Milestone Connect details within the Conversations homepage. Additionally, when users click on an Archived notification in the platform they will now be conveniently routed right to the Conversations homepage.

 

StandOut Profile
Enhancement: Profile picture shortcut

Looking to update your StandOut Profile Picture?  It’s easier than ever with the addition of a camera icon right on the StandOut home screen, providing another way to make this change. Profile pictures can still be updated from the My Snapshot page too, and clicking on your picture (not the camera icon) will still take you right to My Snapshot—no changes there.

StandOut Assessment
Enhancement: My Standout Report

We’re making a few visual enhancements to the My StandOut Report area of the desktop platform.  You’ll still have access to all the same insightful information, just with a new look and feel: the purple banner across the top has been replaced with a new starry background, and the “My Pins”, “Download Report”, and “About My StandOut Report” links have been adjusted to be directly below the heading. 

Snapshot
Enhancement: Come To Me When Statement guidance

Existing guidance for the Come To Me When Statement area of the platform is being updated to help differentiate this feature from the upcoming Strengths Statement Builder.

• Previous description: Offer your strengths to the team by describing activities that invigorate you at work.
• New description: Which skills and talents would you like to offer up to your colleagues? Let everyone know!

Accessibility update
Enhancement: Default branding color

We’re updating our default branding color to add more contrast for accessibility purposes. Clients who do not use custom branding may notice this change to a slightly deeper shade of blue, shown below.

Leader Development
New Feature: StandOut Team Member Certification

We have a new certification program that will train facilitators to deliver a 90-minute (in-person or virtual) version of StandOut Team Member: a compact and engaging introduction to StandOut’s core strengths concepts. This certification is conducted virtually, in four 2-hour sessions, and is available to any TMBC clients or independent practitioners who have completed the StandOut Debrief Certification as a prerequisite.