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How company rituals can help embed your culture
There are many ways to bring your culture to life in the workplace. As each company has different values, it’s important to do so in a way that’s unique to your organisation.
A really simple way of doing this is to create company rituals that capture and embody the mindset you want to see across your business. If done right, simple and regular group activities can help unify your team around certain ideas, values and behaviours.
Company rituals come in all shapes and sizes, from the famous “company song”, popular in East Asia and beyond, to simple Friday afternoon happy hours. There’s definitely one out there that will suit your business and your employees.
Here some examples that may inspire:
Bristlecone
Financial tech firm Bristlecone holds a group bonding session every Friday at 4pm. ”We have a ‘toast jar’ that everyone contributes to throughout the week, so during this hour we get a chance to read the toasts aloud and cheers our teammates,” explains CEO Dusty Wunderlich.
Salo
Salo is a Minneapolis-based financial and human resources staffing company. Salo has a company ritual around its new business process. New requests from customers are posted on a whiteboard that covers an entire wall – but there’s a company rule that these requests can only be recorded, altered or erased by whoever landed the client. "That's their graffiti, their mark. You wouldn't alter someone else's graffiti. It would be bad luck," explains Salo Managing Director Gwen Martin.
These whiteboards, which are visible to the entire team, function as "a central hub of activity," says Adam Sprecher, a managing director. When a new name goes up, "there's a little anxiety, of 'OK…Now it's time to perform!' It's an adrenaline rush," he says.
Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems, a San Francisco-based game designer, has a ritual for new team members: each receives $100 to spend creatively on the office environment, whether that’s new decorations, a ping-pong table or a beer keg.
This means that everyone gets to put their personal stamp on how the office looks and feels, inspiring a spirit of collaboration and workplace full of personality.
The House: “Food for Thought” and “Feelgood Friday”
Of course we can’t talk about company rituals without sharing our own. We have two: “Food for Thought” and “Feelgood Friday”.
Throughout the week, we stick up interesting work and thought-provoking images, articles and ideas on our “Food for Thought” wall. Then, once a week, all of the Housemates sit down over fish finger sandwiches and talk about what’s been inspiring us. We might even watch a short video or play a game. This simple ritual helps to keep our hearts and minds open and alert to new creative possibilities.
“Feelgood Friday” is an office happy hour with a twist. We get together to unwind together over a beer, but also to share each of our little victories and “feelgood moments” from the week – everything from finishing a major rebrand project to getting the photocopier fixed. Problem-solving can wait until Monday - spending half an hour just focusing on the little ‘wins’ lifts our mood at the end of a long week and means we head into the weekend feeling upbeat.
