Non-Office Culture

From day one our business was remote with the work force initially distributed all over the Auckland region. There was never any need for offices, but culture was always on my mind. If I am going to build something that people want to be a part of then I want the sales team, the administration, and the management, to all want to be here. High Standards, Great Communication, Thoughtful Decision Making. Connection when you need it, and Independence when you don’t. It’s not always an easy mandate.

Culture follows values. Not just a list of ‘nice to have’ attributes and behaviours to aim for pinned up on the wall or rolled out at sales meetings. It’s created by a set of expectations, guidelines, attitudes and behaviours playing out in real time all the time. Culture is evident in every interaction – every meeting, email, text, conversation, internal and external message. If I say something to someone in my team, I want it to be ok for words to get out. For the whole team to be able to read or hear what I have said. I don’t want to be like that mayor in ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ with two faces that I have referenced once before.

We set out to create something different and I think that we have, but as well as looking for better ways to digitally market, to streamline process, to offer great service and keep overheads low without sacrificing what is important, to be profitable and to have a presence in the markets that we operate in, we also wanted a great company that people were chuffed to be a part of.

Sure, there have been times when we have butted heads. It’s not all been peace, love and real estate. But for the main part I am pleased to say that the problems have not been ‘The Structure’, ‘The Institution’, ‘The People’, ‘The Company’. It’s been the normal stuff we all have to deal with in real estate. Vendor/purchaser/tech stack/lawyers/AML etc, etc, problems that we all have to live with.

I told myself I wouldn’t talk about running again this year. Indulge me… It gives the best analogies. I was on a longer run over the weekend and a mate drove by heading in the same direction. He slowed to my pace and we had a conversation, him keeping pace with me as I ran along. It was the easiest few kilometers of the run. It just drives home to me the importance of support, and how intangible it is. A friend driving beside me physically does nothing for me – it’s not like I got a ride, yet can make running subjectively (and probably measurably) easier.

Have a great week out there.