CORE VALUES
“Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of vigorous intellect.”
Be a Servant Leader
Be Continually Learning
Respect the Knowledge and Wisdom We All Possess
Be a Curious Explorer
Be Creative
Envisioned by Pentzke Group II, LLC, The Zip Syndicate is dedicated to helping people get more than what traditional training and mentoring delivers. We are a forum of AEC & Real Estate professionals who have established a virtual, inclusive venue dedicated to exploring diverse ideas, knowledge, expertise, application, and lessons learned.
Imagine an environment where all voices are given a chance to sing.
“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I might remember. Involve me and I will understand.”
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
“Once you stop learning, you start dying.”
The Spark for The Zip Syndicate
WE HAVE BEEN SERVING THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS.
We have gained a stellar reputation for delivering and managing comprehensive and dynamic mentor/protégé programs focused on training, networking and mentoring; with particular emphasis on MWBE AEC firms.
Like businesses across the globe, the 2020 pandemic made us test our bias and assumptions and allowed us to be creative and experimental in ways we would not have thought to try in the past. It was easy to transform training seminars and mentoring sessions into virtual events but we were left with a critical gap: networking.
Networking was hard enough for people in a pre-COVID world; what can we do to fill this need? The need for business to strengthen its network increased because of the pandemic but the ability to do so decreased.
WE WANTED TO BRING A LIVE, HIGHLY INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL VENUE TO OUR MENTORS AND PROTÉGÉ.
It had to be:
Inclusive - Everyone needed the chance to participate, no wallflowers.
Pertinent - We wanted to address what was on everyone’s mind – COVID impacts on business·
Valuable - We wanted the discussion to generate ideas people could immediately apply.
Peer-to-peer - We wanted to foster peer-to-peer knowledge sharing to: combat the loneliness that comes from feeling isolated during trying times; to explore what people are doing and spark inspiration for what new things participants could do; and create a platform to work through risks and opportunities everyone is facing together.
WE HAD ALL ATTENDED VIRTUAL MEETINGS, TRAINING, AND SEMINARS—MOST, SHARED THE FOLLOWING ATTRIBUTES:
boring
torturous
one-sided
None of us had experienced a truly interactive, virtual roundtable. Why not?
Roundtables are known as one of the most inclusive knowledge sharing and learning environments.
Why can’t we have a fantastic roundtable in the virtual world?
In October of 2020, the experiment began with a series of four facilitated virtual roundtable discussions. Topics were selected from survey results and the schedule became:
How the pandemic has impacted our businesses and what are we doing about it?
How has the pandemic impacted job pricing, bids, estimates, etc.?
Fall 2020 Roundtable: Marketing During the Pandemic
Management / Working Remotely & Ability to Communicate Goals and Shared Meaning
THE RULES WERE SIMPLE:
Keep to 90 minutes
Create a space for diverse opinions and experiences on the topic
Make sure every single person participates.
Moderators could not hog the floor, they had to facilitate discussion
FACILITATOR’S ROLE
Ensure the discussion stays curious, respectful & on topic
Solicit participation by all
Students couldn’t sit there passively, they had to participate
PARTICIPANT’S ROLE
Ask questions with open-mindedness and grace.
Be curious
Be respectful
Explore the topic: share & ask; but keep within the bounds of the topic
Share the floor
P-A-R-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-E
The results and feedback far exceeded our expectations and lit a spark to start The Zip Syndicate.
We knew we must make this opportunity available to more people in our industry.
Detailed survey results which follow illustrate why VIRTUAL TRAINING AND NETWORKING DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ONE-DIMENSIONAL.
To close our sessions, we did two things: collected feedback and share notes.
(Our favorite survey method is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). It is easy, quick, and very insightful.)
Our survey includes only two questions:
How likely are you to recommend this Roundtable to a friend of colleague? (1 not at all likely – 10 very likely). The feedback was overwhelmingly either a 9 or a 10. We had only one neutral response (= 8 out of 10).
What 1 thing influenced the score you just gave? (Verbatim feedback is listed below.)
Good to hear from other colleague in similar situations, especially since all in-person networking events have been stricken from 2020
It was valuable information and time spent reflecting on my business
Everyone was encouraged to participate.
I appreciate the diversity, professionalism, and overall dynamic of the group.
The overall interactive discussions and thought-provoking questions and answers
Good input from all participants
The ability for nearly everyone to contribute to the discussion
The round table was informative. It is always good to know what is on the mind of your peers
Relevance of subject
Good advice and discussion about considerations to make when bidding jobs
Very informative- important topics were brought up and answered.
Great facilitating and knowledgeable participants
Interactive environment
The large number of various opinions from various size contractors
Realistic insight from both the speakers and proteges.
The collaboration on the topics discussed are extremely beneficial to a growing company during this terrible pandemic. Input from all the other professionals offers greater insight from different perspectives.
Information we shared would help companies to survive through this pandemic
Conversations were productive
Almost everyone on the call participated. I think these sessions are unique because the facilitators are very concerned with making sure there is time for everyone to take part.
Good to hear from everyone regarding how they are finding new business in these trying times
Interactive Environment & Industry Experts Participations
Guest speakers
Good to hear everyone's thoughts on the topic
These are so much more interactive than a traditional "webinar".
Great participation from all with suggestions and ideas
The way the meeting was ran, it influenced participation from most if not all attendees.
Great session with honest opinions
Great conversation, experience, and ideas
hearing how other people were adjusting to working from home and how they were coping
Interaction
The information was extremely valuable. Information was given that was helpful in running your company; practical advice given to meet many of the challenges that we are confronted with today and everyone was included.
Good to hear the variety of experiences different companies are having in reaction to the pandemic
Interactive Environment
Well attended and well-run meeting