I value how we connect as a team so much that I miss it when we skip it. Here's how we intentionally connect with each other at Fishhook.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013
From: Ben
To: The Fishhook Team

"Um ... I'm pretty sure I have work to do, I just can't find any of it."

During the holiday break a couple months back, schedules at Fishhook (as you may have guessed by now) were very flexible. Some of us spent time out of town the week before Christmas; others took time off between Christmas and New Year's. And then there was that weird half-week after New Year's. In any case, the routine around the office was interrupted for about three weeks in December and January. This fluctuation, combined with many of our church clients' hectic schedules around the holidays, often results in less communication and connection than normal. For us who may not be the most ... organized ... that can be a challenging place to find yourself!

Personally, I've come to value the ways we connect as a team at Fishhook so much that I miss those times when they don't happen. Here are a couple ways we intentionally connect with each other at Fishhook:

  • Weekly Project Sync: Every Monday morning, Shawn and I (the web guys) meet with Lindsay and Leah (our communications strategists/project managers) to briefly check in on every active web/online project and retainer client. Megan has a similar meeting on Mondays with Leah to talk through design projects and deadlines. This collaboration between developers, designers and project managers ensures that we're all on the same page. We share notes, update calendars, and assign tasks for the coming days and weeks. We make sure that projects are on schedule, that everyone knows their priorities and responsibilities, and that nothing is falling through the cracks. 
  • Weekly Team Lunch Meeting: Also on Mondays, the entire team spends an hour or two together over lunch. Not only are we single-handedly padding Jimmy John's profit margins, we've come to count on this time as a fun and energetic way to catch up, share successes or struggles from the week before, and encourage each other. We get to hear and see what others have been working on, get a pulse for how busy everyone is, and get an update on where the company is headed. We have a pretty regular agenda: 
    • Weekend updates
    • Wins/lessons learned from the previous week (with client samples)
    • Individual workloads and schedules
    • Business development & proposals
    • Social media updates/calendar for the week
    • How can we pray for one another and our clients?
  • Monthly Colleague Connection: It's often too easy to get stuck in the rut of simply getting the work done and off your plate. If there's no time taken for strategizing, sharing or brainstorming big ideas, creativity suffers and energy lags. A while ago, we realized that although we're often working together in the office or on the same projects, we needed to make intentional time to share new ideas, bounce problems off each other, or just talk the same language with someone else who works in the same "mind space." Once every month or so, Shawn and I will grab lunch and spend an (admittedly geeky) hour or so browsing websites we find informative or inspirational, digging into projects we think are interesting, or talking about new technologies we've found intriguing. As communications strategists, Lindsay and Leah have a similar meeting (although I won't pretend to know what they talk about). 

For more information about other ways we connect as a team, check out our Facebook page for pictures from our yearly team retreat or updates about our annual post-holiday party.

Everyone on our team has something unique to offer and their own individual gifts to share; it's one of the best parts of working in a team environment! 

How do you connect with your co-workers, teammates and colleagues?

If you liked this blogpost, view other entries from "The Fishhook Vibe" series: