Evaluating
Healthy Company Culture.

January 2020. 6 min read

It’s been just over 18 months since I joined Roam Digital as employee number 4 in the Sydney studio. A lot has changed since then. We’ve grown to a team of over 30 people. I’ve transitioned into a design leadership role. And a worldwide pandemic has changed all of our lives.

The rapid growth of our team has been an incredibly rewarding and positive experience for those of us who were here back when we could all fit into a matchbox-sized office. But with growth comes questions about company culture, some of which we’re still very much trying to answer here in Sydney. 

What is company culture? How do companies create a healthy culture? Who drives it? How do companies measure their success? And how important is it to the overall success of your team and your company? 

We’ll start at the end because these are COVID times and logic has never mattered less. Roam’s leadership has always believed that a strong culture translates into strong performance. And judging by our track record, that belief has consistently paid off. Our culture is a key driver of our success. So, how important is culture to success…well, it’s vital.

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What is company culture?

Jumping back to our first question. Culture is incredibly difficult to define. I’ve chosen to base it on past experiences that have made me feel welcomed and included into a larger, cohesive team.

Some of the perks include finding delicious treats waiting for me on my desk and getting involved in team activities to celebrate cultural events such as Easter, Halloween and Christmas. Having company offsite days full on fun activities to bring teams together outside of project activities. Birthday cakes have always also been a big hit! 

But, in real terms, it's the buzz of energy when teams are busy brainstorming, sketching out new and improved ideas and trading feedback. Having dynamic and meaningful conversations with anyone, irrespective of discipline or seniority. Being empowered to bring the value I was hired for, by leaders wanting me to succeed. Getting recognised for great work. Knowing the company has my back during the most challenging times and that my professional growth is always being considered.

This sense of camaraderie is essential to the identity of any company.  It’s also these kinds of behaviours that makes room for a wide range of social preferences. No one is forced to join in, and anyone who wants to join is welcome. This healthy culture is something we are trying to embrace here at Roam, where space is made for introverts, ambiverts and extroverts. 

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How do you create a healthy culture?

As someone who enjoys working collaboratively in a lively and busy space, my vision of a healthy culture is different from that of someone who prefers the quiet and minimal social interaction. One is no more or less valid than the other, and finding a balance is important to those of us who are working to shape a culture for our Sydney team.

Here at Roam, culture is a priority for leadership at every level, but especially Tribe Leads here in Sydney. Together with Product and Tech Tribe Leads, we started rolling out activities that had proven a success in our Auckland office in helping to build a healthy culture. It was important we added our own personal touches to cater for the needs of a much smaller team here in Sydney. We held monthly team lunches, started a book club, organised breakfast Tuesdays and showcased projects over pizza and drinks on Friday afternoons. With the pandemic turning working from home into the new norm, culture at Roam in our growing Sydney studio went from one that was blossoming to one that suddenly plateaued. We had to find new ways to keep culture alive and that hasn’t been easy. 

During weekly Tribe Lead catch ups, we discussed the support that we felt was needed to maintain a healthy culture while working from home and started trying to provide it to others. This included having more frequent catchup sessions with our relevant teams. Using Slack to build small communities based on common interests in books, climbing and more. We set up weekly quizzes and channels dedicated to light hearted conversation and sent gingerbread cookies and Lammingtons in the post to keep our teams smiling. 

We ensured that all of our team members knew they had the flexibility they needed. We focused on collaborating to ensure work continued to get delivered, and encouraged team members to speak up about the challenges they were facing through the transition. I'm proud to say we found ways, big and small, to stay connected, supported and always looking out for one other.

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Who drives it?

Taking on a leadership role has meant I’ve had to think about culture in ways I had never considered before. As our VP of Design Lucas mentions in his post It's all about what you do, “The decisions you make in different situations and how you act on a day to day as a leader, are the biggest signals of culture your organisation has”. This means that everything I do is now in the spotlight and my actions influence and shape the behaviours of others. I am particularly conscious of this.

Although as Design Tribe Lead I feel like I play an integral role in helping demonstrate the actions that contribute to a healthy culture, the rest of the team are the driving force behind it as individuals, taking the initiative to organise other events that enrich lives, both at work and after-hours. This is why culture is such an important consideration when hiring. Hiring talented people with a unique perspective who can bring so much more than just craft to our growing team. These new additions need to have the ability to connect and bring our company's mission, goals and values to life through their behaviour.

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How do you measure its success?

For a long time measuring company culture used to be more of a gut feeling for me. How I felt when immersed in a new working environment. Wanting to go to work every day, not just because the work excited me, but because the healthy culture created a diverse and inclusive environment I thrived in. With a focus on growth, this is something we are continuing to strive for in our Sydney studio. We want to entice our teams away from the luxuries of working from home back to the office environment, an environment which they simply do not want to miss out on.

During my transition into leadership, it is becoming more apparent that I can't rely so much on my gut feeling. There have been scenarios where I have completely missed the mark. This is where Roam employee feedback has been a great way to measure the success of our culture here in Sydney - or at least get a sense of how well it’s working. The anonymous responses we get identify areas for improvement, which we, as leaders, have the opportunity to do something about.

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The secret ingredient

Although there’s more than one way to build a healthy company culture, I’ve come to realise that it all starts with caring about it. A successful culture has been prioritised and nurtured, with time and resources being dedicated to its development. It doesn't happen overnight, but I will continue to make a conscious effort to showcase desired behaviours that shape the healthy company culture I want to see. The results so far have been intensely rewarding, and worth all the time and effort invested.