Focus on ScaleChanger’s support for the ECHOBAT network

ECHOBAT is a French impact-driven network gathering economic players involved in socially responsible eco-construction. Laureate of a French program supporting the replication of social innovations, ECHOBAT identified, thanks to the program, some internal challenges to address to successfully scale its concept. One of the areas for improvement that needed to be addressed included the network’s governance. With the number of network’s members expected to grow significantly, one of the challenges was to maintain the representativeness of the members within the network’s governance while increasing the power of this governing body with a view to sustain the scaling process of ECHOBAT Network. ScaleChanger provided support to ECHOBAT specifically on this governance matter.

What is ECHOBAT?

The ECHOBAT Network has been part of the solidarity-based eco-construction landscape since 2010. It brings together players committed to environmentally-friendly practices. Originally based in the French Pays de la Loire region, the network has spread to four other French regions and now has over 400 members. 

Today, the ECHOBAT Network consists of:

Organisation of the ECHOBAT Network, known internally as the ‘Galaxy’

The ECHOBAT Network is made up of several entities: The original association created in 2010 which runs the network made up of ECHOBAT Development and its affiliated training organisation, and ECHOBAT Solution, which acts as an ‘incubator’. With such a network and over 400 members, a question arises:

How can ECHOBAT ensure that new members play an increasingly greater role in the network?

To address this issue, the ECHOBAT Network reached out to ScaleChanger for a support mission. To sustain the development and evolution of the governance and make sure it will support the network’s scaling up, ECHOBAT needed to redesign the journey from volunteer member to network administrator. This work involved 3 key stages:

Diagnosis and state of play:

First, we gathered the perceptions of the existing network members (both usual members and governance members) both on the current governance and on their expectations with regard to the bodies of the ECHOBAT Network. This initial work helped define the network’s ambitions in terms of governance in the context of a scaling phase and was achieved through different working sessions: 

• A focus group with network members,
• A focus group with the administrators,
• ScaleChanger’s participation in the ECHOBAT 2023 General Meeting and workshops were organised for the occasion,
• Several discussions with ECHOBAT network stakeholders (Director, administrative and financial manager, local coordinators).

This phase resulted in the identification of 5 issues regarding the development of the ECHOBAT network’s governance. On the one hand, there was a need to clarify roles and responsibilities of the various bodies, and on the other, four issues related to the member to elected representative journey arose: 1) the progressive nature of the commitment, 2) the support and leadership of elected representatives, 3) the promotion of the commitment and 4) Communication on the ideas and actions undertaken.

Designing the evolution of the career path:

Based on these conclusions, we suggested the introduction of an intermediate status to address the issue of progressiveness highlighted in the diagnostic. We suggested adding  a new stage within the members’ journey so the members’ commitment can gradually evolve.  

We also put forward proposals to meet other challenges identified: 

• Strengthening the support provided to members with a standardized process (training day, pairing, support point and assessment in particular),
• Highlighting the benefits of being part of the governance body (communication wise),
• Implementing practical tools to support the process (members’ guide, communication materials),
• we identified the eight key actions to be implemented to set up the new pathway from member to ECHOBAT representative.

Presentation, validation and deployment of the proposal:

We presented our proposal during the ECHOBAT Development supervisory board meeting, where members shared views and improvements. The proposal was then presented and discussed by the ECHOBAT Board of Directors before being validated.

Based on the action plan initiated with ScaleChanger, ECHOBAT must now prepare the necessary elements to test during one year the new member-to-elected member pathway which will be adjusted according to the feedback and needs identified.

For ScaleChanger, working with ECHOBAT Network was an exciting and complex experience due to  the nature of the subject addressed, i.e. governance, which requires strategic thinking, operational implementation and change management. 

Beyond the technical proposal drawn by ScaleChanger, we managed to bring tangible changes among stakeholders, especially in the way they operate. The various discussions and contacts with the network were crucial in pinpointing the issues at stake to build a tailor-made proposal in line with the network’s identity. What made this support mission a success was the combination of the expertise of the two ScaleChanger scale-up advisors who were able to bring to the table an operational vision with a strategic perspective, which are essential when aiming for a clear, customised and realistic action plan. 

Furthermore, exploring its governance through a deep assessment of the situation, with a co-construction dynamic created around its evolution and the preservation of the organisation’s DNA showed ECHOBAT the potential for transformation and innovation of their industry, while underlining the importance of collective action in the scaling up of impact initiatives.

“Albert Einstein said: “You can’t solve a problem with the same way of thinking that created it. That’s why ECHOBAT likes to be surrounded with experts who can support the network in its development. Thank you to the ScaleChanger team, who challenged us, technicians and members alike, to come up with a clear roadmap that will enable us to consolidate our collective momentum.”

Are you facing network or governance challenges (structuring, leadership, etc.)? Contact us here 👉 contact@scalechanger.org 

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