You’ll Find Me At The Pub

Deeply thoughtful practices, including a pub, garish clothing, and Zoom check-ins, help to forge a sense of community for a global team with no central location.

The cofounder of a tech startup (I’ll call him “Bert”) sees his primary responsibility as addressing this challenge: How do you create and maintain a strong company culture, a deep sense of being part of a team, in a firm with people working-from-home all over the world, from the very start?

A lot of thought and effort have gone into his creative solutions for forging a company.

Bert is one of the people I’ve interviewed recently in my exploration of the state of connection and belonging in organizations.

With decades of work experience in organizations large and small, Bert and his cofounder knew that for long-term success a sense of connection and belonging amongst their team was absolutely vital.

A Virtual Company — Benefits And Challenges

The world was still in the middle of the pandemic when they decided to launch this startup.

One of their first decisions was to choose what kind of company they wanted to be —?traditional in-office or virtual? Given the lack of clarity on when the pandemic would end, and having to at least start-off with everyone working from home, they decided to design for a fundamentally virtual company.

This allowed them to recruit the best talent globally, currently employing nearly 50 people scattered across many locations.

Their challenge was: how to create a “company”, not a “bunch of contractors”? How were their people going to really get to know and feel comfortable with each other, be able to discuss and debate complex issues in an effective way, be willing to support each other?

Adopt A City, Adopt A Pub

One big solution — “we would not have been successful if we hadn’t done this” — was to meet as a group, in-person for a couple of days every 6 weeks. They selected a city (good international airport; relatively low cost; compact downtown) and leased an office. Everyone flies in; everyone stays in a hotel within walking distance. They spend time working together, but they also spend a lot of time just hanging out, forging and strengthening friendships.

There’s a pub nearby that they’ve claimed as their own. A “third space”, not the office or hotel, where they hang out. In fact, Bert tells everyone that that is where they’ll find him, and that he’ll pay for the beer. A lot of conversation happens at this pub, and it’s mainly about life and family and not about work. This is where the strong bonds are forged.

Garish Shirts & Welcome Check-ins

There are two less expensive things that Bert does that contribute significantly to forming connections and clear communications.

Bert is a lover of kitsch. This includes a seemingly endless collection of garish shirts. Not at all standard business attire, but it works for him. As he learns about the unique passions and interests of his team members, he seeks out new shirts reflecting those themes and wears them, whether on video calls or in that pub. In a soft but unsubtle way, he is letting people know that he cares about them and honors their uniqueness.

He also spends a lot of time checking in with people, a few minutes here and there, replicating the experience of walking around the office. People are unaccustomed to this; Zoom calls are usually scheduled and have an agenda, not to “just talk” for a moment. So, he has worked hard for these check-ins to feel normal. He listens carefully, responds thoughtfully, does not react, and lets the conversation flow. Through many, many instances he has made these conversations welcome intrusions, rather than threatening, energy-sapping distractions. It allows him to have a very good sense of what is going on and how people are feeling though they are all separated. And, in turn, this allows the team as a whole to rapidly make decisions and respond to issues.

Lessons For All

There are valuable lessons here for anyone leading dispersed teams. Bert’s decisions and actions are the consequence of him thinking deeply and seriously of the challenges they face as a virtual company. He leverages his and his company’s unique opportunities and personalities. He is willing to commit to actions (the office, the pub, the shirts, the check-ins) that may be costly up-front but payoff in the long run.

While kitsch, garish clothing is likely not your solution, Bert’s actions can inspire leaders of any remote team to build a strong and connected company culture.

Photo by Timothy Dykes on Unsplash

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