Singularity University Invents Their Future with On-Demand Independent Experts

Adam Hofmann created agile teams before “doing agile” was a thing

At the time, he wasn’t trying to change the business world, he was just trying to help the startup he joined get important work done with very limited resources.

Enter Upwork. Our work marketplace is engineered to efficiently connect businesses with skilled independent professionals, and quickly get them working together at any scale. After Hofmann experienced the ease of completing a project through Upwork, it became the company’s de facto way for getting important work completed.

Over the last decade, Hofmann introduced Upwork to every organization he’s been a part of. In his current position as VP of Marketing at Singularity University, he utilizes Upwork to expand the capacity of his team and experiment in a nimble fashion.

“Upwork helps our marketing team find new talent, run experiments, see if things are going to work, and then decide whether or not we want to scale them a lot faster than we could otherwise,” says Hofmann.

Upwork is designed to help teams balance speed and stability at scale

Digitization is forcing businesses to move at unprecedented speeds just to survive. This requires transforming outdated practices into agile processes that facilitate speed. But a successfully agile business can’t rely on speed alone, those who succeed at agility know how to move quickly while creating stability. Being simultaneously dynamic and stable may seem like a paradox, but Hofmann does it everyday with his team. Here’s how Upwork enables him to do it, according to what McKinsey identified as the five traits of an agile company:

Strategy

“As marketers, we must move quickly and nimbly. We must try new things and quickly know what works and what doesn't work,” says Hofmann. Upwork’s large, global work marketplace and AI-powered filtering system enables the team to swiftly scale and fill talent gaps within three days. So they always have the skills required to respond faster to marketing opportunities and business partners.

Structure

Hofmann confidently gives every team member access to the platform because it can be customized to meet the business’s security and onboarding needs. Access to the platform empowers employees to control their own work pace. Hofmann explains, “I don’t have to be a bottleneck because I know the right systems are in place for them to go find somebody great, get them hired, and start working with them quickly.”

‍Process

Hofmann’s processes resemble guidelines rather than rigid rules. They’re in place to help team members reduce errors and manage spend. For example, by using the work marketplace, the administrative tasks associated with engaging talent have been reduced to the point where the team can find and hire ideal talent within 24 hours. However, Hofmann prefers that potential talent undergo two to three days of interviews to “make sure we choose someone we all feel great about.”

People

Upwork provides access to a global talent pool with over 10,000 skills, which frees the team to consider projects that weren’t previously possible. This also leads employees to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and think of new ways to improve their impact on the team and business. Such as how they optimize workflow by breaking work down into projects and identifying what work should be done in-house and what should be offered to independent professionals.

Technology

Upwork engineered its platform so that businesses can overcome the most common resource limitations: time, budget, and skills. The platform facilitates businesses working with talent located anywhere in the world while keeping businesses in firm control. From a single dashboard, Hofmann maintains visibility over total talent usage, approves time cards and pays talent with a couple of clicks, and ensures all onboarding and offboarding processes are met as usage scales.

[Giving the team] access to Upwork increases the speed we can work. I don’t have to be a bottleneck because I know the right systems are in place for them to go find somebody great, get them hired, and start working with them quickly.
‍
—Adam Hofmann, former VP Marketing at Singularity University‍

‍

Any team can invent their future

“At Singularity University, we spend a lot of time with large organizations helping them invent the future,” says Hofmann. He turned that practice inward by innovating with on-demand talent through Upwork. The result: leads processed two times faster and productivity rose 30%. What’s more, working with external specialists created opportunities for employees to learn new skills and increase their creativity.

After hearing of the marketing team’s success, other teams across Singularity University asked Hofmann how they could utilize Upwork for projects ranging from software development and recruiting to lead generation.

Hofmann believes the most successful companies are adaptable and nimble. The most important way for businesses to achieve this is through independent talent. “We work with some of the most amazingly talented people around the world to move our projects forward and give us new ideas,” says Hofmann. “I can help the company out more by helping everybody else embrace this mindset and teach and empower them to do it.”

If your organization isn’t fully agile yet, you can still benefit from the practice. Hofmann shows you just need to start and a good place may be with your team. ‍

“We work with some of the most amazingly talented people around the world to move our projects forward and give us new ideas. I can help the company out more by helping everybody else embrace [working with independent talent] and teach and empower them to do it.”
‍
—Adam Hofmann, VP Marketing at Singularity University‍