That time we built a culture from scratch.
What is “workplace culture”? I’ve worked for organizations that liked to think they were “a culture of innovation”. What we had was a culture where the executives had heard that innovation was nifty, and they wanted some of that too. Culture isn’t a hat or t-shirt with a slogan on it that is passed out at the quarterly internal PR meeting. Culture is defined as “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.” It’s intrinsic to those people and it’s not something you can pass out in a branding guideline, marketing video, or company motto.
The forging of a corporate culture takes leadership and a commitment to supporting teams in growing and building that culture. For example, if leadership is constantly driving deadlines, rewarding long hours, and personal sacrifice from employees, that is the culture you are building. It would be ridiculous to think that saying work-life balance is important to the company when every other action by the company is reinforcing the opposite. The company must put in the work to support the culture they want for their company and their employees.
But building a culture in a workplace is a team effort. Every employee has to feel like they are a part of the process. If employees feel empowered to work together and support each other in achieving the group's goals, their work feels more rewarding and valued.
So how did we build our UX team of designers and researchers and forge our culture?
Socially distant humans
Remote team building, no problem!
Image credit Jon Adams, The New Yorker, 2021
Even pre-pandemic, there had been a gradual shift to remote work. Many of us were working with colleagues across the country, or around the world. When the pandemic hit the shift to remote work for everyone was abrupt, leaving many teams in uncharted territory. The once-organic office culture was replaced by virtual meetings and digital communication. Physical separation created challenges for communication, interaction, and team building.
Some of my most productive design sessions involved casually spinning in my chair to exchange questions with a coworker across the cubicle aisle and rolling out the whiteboard. Without that analog tool, our team learned to embrace tools like Figjam, Miro, and old-fashioned pen and paper to sketch out our ideas and share them through our webcam portals. We were forced to adapt to this new paradigm.
The physical separation from a corporate office offered an opportunity to connect in new and creative ways. Outside the traditional confines of the workplace, we were in our own space, making us feel more at ease, and less out of our element. When we jumped into a call we could see each human’s habitat, a peek into their personality, and the things we might have in common. An opportunity to connect with each person in a personal way. This connection brought us closer as a group - we knew more about who we are as people with lives outside the workplace.
A night at the movies
A typical day at the office might include talking about your weekend with coworkers while getting a cup of coffee or heading out to lunch and discussing the latest episode of your favorite TV show or movie. Without these face-to-face interactions, it's harder to bond with your coworkers. There are several studies about proximity and its effects on friendships. In an age where proximity is limited, how do you foster team culture and bonding?
One solution our leadership came up with was introduction videos. Each team produced a short movie or trailer about themselves. A highlight reel to share a glimpse of their personalities, hobbies, and sense of humor.
For some the task was daunting but most were inspired to do something imaginative and entertaining. It became a little bit of a competition to see who could be the most creative or humorous. I had a lot of fun turning myself into a Marvel superhero.
Producing the videos was just the first step. To further the bonding experience the team had watch parties! To up the stakes, the last watch party was going to be at a local theater that our team rented out. We were all going to see our videos on the big screen. This really set the tone for the event. Knowing that your work, your personality, was going to be up on that huge screen drove many of us to pull out all the stops. That night was amazing and inspiring. We all learned something new about each other, and we were entertained at the same time. We were all challenged to put our best foot forward, and through this challenge, we all bonded in the experience.
Mayhem and Mingling
Movie nights are great, but they are big productions. We also fostered opportunities to bond through weekly meetings called Mayhem and Mingling. Each week we could join a video call and participate in games, trivia, or virtual puzzles. The activity was just a catalyst for the interaction. It was scheduled time given to us by leadership to be free, to let loose a little, and not worry about work, but to just hang out. It had more to do with the nod from management that it’s okay to hang out and “waste” a little time… because it’s not a waste. Because we were more connected as people our work was better, we pulled together to help each other to solve problems. When our team worked together, we synergized, and our work was more than a sum of its parts. Our department was stronger because we were a team, we worked and played together.
The most wonderful time of the year
Another traditional opportunity for team building is company holiday parties. Some companies scaled back to employee-only parties, even in person. With remote work, how do you have a Christmas party, let alone a gift exchange? We came up with a virtual white elephant gift exchange. We limited the value of gifts to $10, and I constructed a virtual white elephant board. Each employee sent in an image of the gift they were “bringing”, and I added it to the game board. When an employee took a turn, we revealed the gift, and the stealing ensued. Each person’s creativity and sense of humor came out in their gift and the way they played the game. In the end, the gift was ordered and mailed to the correct recipients.
I made the white elephant board available in the Figma Community so you can use it for your teams too! Check it out.
Finding more square pegs
What’s great about our culture building techniques is that they apply internally, as well as externally. As we invited more folks into our antics our culture grew. We found that including other groups allowed them to connect with us, and in turn we added to our numbers. In a short amount of time we had pulled in our front-end developers, product managers, and project folks. Our culture was viral.
This is important when considering hiring team members. Consider how well these people fit within the culture. Will they add to the culture? Will they help it to grow? You can tell a lot from interviewing someone, especially if you can ask questions that drill down to there personality, and interactions with others.
In-person meeting
As restrictions lifted the team seized the opportunity to come together in person. We all flew in to the company headquarters for a multi-day event. Virtual meetings are here to stay, but there just isn’t a substitute for human contact, especially for people who must work together as a team. When you sit across from someone, have conversations, and solve problems together you connect on a more personal level.
Our in-person meetings were more than work though. They provided important opportunities to interact with the real world without the tasks of the job being the focus. We were free to connect about the things WE wanted to talk about, not the required conversation tied to a paycheck.
Did it work?
As a research-driven team, we rely on evidence. What evidence do we have that our methods were successful? I’ll offer two examples of how it has worked, and let you be the judge.
The first example came when the entire team was laid off. The very first thing that happened was a mass exchange of contact information. Next, we formed a social network online and everyone joined, and started sharing job opportunities. Even though we had lost our jobs as individuals, our team supported each other and sought out opportunities for everyone on the team. We weren’t asked to do this, or required by an HR memo, the company didn’t pass out t-shirts with a slogan on it (though we did start designing some for fun.) We did this because we were a team. We worked hard together, we played together, and we stood by each other when it mattered most, when we needed each other to survive, and move on. Even if that meant we were no longer “a team”.
The second example I will offer is our continued offline meetings. We still get together now and then and have a happy hour and share a virtual coffee. We still send each other memes. We are still friends, even though we don’t have to be. Our culture survives through unemployment because WE built our team. We weren’t just a company slogan.
In essence, building a workplace culture and engaging in effective team building are ongoing processes that require commitment, adaptability, and a genuine understanding of the individuals who make up the organization. When done right, these efforts contribute not only to the success of the business but also to the overall well-being and satisfaction of its most valuable asset – its people.
