Once a month, employees and managers alike look forward to the town hall where we can all come together to learn about how we are performing as one. It's a great way to evaluate our collective performance and celebrate our wins while also keeping lines of communication between departments and teams open.

The town hall also gives C-Level leadership an opportunity to share relevant topics to the whole company, including business trajectory, company initiatives, and personnel changes.

What is a town hall meeting in a company?

A town hall meeting is an organizational business meeting where an executive report is shared and employees have the opportunity to ask questions and engage with executives. It is sometimes referred to as an all-hands meeting in some organizations.

The meetings are usually held in person in a large conference room, however, since the pandemic, virtual town hall meetings have also become common. At FireStart, we oscillate between in-person, remote, and hybrid town hall meetings depending on the Covid-19 restrictions, so every employee can follow in real-time.

The meeting is separated into two parts. The first part is a presentation about the current happenings of the business and important milestones passed by different departments. A representative from each department presents the achievement of the teams, which also allows management insight into how each team is performing. The second half of the meeting is a question and answer style format where everyone in the company can ask questions and receive guidance from management.

What is the purpose of a town hall meeting?

Employees, more often than not, relish in the opportunity to directly engage with and communicate their ideas to upper-level management. A town hall meeting format is the perfect way to provide everyone with an opportunity to be heard, to share their successes, and celebrate the achievements of the team together.

The most important factor in a town hall meeting is joint participation. It's not a lecture, it's a forum!

You should start hosting town halls if you want to:

The town hall meeting format is quite simple; the idea is to have several short presentations that cover different aspects of the company under an overarching theme.

Setting up and preparing to present a town hall meeting can feel overwhelming. These 4 steps below shed some light on how to best implement your next town hall meeting.

Setting an agenda for your upcoming town hall meeting is important because it ensures that the presentation is succinct, relevant, and involves everyone -- without running overtime.

The town hall agenda format can be broken down into three main areas:

After the town hall, it's really important that upper management follows up on the actionable points of the town hall. This develops and builds trust within the organization. When run properly, town halls can increase employee engagement, retention, and improve the company's bottom line.

Town halls empower us to build a better business 

At FireStart, continuous improvement is a top priority for us. It's why we decided to implement town halls in the first place! Feedback is so important to us because it allows everyone to grow and evolve, which helps us as a business to expand and improve too.

 of business values, our mission statement is, "to empower people and technology to perform as one so you can make a difference" and next to that some of our values are, transparency, trust, and joy.

This is intertwined with how we run our business, and also how we design our product. 

 is about making a difference in the lives of all employees and managers, so we can help them create more transparency, 

, and ultimately, find more joy. A huge part of this product discovery is feedback. When there's no feedback, there's no room for innovation.

The town hall meetings are FireStart mirror how we design our product and how we approach our daily work. We're always able to identify areas of improvement for each department so everyone in the organization can continue to grow.

. With remote working and home office days now the norm, it's more important than ever to meet up and discuss our progress in town hall meetings.

Even with remote work, we're still able to build a strong community, foster team spirit, and find joy in our daily work.

Holding regular town hall meetings can boost employee spirit and also improves executive visibility.

A town hall meeting is an organizational business meeting where executives have the opportunity to directly interact with employees. Holding a town hall meeting regularly boosts team spirit, encourages collaboration, and helps leadership stay in the loop.

At FireStart, we implemented a communal "town hall" meeting to engage our FireStarters. Having regular town halls is one way that we encourage open communication and foster a truly flat workplace.

How Your Company Can Benefit From Town Hall Meetings

We are proud to announce that FireStart was mentioned as a 

 by one of the most prestigious analyst firms in the world, 

. The HFS Hot Vendors are an exclusive group of emerging players with a differentiated value proposition for the Digital OneOffice. As one of the leaders in iBPMS and process automation vendors, FireStart is proving that a low code, easy-to-implement platform that is able to fuse fractured processes between people, applications, and RPA robots, is the future of process management.

The Digital OneOffice is a framework for organizations that have fully embraced digital business models, ensuring that all barriers between front and back offices no longer exist. According to the HFS Hot Vendors report, Hot Vendors possess the vision and strategy to impact and disrupt the market in a unique capacity.

That’s what makes FireStart unique – the 

platform itself is built to manage complexity

 while providing a simple user experience and governance across the enterprise process landscape. As a result, people are more empowered in their roles when tech and humans can work together.

Organizations with thousands of applications and fragmented processes face an uphill battle when it comes to digital transformation and scaling. The lack of involvement, or even late involvement, of the IT department, presents unique challenges when 

businesses want to automate, manage and improve their processes digitally.

HFS Research sees FireStart as solving this problem with its model-based approach to intelligent process automation – aligning with HFS’s view of complete integrated automation. Integration is important because it assists businesses in ridding themselves of process debt, which according to 

 may have short-term benefits, but generates a negative impact long term. The HFS research supports our belief that process management must have a holistic, methodical approach to build long-term, sustainable organizations.

The collaboration between IT departments and business-focused departments is also part of our core mission. This approach to iBPMS breaks down silos within organizations to empower better communication, helping businesses to achieve their goals. Greater collaboration assists organizations to scale in a sustainable way, with FireStart supporting to easily handle complicated workflows, and the ability for customers to suggest new features on the roadmap. 

Providing an end-to-end process ecosystem has been a journey for us at FireStart. Over the past 13 years, we have worked hard to deliver a product that both simple to use and highly collaborative. The low code approach has helped us deliver this platform to hundreds of customers around the world so our clients can reach their business goals without the headache of unstructured processes.

Our goal for the future is to remain innovative and disruptive within the industry – helping our clients to reach their greatest potential and scale for success. To read more about how we’re doing this, view and 

Contact us for a free demo of the platform, customized for your organization.

Scale for Success with FireStart

FireStart has been recognized by HFS Research as a Hot Vendor in the Hot Vendors Q2 2020 report. 

HFS Research has named FireStart as a Hot Vendor in their HFS Hot Vendors Q2 2020 report. The report details how well vendors can fill the process automation gaps from end-to-end, known as the HFS OneOffice framework.

FireStart has been recognized by HFS Research, a global analyst firm, as a Hot Vendor in the HFS Hot Vendors Q2 2020 report. 

HFS Research Names FireStart as Hot Vendor

Process orchestration is a not-so-new term that has become important in the business sphere. Simply put, process orchestration is when a process is developed, monitored, executed and managed in one platform. The result is 

that can help a business grow and scale while improving productivity and reducing overall costs.

Everest assessed the process orchestration market of software providers and compared the benefits of each provider. The assessment included the providers that have been adopted by enterprises, the capabilities and solutions of the platforms, and the general technology provider landscape.

Everest was particularly focused on business orchestration because it can help companies solve issues they face as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Companies around the world are looking for ways to digitally transform

, and process orchestration can be the fast lane to success.

Everest reports process orchestration as key 2022 trend

an emerging key factor in a company’s digital transformation

. To remain competitive, companies need to digitally transform 

that deliver more value to customers and improve their bottom line.

Everest identified that process orchestration can help businesses lower their costs, raise efficiency, provide better customer experience, and increase compliance, just to name a few. The reason is that process orchestration tools allow businesses to 

 across departments. Process orchestration also helps manage handoffs between humans and digital workforces, 

making hybrid and remote working seamless.

What companies are looking for post-pandemic

Looking forward into 2022, Everest made several predictions based on what companies need in a post-pandemic world. They found that the main barrier to change is overcoming the traditional siloed working approach in favor of a digitally collaborative one. Businesses are also looking to 

better manage their human and digital workforce

Process orchestration can solve the emerging needs of businesses. An orchestration platform 

can provide companies with a solution to scale

, while taking little deployment time and being accessible enough for anyone to use with 

 Even companies with smaller budgets will be able to benefit from the process orchestration revolution.

 was able to deeply understand their own operational structure by implementing FireStart. With process orchestration, they were able to

 identify opportunities to streamline processes

, leading to 75% more resilience during the pandemic.

FireStart ticks boxes for small and medium businesses

In the report, Everest listed FireStart as a stand-out player in the process orchestration field that can empower companies to digitally transform. For 

, FireStart was comparable with industry players like Nintex and Kissflow, providing customers with automation solutions that are simple to use and implement.

FireStart differentiated itself in the report by showing strength in process design and execution, 

, and process implementation and support. For the end-user, FireStart offers a streamlined, optimized, and simplified approach to process creation and management. 

Low and no code options empower small to medium businesses (SMBs)

 who do not necessarily have access to software developers. FireStart also stood out in the low to medium complexity workflow category.

Everest particularly noted the wide variety of offerings that FireStart provides. From the 

 to the new cloud offering, FireStart consistently ticks the boxes when it comes to consumer needs. Both SMBs and 

 can benefit from the wide variety of user-friendly features such as drag-and-drop, the ability to track changes made by users, and visual process map creation. These features are crucial in making digital transformation more simplified. Companies can 

automate and orchestrate all in one platform

, empowering users to connect all parts of their tech ecosystem.

FireStart scored especially well in the hybrid working category, something that has become largely important in the wake of the pandemic. The ability to 

, send reminders and notifications, start and 

, and optimize workloads across all digital users, have become essentials in the age of remote working.

As we already mentioned above, FireStart will launch 

soon. Due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, companies have been steadily adopting cloud-based technologies to assist with remote working. Many businesses now are either entirely cloud-based or working on a hybrid model.

Going into 2022, even enterprise companies are wanting to integrate cloud hosting platforms. Among providers, 80% of them provide premises solutions while over 90% now offer cloud. Compared to customers, 61% of customers prefer cloud solutions while 39% opt for on-prem. FireStart differentiates itself by providing a hybrid solution that includes both cloud and on-prem, which few software providers offer.

, customers will be preferring cloud solutions as the world transitions from siloed, office working to collaborative, hybrid working.

Are you ready to orchestrate your processes?

If you’re considering a digital transformation, a process orchestration platform can provide your business with the governance and clarity it needs. 

process orchestration empowers businesses to develop their processes 

beyond what was previously thought possible by integrating a wide variety of applications and databases.

Start orchestrating your workflows with FireStart

Discover the latest trends for 2022 to see how process orchestration can help your company.

Everest Group, a global research firm, released research into the Process Orchestration market. FireStart is listed as a key player in this new, emerging market. 

Everest Group, a global research firm, released research into the Process Orchestration market. FireStart is listed as a key player in this new, emerging market. The rise of business Process Orchestration tools means companies now have the best chance of succeeding with a swift, effective digital transformation.

Everest Group Lists FireStart as Key Process Orchestration Platform

Creating technology that improves lives is what drives us at FireStart. We want to deliver products to our customers that improve their daily work life, reduce stress, and avoid cases of overwhelm and burnout. Front and center of our minds is always: 

how can we help companies perform as one?

At FireStart we have an amazing technology team that really understands what perform as one means to our customers. They’re always coming up with new and creative solutions to common problems and thinking outside the box when it comes to what we can deliver to potential customers.

 that works to deliver quality systems. They’re passionate, willing to go the extra mile, and always on the lookout for the next best technical implementation. Get to know more about them in this Q&A!

Stefan: The people at FireStart. If I have a flat tire at 3am in the morning, they are the kind of people that would fight over who can help me first.

Karim: The team and the people I’m working with, but also the constant challenges and problems we face. It wouldn’t be as exciting if there wasn’t a challenge to overcome.

Valentin: A highly motivated team that practices collaboration, supporting each other, and building something great together without blame or negative energy.

Daniel: The collaboration within the team and continuously improving together.

Thomas: Working with long term friends and challenging each other to constantly improve.

Lukas: The team! It is amazing how everyone helps each other.

Manuel: Building a high-quality cloud application, that is destined to make the lives of people easy, fast and hassle-free. We build something here, that can bring real value to our customers.

Stefan: I am currently in the progress of adding a book reading session before I start my workday. Usually, our team standup is the kickoff where we start working on the current sprint.

Karim: After coming to the office, I usually read until we have our daily standup where we then talk about the current state of the sprint.

Valentin: I start my workday with the daily standup where I sync with the team about possible challenges and the progress of the sprint.

Daniel: I start every day with a morning routine I have developed over time. Meditation and a morning coffee are an important part of my routine – plus not looking at my phone until I have been awake for over 30 minutes. It’s really important to me that I have a positive start to my day.

Thomas: A coffee, go to the standup and then take the next ticket from the board to start working on.

Lukas: I’m working at FireStart alongside studying, so my day is a little different. I usually come to the office after my lessons which means I wake up early, about 5:30am, so I have enough time for a morning routine before getting my work done.

Manuel: Gather with my colleagues to discuss upcoming work and celebrate the finished tasks.

What is the first thing you do when you face a new challenge?

Stefan: Take a step back and discuss the aspects of the upcoming topics with my team.

Karim: I try to think about underlying issues that could be the actual cause of the problem before trying to tackle it. I make sure I’m always in sync with the team to be as efficient as possible.

Valentin: I think about it how to solve it and talk to my team about my assumptions and iterate on them.

Daniel: I focus first on being effective vs efficient. Being effective means ensuring that I really understand the challenge. Being efficient means making sure that it’s the correct thing to be working on right now. Then I can understand if the challenge is caused by a different problem which might need to be tackled first. Generally, I try to look at the challenge from a bird’s eye view to see the big picture. This helps me to be as efficient as possible.

Thomas: Make an assumption about how to solve it. Quickly tell a team mate and ask for feedback on that idea. I try not to waste any time and implement a solution as quickly as possible before refactoring.

Lukas: At first, I try to solve the problem on my own. I think about what the reason for the problem could be, and take a step back and see the bigger picture. If I can’t find a solution on my own because I am stuck, I usually ask one of my co-workers for help and then we can fix the problem together.

Manuel: Study the problem and really get to know it. I find it useful to not jump to the first solution I think of, but ask about the what and the how and the why. It’s the most rewarding experience when you don’t quick-fix it, but forever-fix it.

What is unique about being a software developer at FireStart?

Stefan: I have worked at many different companies, from startups to big governmental corporations, and the biggest difference is the management principles and the amount of change that is possible at FireStart. If things don’t work out, we simply change and improve towards perfection.

Karim: FireStart in a nutshell is all about continuous improvement. I also like that we are a self-organizing team with the autonomy and responsibility and to share failures and successes.

Valentin: People here don’t work because they “have to” or only for money. They work here because they have a genuine passion for what they’re doing. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to have so much fun and get work done at the same time.

Daniel: The atmosphere and the colleagues I would say mostly. Also working and having influence on a product with great potential is really enjoyable.

Thomas: The colleagues here are super cooperative and ready to help you with anything. The constant improvement mindset also helped me grow personally.

Lukas: The management structure and the co-workers. It’s amazing to see how everyone is there for each other and the one-on-ones where you can talk about serious things and get help if needed are really interesting and helpful.

Manuel: We don’t blindly follow processes and use techniques. We question and change everything to create the best product possible in the most healthy environment possible with us getting as smart as possible in the process.

What tool can you absolutely not live without in your day-to-day work?

 functionality. I just love developing with them.

Karim: Automated pipelines that allow us to eliminate a lot of tedious work from our development flow.

Valentin: Having at least two screens to have information ready while developing in my IDE.

Daniel: Not sure if this counts as a tool but I would say shortcuts. Not only the typical shortcuts but also finding ways to reduce the needed manual input to reach a certain output on the PC. This greatly reduces the delay between the moment I want to do something and the moment I managed to do it on the PC. Then I can more easily reach a flow state with my work.

. Have been working with their products for a long time and I am way too used to their workflows and shortcuts.

Lukas: Shortcuts in our development software.

Interested in joining the FireStart team? Apply for an internship in our technology team.

Join us and make a difference

Meet the people behind the technology and see who builds FireStart from the ground up.

echnology is at the core of what we do at FireStart, and having a creative and passionate technology team is super important. Learn more about the people that build FireStart in this Q&A.

Technology is at the core of what we do at FireStart, and having a creative and passionate technology team is super important. Learn more about the people that build FireStart in this Q&A.

Meet Our Technology Team, Stratus

While FireStart Cloud is no-code, behind the easy-to-use platform are teams of people that code, create, and problem-solve to make FireStart a success. 

 are motivated to improve the lives of our customers, so anyone can streamline their workflows in a few clicks or easily delegate daily tasks.

Omnia is the next technology team that works to deliver a simple platform to our customers. They’re collaborative, creative, and never give up on a difficult problem. Get to know more about them in this Q&A!

Aaron: I really enjoy collaborating with my teammates and facing challenges together, it’s conceptual or technical.

David: I would say that I enjoy solving unique problems the most.

Philipp: I enjoy learning new skills and expanding my horizon every day.

Marco: What matters to me is collaboratively working on and delivering impactful solutions. It’s nice when what you’ve worked on is well received by our customers and stakeholders.

Andreas: I love working in a tight-knit team full of smart and motivated people.

Aaron: I like to use my time in the morning to research. It lets me start the day focused and ready.

David: I grab a Club Mate first and then look at the state of the sprint.

Philipp: I go over the priorities for the day while eating a fresh Zuckerkipferl!

Marco: I always grab a cup of coffee (or two) first. After that caffeine kicks in I check the current sprint progress and my calendar. I like to use the morning hours mostly for learning time before all my coworkers are in the office.

Andreas: I wash my hands as soon as I get to the office (better to be safe in these times!). Then I write a message into our Teams channel highlighting what I worked on yesterday and what my focus will be for today.

Aaron: I either go straight into hacking together a prototype to discover architectural and conceptual issues, or I work together with my team to solve the challenge on a whiteboard.

David: Before jumping into a challenge I like to think it through, either alone or with a teammate.

Philipp: I grab a notepad or a whiteboard for some brainstorming!

Marco: It really depends. When it comes to coding, I like to write down all known issues on sticky notes and then tackle them one by one.

Andreas: I like to sketch out the issues on a piece of paper or a whiteboard either by myself or with a colleague.

Aaron: I think FireStart is different because it puts long-term improvements before short-term achievements.

David: I would say that it is the work environment and the team.

Philipp: I appreciate the mix of the smart and interesting people I get to work with and the focus on continuously improving, both as a team and personally.

Marco: The people and the workplace make FireStart unique. The opportunity to work with a young and highly motivated team that is super passionate about the product makes all the difference. The environment is extremely supportive and that helps push us further.

Andreas: The autonomy. As a team, we can change our processes as we see fit, instead of how we work being mandated by the higher-ups.

Do you want to be creative daily and be inspired to reach your goals? Apply now to become part of the FireStart team.

Join our ranks

Our next technology team, Omnia, work daily to create a platform that empowers users.

See what it’s really like to work at FireStart from a developer’s point of view, and discover more about the people that build the platform.

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