Mystery | The Easy Button for Connection at Work | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Mystery is a platform that offers virtual events designed to improve employee engagement and connection in a remote work environment.

Key Insights

• 💪 The shift to remote work has hindered employee engagement and connection, making tools like Mystery crucial in building strong virtual teams.
• 🧑 Virtual events have the potential to surpass in-person events by leveraging technology and personalized experiences.
• 🪡 Employee engagement metrics need to move beyond merely observing to actively measuring and improving outcomes.
• 🔨 Mystery's focus on outcomes and ROI differentiates it from other tools that primarily focus on observability and brand marketing.
• 😤 Building deep connections within teams, including manager and leadership connections, contributes to stronger engagement and satisfaction.
• 🎴 Expectations play a vital role in experience design, and Mystery aims to exceed low expectations associated with virtual events.
• 😤 Mystery has gained traction with thousands of teams and prominent companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Ford, and IBM.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: How does Mystery help improve employee engagement?

Mystery offers virtual events designed to foster a sense of belonging and cohesion within teams. By curating events based on employee interest graphs, employees are matched with like-minded colleagues or exposed to cross-team interactions, leading to stronger connections and engagement.

Q: What sets Mystery apart from other employee engagement tools?

Mystery's focus on virtual events differentiates it from other tools in the market. Instead of relying on pulse surveys or static measurements, Mystery provides interactive and enjoyable experiences that have a tangible impact on employee engagement metrics. The platform leverages technology to create personalized, memorable events.

Q: Can you provide an example of a successful Mystery event?

One standout Mystery event was a hot sauce-making class combined with a comedic interview. Participants received a customized box of ingredients, and they engaged in a hands-on activity while connecting with team members. The event not only provided entertainment but also allowed for personalization and bonding opportunities.

Q: How does Mystery measure the success of its events?

Mystery currently uses likert scale-based questions, known as people science, to gauge metrics like sense of belonging and connection. However, the platform aims to evolve into data science-driven metrics, focusing on the number and quality of deep connections employees have, ultimately leading to improved productivity and retention.

Summary

In this podcast episode, Sara Guo interviews Shane Kovalsky, the founder and CEO of Mystery, a platform that addresses the challenge of employee engagement in remote work. They discuss how Mystery works, its origins as a consumer experiences business, and the pivot towards virtual events for employee engagement. Shane explains the importance of creating meaningful connections and experiences for employees in a distributed workforce. He also talks about Mystery's growth as a company, its focus on virtual events, and the opportunity to redefine employee engagement metrics and outcomes.

Questions & Answers

Q: Can you start by describing how Mystery works?

Mystery is the first end-to-end platform for proactive employee engagement. It provides leaders and HR teams with a lever to improve metrics like sense of belonging and team cohesion. Mystery achieves this through virtual events that are designed to be enjoyable while also building connections among team members. For example, employees may join events with their existing team or be paired with someone from another team based on shared interests. Overall, Mystery aims to make team connectivity and fun easier in the remote work environment.

Q: Where did the idea for Mystery come from?

Mystery initially started as a consumer experiences business, offering in-person experiences like surprise date nights. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and remote work became the norm, the team realized the need for addressing the problem of employee disconnection and low morale. They saw the power of shared experiences in connecting people and saw an opportunity to leverage technology to create scalable, magical experiences for remote teams. The shift to distributed work and the lack of connection in the virtual environment made the idea of Mystery even more compelling.

Q: Can you share a hard-won product learning from your experience in the consumer experiences business?

In the early days of the consumer experiences business, Mystery focused on creating memorable experiences for customers. They learned the importance of managing expectations and found that most happiness and joy in experiences comes from the manipulation of expectations. They applied this learning to experience design in the virtual environment, creating events that exceed low expectations. They also realized the power of personalization and leveraging data about individuals to create tailored experiences. By taking into account preferences and interests, they were able to provide truly magical and amazing experiences for customers.

Q: Why do virtual events have such low expectations and how can Mystery change that?

Virtual events, in general, have low expectations because many people have had negative experiences, such as unengaging Zoom calls. However, Mystery aims to change this perception by designing virtual events that are truly engaging and impactful. They believe that virtual events have the potential to surpass in-person events once the quality and design improve. By iterating on virtual events and constantly improving the experience, Mystery aims to create events that people will prefer over in-person events. They see virtual events as the future and an opportunity to make meaningful changes in the way we work.

Q: How does Mystery position itself in the employee engagement space?

Mystery positions itself as a platform that moves beyond traditional observability technology and offers actual outcomes for employee engagement. While existing tools focus on measuring and tracking engagement through surveys, Mystery aims to deliver events that actually move the needle in terms of engagement metrics. They focus on ROI and driving metrics that matter for productivity and retention. By combining the analytics of engagement with the transactional aspects of experiences, Mystery provides a unique offering that helps companies build cohesion and connection among their teams.

Q: How does Mystery measure outcomes and engagement?

Currently, Mystery uses a combination of established employee engagement metrics and feedback loops to prove that their events impact those metrics. They use Likert scale-based questions to measure aspects like a sense of belonging and connection. However, they also recognize the opportunity to redefine metrics and turn people science into data science. Mystery plans to go beyond traditional metrics and track the number of deep connections employees have. By redefining what matters for employee engagement, they aim to provide a richer understanding of engagement outcomes.

Q: Are we moving towards a richer understanding of employee engagement, similar to what happened with customer satisfaction?

Yes, the concept of employee engagement is evolving, similar to how customer satisfaction evolved in the past. Companies like Qualtrics and Medallia changed the way people think about customer satisfaction by introducing metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and promoting a more comprehensive understanding of customer needs. Similarly, Mystery believes that there is an opportunity to redefine employee engagement metrics and go beyond basic surveys. By leveraging data and technology, companies can create richer and more impactful employee engagement experiences.

Q: Can you share a favorite Mystery experience?

One of Shane's favorite Mystery experiences was an event designed to improve leadership connection within his own team. Participants received boxes prior to the event and were instructed not to open them until the event started. The host guided everyone through a hot sauce-making class, where they made hot sauce together in their own kitchens. At the end of the event, a comedian joined for an interview-style session while participants ate spicy peppers. This experience not only facilitated connection and enjoyment but also allowed for vulnerability and humanization within the team.

Q: What is the biggest misconception customers have about Mystery?

The biggest misconception is the perception of virtual events in general. Many people associate virtual events with unengaging Zoom meetings and have low expectations for them. However, Mystery is different from other virtual event platforms and aims to provide truly enjoyable and impactful experiences. The challenge is getting people to experience the difference for themselves and realize that virtual events can be just as, if not more, engaging than in-person events.

Q: Where is Mystery as a company today, and who is using it?

Currently, Mystery has around 32 employees and is a remote-first company. They recently raised a Series A funding round, totaling $24 million. Mystery is primarily focused on virtual events that drive employee engagement and has thousands of teams using its platform. Their customers include well-known companies like Amazon, Microsoft, KPMG, Ford, and Uber, among others. Mystery has experienced significant growth, with recurring revenue and ARR increasing as they discovered the patterns of events that successfully move the engagement needle.

Takeaways

Mystery is a platform that addresses the challenge of employee engagement in remote work. By providing virtual events that are enjoyable and designed to build connections among team members, Mystery aims to improve important employee engagement metrics. They focus on moving beyond traditional observability technology and offer actual outcomes for engagement. Virtual events have low expectations in general, but Mystery is working to change that perception by creating virtual events that exceed expectations. The company has achieved significant growth and is used by thousands of teams, including well-known companies. Mystery sees virtual events as the future and aims to redefine employee engagement metrics for greater impact and productivity.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Mystery is an end-to-end platform that enables proactive employee engagement by organizing virtual events that promote a sense of belonging, cross-team cohesion, and connections.

• The pandemic and the shift to remote work have made it challenging to build morale and connection within distributed teams, and Mystery aims to address this problem.

• The platform uses employee interest graphs to curate events that cater to individual preferences and facilitate meaningful connections among team members.