Socially Distant Collaboration: A COVID-19-Proof Company Culture

Our company culture has always been fun. Because the VISION team is filled with extremely talented creatives, it has always been important that we establish a work environment that is relaxing, stress-free, and full of positive, uplifting energy. Our physical office features a full kitchen stocked with snacks and beverages, creative spaces, and tons of games including a Pac Man machine, Nintendo, and miniature golf. Woven into our everyday work life are Tuesday morning tacos, bring your dog to work (any day), birthday celebrations, creative viewing parties, team building activities, and Friday afternoon happy hours. We celebrate our company’s successes with a tradition of champagne and French fries. We’ve also always allowed teleworking so employees already know how to remotely work as a team with the freedom and flexibility of work-life integration.

Now that we are all teleworking due to the Coronavirus outbreak, our already established team-oriented culture is paying off in a virtual realm. We all want to stay connected and to keep our creative energy flowing, especially in these surreal circumstances surrounding the Coronavirus. We’re using Zoom to stay connected in a variety of ways, including hosting virtual happy hours, taco talks, coffee breaks, birthday celebrations, pet ‘meet-ups’, team lunches, and even virtual Peloton exercise breaks.

A great culture is one where employees love coming to work, where they feel appreciated and respected, and where the creative level and positive energy of the environment is conducive to creativity and innovation. Our team really does enjoy coming to work, and we care about each other as well as our clients. We’ve just transitioned that same philosophy and VISIONary thinking to working remotely, which is so important, especially as our employees are balancing working from home with kids, family members, and the stress of the virus itself. We’re embracing video conferencing, virtual meetings, and connecting as a team. We’re creating virtual spaces where employees and clients are able to share ideas and collaborate remotely with our same fun culture. Location to us is not that important. What’s important is that we keep a sense of togetherness to make sure our company continues to provide our clients with the same high level of creativity and VISIONary Thinking they rely on us for time and time again.