Miscommunication is one of the biggest issues in any areas of life and we were not free from it. That is why in CavePot we have been working on a new system to improve communication and connection within the company. Lately we began to grow faster and bigger, and with this growth came some new challenges.
As time went by some of us were working from home while others began to work with their clients in their offices. This naturally made it harder to be all on the same page, which is essential for us: connection is a fundamental part of our identity. We needed to fix the communication and we needed to do it asap.
As we began to dig dip on the issue we realized that each team was well aligned and that among them communication flew perfectly. This was xciting and a very good thing to know. However we did not know how to make that a transversal factor.
We tried to create a trello, a WhatsApp group and so on, but this channels were not always good for everyone, on each one of them we were losing someone all the time. So we realized that we had to go back to the old school manners and implement some face to face interactions. We decided to have a monthly meeting, but we wanted it to be different. How?
Everyone has been in long, boring meetings, were you get distracted, and start think of everything you could be doing instead of being there. So we had to come up with something different. From a meeting we moved on to an interactive day activity. Everyone that normally works off site would work in the main house for the day, in the morning we would have the meeting and then we will have a special lunch all together o sometimes a nice breakfast before the meeting. The idea seemed great, but, scheduling was a challenge itself
Being able to find a date made us aware of everyone’s state on their projects, whether they could spend a day in the main house or they had go to the client’s offices for a production launch and so on. Most of the times we manage to have everyone on site, sometimes it has not been possible but we try to host them anyway so that we get used to them. Scheduling brought us closer already, it was something that we were not expecting.
Once we had scheduled the meeting, we to made a list of the things that we were going to talk about, so we didn’t waste any time! Everyone is welcomed to share what they are interested in or concerned about to the list. We divide the meeting it into two sections. The first one is for sharing updates on the company, new projects, ideas, trips, any possible leads, future plans, retreats and so on. The second part is for everyone to talk about what they are up to and how they feel doing what they are doing.
For this second part the main idea is to to make sure everyone is happy where they are. However, if we come to know that someone is unhappy or unsatisfied with a specific task or project, we, as a team try to learn and understand why, so that we could work on possible solutions to improve the way they are feeling.
We want to hear what inspires everyone, what personal projects we each have and how we could align them so that we can grow within the company and on our personal lives. We talk about everything, it’s up to each person to open up as much as they want. We like that part of the meeting because it brings us together as friends rather than just colleagues. We try to give some sort of continuity to the meetings by organizing other activities that have little to nothing to do with our daily tasks, such as after office meetings with some barbecue or weekend retreats.
Personally I am one of the team members that works offsite so I can feel it first hand when we are not aware of the things that are happening. I love having this meetings, they make me feel a part of the company, I get to see everyone at least once a month and hear about what they are up to. I also feel its a safe place for me to talk about my feelings, give some feedback and get some as well, so that I can be where I want to be and doing it in the best posible way. It keeps me motivated to do improve everyday, to explore and to learn without the fear of making mistakes. It makes me happy to know that I have an awesome team to back me up whenever I need them to.
I believe that seeing everyone open up about their feelings, dreams and desires helps us connect on a different level and it makes us understand each other without judging. It motivates me to open up and think about my personal dreams, goals and challenges. There has not been a single meeting in which I have not felt welcomed and powered up.
The only thing that I can come up with to improve it is to have some kind of meeting notes, so that if someone is missing they don’t have to wait till the next one to catch up. They can read about what we talked, and they can help out if they feel that they have something to contribute with.
I hope you enjoy reading about our monthly meetings and the reason why we host them!
Stay stunned from more insight on how we work 🙂
Nico
