Worklife has taken a beating lately, as policies around working from home, returning to the office, or trying a hybrid model have roiled some organizations. Throw in a little economic uncertainty for organizations affected by government budget cuts and/or layoffs and reductions in force, and it may feel like the time is ripe for some team building. At GRAPHEK, where we unintentionally landed on a remote workforce when COVID forced us out of our offices in Tysons Corner, VA, in March 2020, we’ve made team building – along with cultivating a creative team – a key part of our daily routine.
While we know that every organization must uniquely meet the needs of their staff, their missions, and their industries, we are big believers that creating positive cultures is valuable no matter the environment, leading to improved recruitment and retention, work satisfaction, and – ultimately – the organization’s overall success.
At GRAPHEK, our unplanned transition to working remotely during COVID was an enormous eye-opener, with Founder Ellen Kim admitting that she didn’t think the company and the team was ideally equipped to make the transition due to GRAPHEK’s highly collaborative work style. “For me, I thought to work as collaboratively as we do – it’s no exaggeration to say 95% of our work is done as a team – we had to be together in one physical place,” she said.
“Our pandemic experience proved me totally wrong. Our level of creativity didn’t decline, and neither did our feeling of connectedness. To me, that was probably one of the biggest ‘wins’ to come out of an otherwise really difficult chapter for so many of us. It opened my mind, illustrated that we could do it, and never compromised our creativity. What I realized mattered more than a common office space was that we could continue to provide a safe space for people to share their ideas and support each other, and that could be done from anywhere.”
GRAPHEK’s ability to provide that safe haven hasn’t grown out of luck; instead, it requires leadership and team members to be intentional and mindful about building daily connections. As we reflect over the past five years, we’ve realized the following strategies are probably most foundational for our team-building success and may prove useful for associations looking to build or enhance their own teams:
Total transparency from the first step: We think of our interview process as our best opportunity for sharing our work ethic, our culture, and the kind of work we do for our clients. Our culture is built on collaboration, trust, and a shared purpose, and we strive for utmost transparency from the first moment we meet a prospective employee, so they know upfront what it will feel like to work with us. We want them to understand our brand before they make the decision to join us. Everyone has a voice here, and part of creating a safe environment is ensuring that we’re very open about how we work together. We can’t, for example, make our mission-driven client’s design our top priority if we can’t check our own egos at the door.
Choose technology wisely: There are a ton of platforms out there to help streamline project management and encourage collaboration. We use Asana for project management and Figma Design for collaboration, along with a few others for brainstorming and conferencing. It matters less which platform you use; just try to narrow it down to a few so that everyone feels confident using it. Don’t let the technology be your sticking point to working effectively together.
Occasional in-person team meetings: We have staff in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and D.C., and we’ll gather every few months to get to know one another on a deeper level. We don’t necessarily even talk about work projects – we’ll talk about life, our goals, and we’ll try to get out of our bubble as “designers.” If some of us who live locally decide to gather for lunch, Julia and Grace – who are both in Colorado – also get together for lunch out there so that we’re all enjoying a similar experience. Some of our experiences have included field trips to the National Zoo and Smithsonian museums, hiking, bowling, pumpkin carving, tubing, potluck picnics, and a retreat in the Shenandoah mountains.
Trust the process: We’ve refined what works for us. We have set hours, which is probably a little unusual for a fully remote company, but it allows us to meet every morning. We spend the first 10 or 15 minutes chatting and talking about life and our highs and lows, and then we dig into our priorities for that day. Yes, it means our staff on mountain time work 6:30 AM to 3:30 PM, but since so much of our work is collaborative, it’s important that we are all available during the same hours. It also provides levity – it’s not unusual to get a “Hey, what’s everyone listening to right now?”, followed by a stream of song titles. It adds fun to our days and reminds us that we’re all together, even if we’re apart.
Recognize individuals: This one is obvious, but it feels important to state anyway. Cultures are borne from people, so to have a creative culture, we need to understand who the individuals are on our team. Everyone has different learning styles and communicates differently. We all receive and process feedback differently. We make one-on-one meetings as important as our team meetings, and we make it a priority to remember birthdays and send a team member lunch or a care package when they are feeling down or are celebrating a milestone. As Maya Angelou famously said, ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good: We have to balance our client’s mission without crushing our creative spirit, and sometimes a course correction in the middle of a design project feels like a tightrope. In those moments, we widen our view rather than narrow it. We’ll ask, ‘What problem are we trying to solve?’ rather than dig ourselves even further into the weeds trying to figure out ‘what’s wrong.’ Re-centering the team around a project’s core mission is a better approach for us than adding pressure to the design team and making someone feel attacked. It’s hard when a design you love isn’t met with enthusiasm – we’re all human. But rather than focusing on an undefined goal of ‘perfection,’ we’d rather strive for excellence and innovation.
Other considerations that are always top of mind include our commitment to lifelong learning, with access to and encouragement to take part in tutorials and webinars; rotating designers for repeat projects to ensure fresh perspectives; celebrating access to diverse environments and inspiration for our workdays, such as a patio, coffee shop, or poolside table; and always modeling and promoting two-way communications. Building a team isn’t always intuitive, and what works for one person won’t work for another. Dynamics change with every change in staff, and we’re always watching for opportunities and challenges that will help us grow closer and more creative. And just like a garden needs constant attention and cultivation to thrive, so does a team.
How does your organization as a whole – or perhaps your department as a unit – approach positive cultivation of teams?
