Meanwhile, just over 6 weeks have passed since my first day at Payflip. Time flies when you're having fun! In this blog post, I'd like to take you through some of the traditions that I noticed my first few weeks and that, for me, partly define Payflip's culture and how quickly you feel at home here.
And fun it has been! Besides getting to know the team, I was also immersed in the Payflip culture. No vague values on the wall, but a super strong set of beliefs that color the day-to-day experience of a Payflip employee! Curious which ones they are? Read on below!
Actually, I should go back in time to start with, because even before I officially started at Payflip I was invited to the Monthly Gathering. One of those traditions that I also got so excited about during my interview process. Every month, two team members are given the freedom to put together an evening for the entire team to spend time together outside of work. So that's how I ended up going bowling with them and afterwards eating trendy pittas in Brussels (who here all knows Le Perroquet? 🦜) . The max! I hear from my colleagues that other Monthly Gatherings range from a self-constructed Brussels Express to restaurant visits, and last week we also visited the Ghent Festivities together. 👇🏼
Afterwards, that first day arrived. Within Payflip, it is customary to be physically present in the office on the first day of a new colleague's arrival (as opposed to self-onboarding, which my colleague Idris also wrote an interesting article about here ). Breakfast is then provided and you immediately notice that team bonding is very important and that remote working is put aside that day. Furthermore, there is also lunch together on that first day. I mentioned that I love to discover nice (food) places and people listened, in my case we went to a delicious Italian restaurant in the neighborhood, and so the love for Brussels was immediately shared. 🇧🇪
Another monthly tradition is Community Day. A day when we take a break from operational tasks and focus on a project that we have wanted to tackle for a long time or when there is time to test something completely out of the box. Continuous learning and innovation is a very important value within Payflip and the Community Day is a perfect example of that. Everyone puts themselves OOO so there is full concentration, no meetings and no customers calling us. We start with a breakfast to discuss our goals and at the end of the day everyone shows what they have been working on which gives you more insight into what everyone is working on. A day full of inspiration!
Not all traditions take place in the office, of course, because Payflip fully supports a remote working culture. Related to that is also the fact that the written culture is hugely present. Everything can be found on Notion pages and everyone also consistently completes them. The same in Slack, there is very open communication, so transparency really breathes through the company as a value. Private Slack posts? Nope, you post it better for everyone (in the appropriate channels of course).
So every Monday we start writing our HPFOs. What's in a name I hear you thinking? HPFO stands for Highlights, Progress, Fires & Objectives. So everyone posts their own version, which also keeps you accountable and gives you insight on your colleagues' priorities. Below you can find a sample of my HPFOs this week. Check for the blog on this one 😉
💡 Small note: a great inspiration for our hpfos and a lot of our methods can be found in the book"Healthy Business" by Jean-Charles Samuelian. A must-read for organizations that want to collaborate in a transparent, asynchronous way.
Last but not least and somewhat proud of this one anyway: the Payflip Bookclub! My first weeks we briefly talked about inspiring books that can really help you with how you are in your job. And so it happened, few weeks back we had our first Bookclub at the office and Filip discussed the book "The Practice of Groundedness". Fun fact: the book was gifted to us by Alan, our partner in health insurance. That we take it seriously is certainly evidenced by the kick-ass summary that followed (be sure to check them out for yourself here) and the discussions that followed. Guess who's next? 📚
So, to conclude, I can definitely conclude that there are a lot of fine traditions that you can look forward to and that also let you get to know your colleagues in flux. So an ideal alternation between remote work and, in addition, regular moments to work together or relax. And hey, we are still looking for people! 👏🏻
Brought to you by
