Keeping a culture needs some face time
As a company we have been incredibly lucky. We have survived the turmoil caused by Brexit and the pandemic and that is because of our people.
I’m reflecting on this as I look at the picture above which has been three years in the making. This is some of our team from Singapore, the UK, Myanmar and Australia getting together, reconnecting and enjoying themselves.
Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, etc. have been a godsend and it has meant that the strong bonds we forged before lockdowns stayed. However, over time those calls start to dilute in effectiveness. This isn’t an essay about the negatives of remote working, because as a company we have embraced it, and it really has worked for us. However, some face time does prevent the following;
- Second screen syndrome – where you aren’t sure participants on your zoom are fully engaged as they have another screen open at the same time,
- Intermingling between different teams – most of your interactions are with those you immediately work with, so you miss out on knowing and learning from others, and
- Those non agenda driven moments – where because you are in the same place you might have a conversation, or share an idea, with someone that you might not normally.
The meeting above took place in Singapore and the agenda was simply about knowledge sharing. Over three days the team discussed best practice, technical architecture, upcoming projects, met customers and most importantly learnt a little bit more about each other.
Knowing and trusting each other has kept us strong and is reflected in our relationships and delivery to our customers. I look forward to feedback from this meeting as I know as a result of this bit of facetime our company culture just got richer and stronger.
