how these top ceo’s have kept their companies connected
The past year, much like the one before it, has been filled with many things but one thing that has been lacking? Connection with others–in person that is. Working from home has become the new norm, and when you do see colleagues in person their smiles are hiding behind a face mask. COVID new hires spent their first few months outside the office, unaware of who does what outside of their personal team. Relationships formed in ways people never expected and most of it all happened from behind a screen. However, during this time of unprecedented hardship, many companies resorted to unorthodox ways of maintaining employee connection and boosting morale.
We sat down with the CEO’s of companies who felt the effects of COVID for the better half of two-years to hear how they maintained connection in this new work-from-home era.
Cliff Robinsion (CEO): Revo
About Revo: A global performance eyewear brand leading the industry in polarized lens technology and a history of innovation.
How was the initial transition from having an in-person team, in an office, to a remote team?
I have been super proud of how the team responded. Everyone easily transitioned from office to home environment. We've all of course missed the in-person interaction, but everyone has managed it very well and has figured out how to make it work.
What specific tools or tactics have you utilized over the past 16-18 months to keep your teams connected, given all of the transitions and pivots we’ve encountered?
We focused on two main tools. First, I created what I called “Quarantine Smiles” - an email thread where each day/each week I encouraged everyone to share something that made them smile that day/week. People were sharing pictures of their kids, pictures from a local hike they took, a beautiful sunset, or just a song they heard that made them smile. This kept everyone connected and created a dialogue different from any dialogue the team had had previously. We all actually got to know each other BETTER than had we been in the office. Second, and this is not rocket science, we did weekly/monthly zooms either company wide or by department where we talked about things “other than” work. We had people share something we may not have known about them or share something that was personal and had nothing to do with our day to day work tasks.
What have been your biggest takeaways from the past 16-18 months when it comes to the importance of keeping a team/employees connected?
I have said to our team many times in the past year – when we were farthest apart physically is when we were closest together as a team. The main takeaways have been (A) if we put our mind to it, we can accomplish our goals just as easily working remotely (B) when our backs are to the wall we can pull together and execute very well, and (C) when working in the vacuum of home, it's important to share and talk about things outside of work to stay connected.
Michelle Terry (CEO): Movember
About Movember: On a global scale, Movember is changing the face of men’s health. A leading charity, the organization focuses on mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer and has funded over 1,250 innovative programs in regards to health testing, trials, and programs.
How was the initial transition from having an in-person team, in an office, to a remote team? What was the working environment like previously?
Prior to the pandemic, Movember had policies in place that allowed our people to work flexibly and remotely where necessary. Our teams were used to working collaboratively across different markets and time zones and using videoconferencing technology in our daily interactions.
The COVID-19 outbreak created a lot of change very quickly and in the early days, we saw many organizations struggle to adapt. But because our teams were already geared up for remote working, we were able to move to remote working seamlessly.
However, we also quickly recognized working from home full-time would be particularly challenging for many people. We were able to support our people to make practical adjustments to their working arrangements, such as flexible working patterns, in order to navigate the best way forward.
What specific tools or tactics have you utilized over the past 16-18 months to keep your teams connected, given all of the transitions and pivots we’ve encountered?
We knew from the start of the pandemic that staying connected was going to be the key to getting through the crisis. I think this applies just as much to working teams looking to build camaraderie and trust during uncertain times, as it does to men struggling with mental health issues. We emphasized the need to stay connected and communicate with each other and encouraged our people to check in on each other and talk often with friends, loved ones and colleagues.
What have been your biggest takeaways from the past 16-18 months when it comes to the importance of keeping a team/employees connected
Movember’s values sit at the heart of everything we do. As an organization, they keep us focused on our mission to change the face of men’s health, enable us to do things differently and keep us connected to our worldwide community.
At the top of our list of values is fun. We spend a huge amount of time at work, so keeping things fun (and sometimes a little silly) has helped our people experience joy at work, boost morale, and provide a bit of much-needed escapism during tough times. It also helps unite us around our common goal of building a future where men get to live healthier, happier, longer lives.
Dave Hunt (Founder and CEO): Crossrope
About Crossrope: Created with precision engineering and founded to give all of us “the freedom to pursue our fitness goals anywhere, on your own terms.” The only jump rope you’ll ever need.
How was the initial transition from having an in-person team, in an office, to a remote team? What was the working environment like previously?
Our primary headquarters is in Raleigh, NC but since the beginning, we’ve also had a team in Toronto, Canada. This means we’ve always been a distributed workforce, relying on connecting and communicating virtually. We’re grateful for our warehouse team who has continued to be in the office every day to fulfill our customer orders.
What specific tools or tactics have you utilized over the past 16-18 months to keep your teams connected, given all of the transitions and pivots we’ve encountered?
We increased the cadence and added content to our all-company kickoffs. We get the entire company together every two weeks to review our progress against annual targets, share business updates, and of course celebrate any employee milestones and anniversaries.
We also added the Donut Slack integration which regularly pairs employees together to connect socially. We want to support opportunities for our team to meet and have fun together, outside of our regular tasks and projects. Likewise, We added a system called 15Five that allows employees to submit monthly check-ins to their manager that includes questions like a pulse check on how they’re feeling and any wins or challenges they’re experiencing. This creates a feedback channel that may have naturally happened in an office or around the water cooler, and ensures employees and their managers are on the same page.
Additionally, a few members of our marketing team took the initiative to launch our own internal Spirit Week which built camaraderie and team energy, we created what we call “Friendship Flyers and Gratitude Grams” which encourage messages of appreciation and gratitude across the team, and we came up with our own list of “Unwritten Rules” to have a common understanding of how we all can work best together.
What have been your biggest takeaways from the past 16-18 months when it comes to the importance of keeping a team/employees connected?
Clear expectations of deliverables and outcomes is paramount. We hold our team to high standards and have multiple strategies in place to ensure we are all communicating appropriately and holding each other accountable. We know there is inherent value in both the physical office and remote locations, and moving forward, we empower our team to consider which locations best enable them to most effectively carry out certain tasks. We’ve confirmed that remote work is often great for individual productivity and routine tasks, but we know dynamic and creative work are where in-person collaboration thrives. We’ll continue to support both environments where and when it makes sense.
I see our strong foundation of core values as offering us the ability to work well together, no matter what setting we’re working in. Our core values are an integral part of our daily work lives and they guide all of our decisions, actions, and interactions. We even updated one of our core values this year to reinforce our expectations for how our team communicates and works together - “challenge directly, assume positive intent, and commit to decisions.”
Jimmy DeCico (Oldest Brother and CEO): Super Coffee
About Super Coffee: Founded on positive vibes and the desire to indulge in cleaner energy, Super Coffee creates “healthy coffee products that remove negatives and add positives,” so you can experience high energy and healthy fuel.
How was the initial transition to working remotely? Had your team been working together in-person or remotely pre-pandemic?
We've always been mostly a remote team but the initial transition (April 2020) to work-from-home actually increased our camaraderie and communication. We hosted virtual happy hours with games, and trivia (definitely not Tiger King trivia), and we got to spend more time together outside of work hours.
What specific tools or tactics have you utilized over the past 16-18 months to keep your teams connected, given all of the transitions and pivots we’ve encountered?
All hands team calls twice per week—once on Monday morning, and once on Wednesday night. We get the whole team together for weekly announcements, priority alignment and most importantly, gratitude. We end every team call with 10-15 minutes of shoutouts, gratitude, and acknowledgements for our teammates and their efforts.
What have been your biggest takeaways from the past 16-18 months when it comes to the importance of keeping a team/employees connected?
In the absence of new information, provide that update to your team frequently, even if nothing has changed since your last update. When a human being doesn't have all of the information, they fill in the blank with an inherently negative narrative: "My boss hasn't given me an update on the latest budget so that must mean that my role is being eliminated!"
Justin Schneider (CEO): Wolf & Shepherd
About Wolf & Shepherd: Think athletic performance and comfort meets high-quality leather and style. With the fundamentals of innovation, performance and tradition, Wolf & Shepherd gives professionals all-day footwear to keep up with their every day, all in the name of style and comfort.
(If employees were working from an office pre-pandemic) How was the initial transition from having an in-person team, in an office, to a remote team?
When we closed offices in March 2020, it forced us to scrub any meetings that were unnecessary to the operational success of the company and forced team members to come prepared with work needed to make decisions or come to consensus in these meetings. This largely reduced the chatter and unnecessary socializing that typically takes up the beginning of most meetings. Although there have been downsides to less social interaction in the office, we've largely gained a sense of focus on the key activities, meetings and functions that drive success for our business.
What specific tools or tactics have you utilized over the past 16-18 months to keep your teams connected, given all of the transitions and pivots we’ve encountered?
Google Suite: sheets, paper, present, .drawio have certainly been used as cross department management tools. Since we operate on Gmail it's easy to port in gantt charts, .xls files, powerpoints, etc and comment or alter these files in real time during a Zoom or Google Hangout call.
What have been your biggest takeaways from the past 16-18 months when it comes to the importance of keeping a team/employees connected?
Ensuring that our team has a say in socializing our operating strategy has been hugely important in getting buy-in from all functions of the company. Then, regularly revisiting and socializing our mission, vision and key activities from a company-wide perspective to each individual contributor on a weekly/monthly/quarterly basis keeps us all connected to our goals and how each of us are contributing towards success. Without a purpose or an understanding of our progress towards achieving our mission, restlessness and anxiety starts to kick-in and it's very difficult to reverse these feelings once they are in motion.
Gregory Zamfotis (Founder & CEO): Gregorys Coffee
About Gregorys: Family owned and founded out of Manhattan on 2006, Gregorys is more than a coffee brand with "a strong focus on quality, innovative products, and world class service." From roasting coffee and baking pastries in-house to "incorporating lifestyle and wellness into our holistic approach to food and experience," Gregorys is one of a kind.
What was the initial impact like for your company when things went remote?
While we are not an office based company, we did have to transition to a fully remote, zoom-based organization for 2-3 months to continue operations and prepare for what was to come. We learned a lot about ourselves as individuals, as leaders and as a team. Our team fully bought in and accomplished many of the things we had put on the back burner or were simply too busy to address during typical operations. We came out of the initial lockdown stronger than ever and it set us up for the future in a way we could never have imagined. Great communication, leading from the front and leading with empathy was the recipe for success during that period.
What specific tools or tactics have you utilized over the past 16-18 months to keep your teams connected, given all of the transitions and pivots we’ve encountered?
We have use a blend of limited in person events and video conferencing to stay connected, while also moving more and more of our training, immersion and cultural tools into the digital space. Software like zoom and slack have become indispensable parts of who we are now. We have continued to find ways to inject our company culture and personality into what we do, even when you can't give someone a hug or a high five like we used to. As we continue to evolve, we will be stronger and better for all we have gone through and learned over these last couple of years.
What have been your biggest takeaways from the past 16-18 months when it comes to the importance of keeping a team/employees connected?
Don't quit, stay positive, stay connected. The worst thing that could happen would be to lose hope or to surrender to fear. We run a coffee company, with the majority of our fleet in midtown Manhattan. Our business is almost entirely dependent on the office community of Manhattan, arguably the most impacted cohort of people in the country. We took the body blows and have innovated, evolved and remained gritty to work our ways through. It was not easy, it wasn't always fun, but we did it with smiles on our faces because we did it together, and we know one day we will look back and be grateful for the bonds we formed during this insane time.
Ruben Belliard (Founder & CEO): The Training Lab NYC
About The Training Lab NYC: With a focus on mechanics, consistency and intensity, The Training Lab, located in Midtown Manhattan offers a "comprehensive workout program that is diverse and physically challenging." Whether you're new to the world of fitness or a lifelong gym goer, The Training Lab community is a welcome place for all.
What was the initial impact like for your company when things went remote?
Being a fitness company, it was really difficult at first as you can imagine. We’re so used to being together anywhere from 8-10 hours a day and that face-to-face time allows for so much collaboration. We also have an “open door policy” in place that, when we’re all working together in person, offers up the opportunity to have “in the moment” discussions, right on the spot–working remotely took that away. We had to transition everything that was done in person to over the phone.
What specific tools or tactics have you utilized over the past 16-18 months to keep your teams connected, given all of the transitions and pivots we’ve encountered?
As time progressed, we pivoted and made adjustments. At the beginning, we created a group chat to be able to check in on one another. Then we transitioned to offering virtual classes. This allowed for trainers and clients to continue to not only workout safely, but check in on each other. From there, we added virtual hang outs, another check in point, but outside of a workout. Once things started to ease up a bit, we made a conscious effort to meet safely, just The Training Lab team, at least every two weeks, to have team workouts. As things progressed more, we started having socially safe BBQs with the team in my backyard and we really just continued to adapt as things went on. Things that kept us in-touch throughout were Zoom, group texts and efforts to have more organized monthly events to keep the team tight. The culture of the team is hugely important because it transfers over to the clients. I’m always actively working on this– running as a team, not independently as an individual.
What have been your biggest takeaways from the past 16-18 months when it comes to the importance of keeping a team/employees connected?
The key takeaway for me was really how to run the company as a team. We all have to pitch in, do our part and actively work to ensure we uphold the company culture we’re working for. The team here truly excels when we’re all together. We all understood that we had to adapt, and adapt quickly, when things changed and we came to value, even more, the idea of connection and how important it is to the work that we do. As a leader, I worked to ensure I was the common denominator, providing everyone with all of the updates and information that they needed throughout the past year.
