The term ‘culture’ is one that is quite commonplace in a working environment. Unfortunately, in the modern day, it has devolved into something that envelopes itself with a certain stigma. It has transformed into a term that feels monotonous and forced. Most individuals have felt this feeling of forced ‘culture’ at some workplace throughout their career. The challenging part is escaping this dark cloud of said forced culture and ending up on the other side where it truly is an organic atmosphere.
As workplaces continue to accelerate their pace as the years trickle by, how can you be expected to keep up with workload, escape the stress of your daily routine, all while contributing to a truly organic culture? There isn’t a definitive answer you’re looking for, but here’s a little look into how Vive Marketing makes it happen year after year.
An Open Concept
Vive’s office space escapes a critical component towards a dampening culture, which is the office cubicle. I cannot speak for everyone, but most office spaces consisting of tightly packed cubicles leave a lot to be desired when it comes to an organic atmosphere. Vive’s open concept office space feels very natural and authentic. Conversations, day-to-day operations, and general office shenanigans feel more inviting because they aren’t closed off. You are given the opportunity to be in direct sight of your team in close, but not cramped, parameters. There are obvious pros and cons to this, but in a career field as volatile as marketing, teammates are bouncing all over the place for all sorts of reasons. Opportunities to interact with your coworkers that aren’t strictly related to business allow organic relationships to form. It also doesn’t hurt that the entire office has a kickass view of Lake Michigan to top it off.
Culture Months
As cliché as it may sound, Vive operates what are known internally as, for lack of a better name, “culture months.” Rotating on a monthly cadence, team members take ownership of a certain month and curate it to their liking. This can be anything from our team getting up midday to grab ice cream downtown to a cutthroat game of Scattergories that has everyone on their toes. These events are scattered all throughout the month and offer a unique opportunity to escape from your workload for a short time. It’s the effort put into these events and the collective nature of our team that allows these culture months to be so successful. There is something very enticing about an ever-changing calendar that presents new events, new experiences, and new ways to build relationships with your colleagues. These culture months serve as a wonderful way to mingle with your peers without it feeling forced by upper management.
Communication
Last, but certainly not least, is the level of open communication the Vive team displays. Every company has their own structure of processes, lines of communications, and standard operating procedures that dictate the flow of their business. It goes without saying that as your company scales these processes become more and more corporate. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Vive achieves excellence in this category through the level of transparency the entire team displays with one another. Understanding every teammate processes information differently and handles tasks in their own way is critical. Our entire team bounces ideas off one another and picks each other up regardless of what step of the process we’re in. Keeping things strictly professional with constructive feedback as well as opportunities for process improvements is how our team continues to grow alongside one another. Being able to operate professionally without being robotically corporate is the biggest aspect of what truly ties the Vive team together.
Overview
Culture, especially an organic culture, is a vital aspect of every company that increases employee retention behind the scenes. A hostile, tense working environment is not something sustainable for everyone. Our tip to you is to make the difference you want to see in your company. The atmosphere of the Vive office and the nature of our team’s relationship was not built overnight. At the end of the day it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
