Culture is important. Culture is the key to success. We agree. Cool. Now, as a small business owner, you think to yourself: WTF is culture, and how do I build it?
I have no clue. But here’s how I approached trying to foster one aspect at Advisory Solutions.
One of the benchmarks of success that I strived for very early on was to have a vibrant Slack instance. Some of my favorite early clients (big shout out to Wondersauce and Splash (SplashThat.com)) had these incredibly engaged team members who shared stories about their families, what they did over the weekend, different things to do in the city, organized meet-ups, played games online together, and any other number of things that had nothing to do with work. People genuinely liked each other, and that was infectious even to the outsider.
The concept of non-work engagement within Slack became even more important as we all went remote during COVID. We had always had remote people but COVID made us all remote people.
At first, it was a few things here and there: a TV show, a cool outing, pictures of a trip. But as we grew as a team, that started splitting off into sub-categories from cooking to sports to kids to pets. We share and discuss articles relevant to tech or debates about food. If you put yourself out there, people will feel comfortable to do the same. And that starts at the top. If you engage with your team or share your personal thoughts and anecdotes, people might feel more comfortable doing the same. That’s at least what worked for us. (Feel free to share what you think worked for you guys in the comments)
For geographically dispersed teams, precious moments together are rare. What makes in-person meetings special is the solid foundation built by getting to know one another when physically apart.
My goal is to build a team where members genuinely care about each other, not just individual growth. Culture isn’t something you can manufacture; it arises from people who enjoy each other’s company day in and day out. In my experience, measuring success isn’t about KPIs or CSAT scores; it’s about the banter – the genuine connections that form the backbone of a thriving culture.
