There is no right answer to that question. However, the Fora Soft team is willing to share our knowledge with you. The knowledge that we have been nurturing for several years.
We also provide some COVID-era solutions, so make sure to check them out, too!
Make communication between employees less formal
When there are no barriers that formal communication brings, it’s easier for your team members to share things about their problems and say their opinion on things during Scrum meetings.
We tend to demolish those barriers with the help of monthly office parties with a ton of pizza involved. Formality becomes a difficult concept to maintain when you are sitting at the same table consuming that saucy pizza 🙂
Fun fact: it’s easier for people to start a dialog after they’ve established a visual contact, hence our choice of food. To get a bite of that delicious thing, you just have to hold the slice near to your face. Thus, we do not only have a great time eating pizza during the working day but also improve the working atmosphere.
In COVID times, we meet in Zoom instead, but weekly, not monthly.
Make your workspaces comfortable
Place them so that there is a distance of 1,5-2 meters between employees. That way the coworkers will find themselves within each other’s social distance. Read more about proxemics, the study of human use of space, on Wikipedia.
Comfortable distance between workstations allows employees to be open for discussion while still having enough private space around.
There is no correct way of setting devices, it all comes down to personal preferences. Your task as a manager is to give your team the furniture that they can easily adjust.
In COVID times, we work remotely. Each project team meets in a video call daily to compensate for the lack of communication. Effectiveness has even improved – we now talk more.
Lower distance between the boss and the team
In some companies, the boss doesn’t get enough trust and may even be feared by employees instead of respected. To make the relationship less formal, our CEO goes around the office and greets every and each employee face-to-face.
We also have an Open Door principle: if the CEO’s door is open, you can come into his office and rap with him about life, ask some questions, or suggest a way to improve the processes in the company.
In COVID times, it’s Open Skype principle instead 🙂 (poor CEO)
Be clear about the company’s / project’s aims
Every member of a project team needs to know where the project or the company is going. It helps them plan their development and stay updated on perspectives.
In Fora Soft project members discuss upcoming features, their feasibility, and possible improvements together in a comfortable conference Skype room. In COVID, we do that on daily video meetings.
The company’s aims for the year are announced at the New Year’s party and monthly objectives are hanging in the dining room, which is – no surprise here! – the most visited venue in our office. In COVID, the CEO shares company’s aims at Thursday’s general company video meetings on Zoom. We post recordings on Instagram – catch a moment to see 🙂 They are in Russian, but you can feel the atmosphere.
That’s all, folks! Feel free to use our methods to establish a great working relationship with your colleagues! If you have any other questions on the topic or just wishing to share your secrets, don’t hesitate to contact us via the Contact form!
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