Close your eyes.
OK, read the rest of the prompt and then close your eyes.
Think of your favorite co-workers/teammates/collaborative environment you’ve been a part of.
Was it in a shared space? Was it across a distance? Were they people you worked with for an extended period or for shorter projects that had an end? How did you collaborate? How did you divide tasks?
At Core10, we’ve had situations and tools that run the gamut of remote working experiences. And since going fully remote as a team last year to stay safe, we’ve added even more avenues to stay connected.
Here are five ways we stay connected as a team.
First, we love Slack! Everyone on our team has access to Slack, as it’s our main method of communicating with one another for company and individual updates. At times, our partners even have limited access to increase the ease of communication. Teams can collaborate on projects through messages and video calls. We also have a plethora of channels to share about topics outside of our traditional jobs. For example, there is a channel about investing and another for book recommendations. A couple of our most active channels, though, are the social distancing channel, where we answer funny questions each day to learn more about each other, and the kudos channel, where we give shoutouts to teammates who exemplify our core values.
A second way we stay connected is through weekly social half-hours. We found a time that hits about midday for both of the time zones that our team is in and meet every Wednesday. Each week, the topics rotate through various options: a time to just chat and each lunch with others, trivia, bingo, and a wellness series. There’s a different trivia theme each month, and the wellness series has covered everything from nutrition to exercise options to financial health information. Each session is led by a professional on the topic from one of our communities.
Third, in place of a social hour one week a month, Core10’s leadership team hosts a town hall. These are used as monthly check-ins with our leadership and the company as a whole to ensure everyone knows about happenings at a corporate level, to give insight into projects that are coming up, share team wins, and provide an opportunity for anyone to ask questions. Once every quarter, the town hall is expanded in time and scope of material covered to be an all-hands meeting. These dive deeper into our strategic business initiatives for the quarter. In sum, the goal is to keep our entire team as informed as possible about what’s happening within the company.
A fourth way we maintain connections as a company is through the formation of two committees that are made up of individuals from each division and each level of seniority at Core10. The first committee is the Activities Committee. This group meets monthly to plan the events for the social half-hours and come up with ideas for one-off events (like a March Madness bracket competition). The other committee is the Employee Input Committee. This group meets to discuss ideas submitted by each of our team members monthly. They then provide proposed solutions to move initiatives forward.
A fifth way our team stays connected is through a technical book club that meets every other week. This group picks a technical tome, reads about one chapter a week, and meets virtually to discuss it. They focus on timeless principles to increase their knowledge on topics that can be leveraged regardless of the technology they’re working with.
In conclusion, though we’ve always had teams across two states, the current climate has enabled us to take a more aggressive approach to engagement across all functions, levels, offices, and time zones! Though these are our top five, we’re constantly looking to add more options for everyone to be involved one way or another.
Are you looking to join a team that’s focused on learning, providing innovative solutions to financial institutions, and connecting as a team? Be sure to check our careers page and apply today.