behind-the-scenes: company administration + handbooks + working groups
A lot of work went into putting together the resources for the following email, mainly regarding document creation. You’ll find a link to download several essential documents foundational to our culture and desire to create a deliberately developmental organization. Regardless of your current title or position, there is excellent information to be found through the links.
Before kicking things off, I wanted to express gratitude and immense respect for the (often thankless) work of the program facilitator team. We received an email from one of our transitional living parents that read in part, “In my opinion, one of the best parts of your program is your program facilitators who have personal experience with addiction and recovery. They have been great mentors to our son, and he has learned so much from them.”
advaita collective team member handbook
Below you will find a link to our team member handbook. Emily worked extremely hard to put this together and it should serve as a great reference for questions that come up fairly frequently. Please review this and reach out to your supervisor if you have any questions. Our plan is to update the handbook on a quarterly basis, so be on the lookout in a few months for changes. Lastly, this will be uploaded in ADP and we’ll ask everyone to sign off as received in their portals.
manager’s playbook
Below you will also find a copy of the Manager’s Playbook, which covers the most essential items that anyone in a management position needs to know. Some topics included are hiring, onboarding, expectation setting, performance management, and personal-professional development. If you’re not in a management position, you should review this to understand the direction the organization is going, in terms of management, support, and career development. If you’re not having regular meetings with your supervisor and those meetings aren’t covering the specifics of your job performance and career development, be proactive – schedule a meeting with your supervisor and come prepared with a completed personal-professional development plan and ask for feedback.
working groups
Keeping everyone in the loop with relevant information is one of the most difficult challenges as an organization grows. Too often, we’re siloed in our little bubbles and don’t understand what is going on in the other bubbles. My weekly emails attempt to create shared organizational context, though I’m well aware that they do not speak directly to some of your interests. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be rolling out some “working groups,” which will be interdisciplinary/interdepartmental teams working together to move specific initiatives forward. The plan is for these groups to collaborate asynchronously and synchronously and provide regular updates to the entire Advaita Collective.
Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: In one of my blogs/emails last month, I mentioned that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) will likely go to the next frontier in mental health treatment. As such, we have started a working group to explore PAP and how we will roll services out as new medicines go through FDA approval.
Press Release: Advaita Collective Launches Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy Working Group
The first step in our planning process is to write a backcast–a press release for an initiative that paints a picture of success. Here’s one of the backcasts we’ve put together regarding MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.
Program Development: SUD PHP / Full-Model DBT / Outpatient Detoxification: Over the next month, we’ll be rolling out working groups to begin planning for adding additionalThe first step in our planning process is to write a backcast–a press release for an initiative that paints a picture of success. Here’s one of the backcasts we’ve put together regarding MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. services, including a substance use partial hospitalization program (PHP), a full-model DBT program, and an outpatient detoxification program. We have long discussed the need to have an outpatient detox and SUD PHP if we’re going to have a full continuum of outpatient care; however, these projects have not always been given the time, attention, and investment necessary. More to follow towards the end of the month.
Technology Overhaul: EHR, Google, Telehealth, & More: I’ll be honest, I hate dealing with technology, and it seems like technology is only a source of frustration, and thus we don’t really enjoy the efficiencies it can create. Ultimately, good IT infrastructure makes our lives much easier by reducing frequent sources of friction. As we’ve grown in size, our technology needs have changed dramatically and over the next few months we’ll be migrating systems. As with all projects moving forward, we will be very deliberate with the planning process so that the implementation is as painless as possible.
Culture + People: Our advantage will always be our people. That’s a truism regardless of the field; however, it’s even more pronounced when our service is provided human-to-human. The culture and people working group will be responsible for helping us build a healthy, supportive internal culture while also putting individual growth and development at the forefront of our human resources strategy.
I’ll send a working group sign-up form in next week's email. There is no pressure to join the working groups, and each will set its own internal schedules, meetings, etc., but I want to facilitate everyone getting involved with projects they find interesting.
in closing
I’m a little off on my typical email cadence (duh). For the past couple of years, it’s felt like I was clutching the organization’s proverbial steering wheel. I’m releasing my death grip and the associated hyper fixation that I know what we need to do. You are an incredible team, and I’m slipping into an “observe and support” operating mode. Will I beat myself up if I don’t write a weekly diatribe? No. I’m excited to see how this all unfolds. The future is bright.
