Tag Archive for: #workculture

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#Leadership : Hiring Remote Workers Made My Entire #Team More Productive…One CEO Explains How Surprised he was to Find the #RemoteTeams he Hired Reshaping his Company’s In-Office #WorkCulture for the Better.

January 14, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

“Want to get lunch?” This is a phrase you’ll rarely hear at our office. It’s not that we don’t eat or spend time together, but it’s physically impossible for our entire team to be in the same place at the same time. Sixty percent of our team works remotely, so for us, grabbing lunch is, “let’s meet on Google Hangout.”

It wasn’t always that way. Originally at Traitify, our entire workforce was based in one Baltimore office. We had a two-floor space and separated teams by department–developers downstairs, business and data upstairs.

Before long we noticed those two teams ended up forming separate cultures; the space literally caused a divide within our company. We tried intermingling the teams, but new floor members took on the same behaviors as those we moved. To cut down this friction we decided to look for a larger space on a single floor. The company was growing–and we didn’t want culture issues to bite us later on.

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Around this time we were also expanding our development team, and kept finding great talent outside our physical geography. We didn’t want to lose excellent talent based on location, so eventually we decided to give remote workers a shot. It was a risk considering the culture issues we were already dealing with onsite, but it paid off–and then some. Here’s how.

REMOTE WORKERS IMPROVED OUR ONSITE CULTURE AND PRODUCTIVITY

We started slow at first, by hiring our first CTO into a remote role. This led to the hiring of another remote developer, and another. Many of our hires came through referrals, so they had ties to the company already. And to our surprise, integrating them was incredibly easy.

In fact, we realized after a few months that hiring remote workers helped lessen our office divide. The remote workers we hired displayed high levels of self-motivation and responsibility, and were generally less antagonistic and better team players. Over time, those traits ended up rubbing off on other team members. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt when you can measure an applicants’ personality before hiring them; we build a product that lets us do exactly that.)

Productivity is a top concern for companies considering remote workers. But we found that they actually made us more productive overall. For starters, we’re forced to use Slack to its maximum potential to make that sure our team members, whether they’re in the office or around the country, feel like they’re sitting next to each other all day.

While Slack can be a distraction, it can lead to fewer interruptions if your whole team uses it properly (i.e. not for every single thing). For instance, we have a policy that if an update requires more than a quick Slack message or email, we get on a video call. Facetime makes it feel similar to being in the same room as your colleagues, but it forces the requestor to think about priority level (Is it urgent? Can it wait until my colleague says she’s free?) and ultimately boosts efficiency.

There are challenges, too. If you’re not sitting across from someone, you can miss nonverbal communication like body language, facial expressions, eye contact, and posture, all of which build camaraderie and trust. But we’ve worked to mitigate that risk by planning team off-sites, work-away trips, and occasional company-wide gatherings, which we hope to make more frequent over time.

THE BENEFITS OF A HYBRID MODEL

For Traitify, the remote workforce concept has been a swinging pendulum. We’ve learned that while some roles, like developers, can work well remotely, there are certain teams–like sales and customer success–that benefit tremendously from being physically together. Still, we’ve chosen to embrace this arrangement that we’d initially just stumbled across.

Having a physical “hub” creates and reinforces the core element of Traitify’s company culture–a place where customers and investors can see “who” your company is and experience the energy firsthand. However, in order to attract the best talent, we also recognized the need to be open to hiring candidates outside our immediate geography.

Some founders insist on an all-or-nothing approach, but we don’t believe that’s the only way to make remote work successful. Instead, we’ve set explicit guidelines to reinforce the benefits of both remote and onsite work so our in-office and far-flung teams can work well in tandem with minimal impediments.

All our staff in our physical headquarters now work on the same floor. And when we hire remote workers, we screen their personalities to make sure they’re self-motivated and responsible, then we train them to use collaborative tools in a way that optimizes their productivity.

I believe companies need to embrace remote workers, but they don’t necessarily have to resort to an exclusively remote workforce. It’s a great model to source talent, but the benefits of a physical hub are hard to overstate, especially when it comes to building a work culture. If our experience is any indicator, you really can–and maybe should–have it both ways.

Dan Sines is co-founder & CEO of Traitify, the company behind image-based personality assessments for employers and personal career growth.

FastCompany.com | January 14, 2018

#Strategy : 17 Unprofessional Work Habits that Make your Boss & CoWorkers Hate You…Do your CoWorkers or Boss Show Signs that They Secretly Hate You? If you Answered “Yes,” then Sure, It could Be that They’re Generally Disagreeable People. Or it Could be You.

February 27, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

You may not realize it, but you could be engaging in workplace habits that make you look unprofessional. While many of these habits violate the basic rules of common decency and respect, sometimes you need a reminder of how to behave at work. And since your office-mates aren’t speaking up, we decided to chime in on their behalf.

Here’s what you could be doing all wrong that makes you look unprofessional:

Bragging

“When we’re proud of an accomplishment or about something good that happens to us, it’s natural to want to share the news with others,” says Rosalinda Oropeza Randall, an etiquette and civility expert and author of “Don’t Burp in the Boardroom.”

But sharing can easily become bragging, and she says there are a few key indicators that this is happening:

• If you go on and on, telling everyone and anyone who walks by.

• If you speak of it in a loud tone so that even the window washer can hear it through the thick glass.

• If you use a tone of superiority.

• If you feel the need to put down others and point out their failures.

• If you fail to say “thank you” when you are congratulated.

• If you start embellishing the story.

“When in doubt, try a little humility” Randall suggests.

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Showing up late to work

“Punctuality is critical,” Randall says.

“The professional thing to do is to arrive on time, ready to do what is expected. It’s not like they just sprung this job on you,” she says.

Rolling in 10 minutes late to every meeting

Similarly, showing up late to meetings shows that you neither respect your coworkers — who showed up on time, by the way — nor the meeting organizer, says Vicky Oliver, author of “301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions” and “Power Sales Words.”

“Keeping people waiting can be construed as inconsiderate, rude, or arrogant,” Randall says.

Dave Mosher/Tech Insider

Being a slob

“Whether you’re at your desk or in the break room, being known as the office slob is never a compliment,” says Randall.

When you clog the office kitchen sink and leave your garbage around, who exactly are you expecting to clean up after you?

“Leaving your mess behind shows lack of responsibility or consideration, arrogance, and immaturity,” Randall says.

Similarly, your workspace can be a reflection of you, she says.

“If you’re like me, who works well in a semi-messy environment, it can be inhibiting to be clutter-free. But with open cubicles or workspaces, the professional thing to do is to make some compromises,” Randall says. “It would be disrespectful and inconsiderate to expect your coworkers to deal with your mess.”

Playing ’20 Questions’ on every new assignment

There may be no stupid questions, Oliver says, but there are certainly annoying questions. These are the kinds of questions that prove you really don’t want to do the assignment or illustrate you only want to hear yourself talk.

“When you receive a new assignment, gather your questions, and pose them in an organized way,” Oliver suggests. “Never just spout out question after question off the cuff.”

Complaining too much

“While there may be times when everyone feels the desire to complain about the boss, a coworker, or a task, voicing it will only make you look unprofessional,” Randall says. “It’s even worse if you complain every day, all day, from the moment you walk into work. Before long, people will go out of their way to avoid you.”

Doing your makeup at your desk

In most fields, casual grooming in public is frowned on, Oliver says. If you need a touch up, she suggests heading to the bathroom.

Poor hygiene and grooming

At the same time, you want to look like you take your job seriously when you walk into work, and your hygiene and appearance play a role in that.

“Poor hygiene and sloppy clothes scream, ‘I don’t care!’ and are a surefire way to put off those around you,” Randall says.

Your boss may wonder whether your attitude about how you present yourself extends to your work, she explains, and you may be passed over for a promotion, overlooked when it’s time to meet with a client or represent the company at a conference, and not invited to social gatherings.

“Burping, passing gas, picking your teeth, adjusting your body parts, and rarely showering are not just unprofessional behaviors for the workplace, but they’re pretty darn gross as well,” Randall says.

Calling in sick when you aren’t

“Remember the adage that half of life is showing up,” Oliver says.

You won’t prove you deserve the promotion if you call in sick every few weeks.

Displaying nervous habits

Jingling your keys, shaking your leg, constantly checking your phone, chewing gum, biting your fingernails, scratching your head — the list of nervous habits goes on, and you probably don’t even realize you’re doing it, but your office mates probably do, Randall says.

Not only can these habits be distracting to others, but they could also be perceived as boredom.

“Perception is a person’s reality,” Randall says.

Doing something else during a meeting

“There is a reason why texting is illegal while driving: it’s impossible to concentrate fully on two things simultaneously,” Oliver says.

Texting, surfing the web on your laptop, instant messaging, emailing — doing any of these things during a meeting shows everyone else in the meeting that you’re not paying attention.

“They know that while your butt may be planted in the chair, your mind is roaming,” Oliver says.

Interrupting

“It’s rude to interrupt. When you do, it shows others that you don’t have any respect, judgment, or patience,” Randall says.

While participation can earn you some brownie points, bad timing can wipe those points away.

Selling stuff

It seems like almost every office has one or two people who sell cookies for their kids. This could be a bad move, Randall says.

“Bombarding your coworkers with fundraising products or donations for a cause or organization is unprofessional, unwanted, awkward, and obligating,” she says.

Randall says that some companies even prohibit soliciting at work because it takes up work time and places people in an awkward position.

“Saying ‘no’ can be a challenge for some people, and money can be a concern,” Randall says. “Your coworker might feel compelled to buy because everyone else did, or they’re concerned that you’ll remember this.”

Being too noisy

Whether you play music loudly while others are trying to work or have conversations the entire office can hear, then your coworkers likely consider you one of the most annoying distractionson earth.

Being noisy, especially in an open office, has a significant effect on your coworkers’ focus and productivity, and the noise could hurt business if it carries into an important phone call.

“Try to show your coworkers that you respect them by keeping the music down, and hopefully they will return the favor,” Oliver says.

Swearing

“Using foul words or questionable language is not only a bad habit, but in most places of business, it’s still considered unprofessional and can even land you in Human Resources for a little chat,” Randall says.

Swearing demonstrates to others that you aren’t able to calmly and thoughtfully deal with a situation, and it could make you the last resort in an even more difficult or extreme dilemma, she says.

“Consider learning some new adjectives,” Randall suggests.

Making personal calls all day long

Talking or texting with friends or family on company time is unprofessional and could be against company policy, Randall says. What’s more, doing it during a break is fine, but these correspondences should be kept out of the workplace, even the lunch room.

“You never know when your boss may walk by for an impromptu chat,” she says. “What will they see or hear?”

“If the topic of conversation is of a delicate nature, be sure to keep it private. One overheard juicy tidbit can spread like wildfire,” Randall says.

Being overtly cliquey

“Maybe the new guy who smells like French Onion Soup is not your favorite person on staff,” Oliver says. “That’s no reason to flee him every time he asks you for help on an assignment.”

It’s best to act friendly toward everyone, she says: “You will come across as more of a team player and show you have management aptitude.”

Businessinsider.com | February 26, 2016 | Rachel Gillett