Building autonomy into our business
Building autonomy into our business
We started thinking about the ideal “self-managed business” a few years ago – mainly to manage growth, give the team new challenges, and to have the freedom to explore new business ventures.
But there’s nothing like a global pandemic to shed light on the benefits of having a business that is self-managed.
Our team at our other firm Parcel is not only fully self-sufficient to WFH, but they have the confidence and clarity to manage projects at a consistent standard and with full transparency.
We’ve outlined five core features of a self-managed brand in this PDF, but there were four things we did early on that set the stage for greater autonomy throughout our firms.
1. We made time elastic
Long ago, we stopped watching the clock and started treating our team like adults by offering modified work schedules and condensed workweeks. This takes the pressure off unexpected child care needs, commuting in bad weather, and figuring out how to manage personal appointments. It’s also allowed us to recruit stellar talent who value time over the money they could earn at a larger corporate firm.
2. We jump-started weekends
I admit I stole this idea from Margo Franssen of The Body Shop, one of my early employers, who ingeniously established our work week as 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Thursday, and 8 am to 12-noon on Fridays. It was a spectacular program that everyone appreciated immensely, so I knew I wanted to implement something similar at Parcel. And in the decade we’ve been leaving work early on Fridays at 3pm, no one abused it. Everyone knows that if the work isn’t done, they either need to come in early and hunker down to finish it or stay later and put in the full day.
3. We embraced WFH
Although creativity is inspired by collaboration, it also comes from the ability to focus. We’re in an open office space, and some members of our team – typically those with a commute – sometimes found they could get more work done if they had a bit more breathing room. So we set up a server and VPN to make that seamless – and allow our team to work from home when they feel it suits and when there are no meetings that they have to attend. It’s perfect for circumventing sick days and for getting over bad hair days. It feels like a gift and the trade-off is that you still put in your time.
4. We got rid of the ambiguity between sick days and vacation
Like every business leader, we’ve had our fair share of personal issues that took over the entire studio – from chronic back pain to mental health issues to bereavement. By introducing planned and unplanned PTO programs, we’ve taken the emotion out of these situations and allowed our team to control how they want to use their time-off without explanation. No more awkward conversations about how many sick days someone can take when they’re dealing with a chronic issue. Ours is a generous PTO policy: which starts at four weeks – this includes our holiday closure week and covers all time-off, be it for illness, vacation, or just because you need a break today. Once that pool of time is used, though, any time off is unpaid.
Of course, policies like this don’t work unsupported – you need a team that is aligned with your brand values and vision for the company to resonate. But as we approach yet another week of WFH, it’s working for us. We’re staying connected through technology and virtual huddles, but working independently and successfully. How reassuring – and satisfying.