i3 - September/October 2017 - 50

Business
By Jake Sigal
A DV I C E FO R E N T R E P R E N E U RS

Office Culture Sets the Tone
(AMA) survey at the end of each
monthly staff meeting. I use half sheets
of paper and ask one of the employees
to collect the handwritten questions
and email them to me. I respond to all
of them to the entire company same day.
Its responses are raw and authentic. These AMAs are part of our
"The cultural
culture at Tome, and they're also
norm here is to
show respect
organically creating new elements
for others in
of our collective office culture.

 C 

ulture is a hot topic in
the world of startups,
and that chatter is growing around larger businesses.
I prefer the scientific definition of culture
over the sociological explanation when
I consider culture for business: maintaining conditions suitable for growth. I often
ask myself, if everyone was doing this
or that, would it be a good thing for the
company? Though there are exceptions
to this test, it's usually a rock-solid predictor of a culture that works well.
I'm always on the hunt to find ways
to promote a healthy culture and quickly
change bad habits. Part of our culture
at Tome is always having a notebook
and a pen at meetings, and to never have
our mobile devices or laptops with us
unless we're presenting. The cultural
norm here is to show respect for others in
the meeting and to join the conversation.
Listening is more than just hearing, and
it's a core part of our culture at Tome.

Open Communication

A friend of mine was in the office last
week and he mentioned a really cool bit
50

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

Key to Success

It's important to talk openly
about why you have your policies and
to examine why they're important.
Be flexible with the rules, as long as
pushing their boundaries remains within
the spirit of your culture. As a small
business owner, it's always scary when
of culture his team has developed
you let go. And when discretion works,
when it comes to positioning. As the
be clear about why it does.
team's leader, he mentioned that when
Just about everything in our culture
he challenges a decision by someone else
is borrowed and adjusted to fit what
on the team, he makes sure to articulate
works at Tome. Culture goes beyond HR
why the alternative may be a better
practices and branding. The work you're
choice. That sounds pretty straightfordoing needs to be core to your culture.
ward, but what was more interesting
Our focus at Tome is always aimed at
is that he said the process goes both
doing our best work and being challenged.
ways. He doesn't give his own decisions
We start each weekly engineering report
immunity from bottom-up challenges,
by identifying the "areas we need help."
provided it can be argued why these
By asking for help to the
decisions are better.
entire engineering team,
Of course, it's imporwe quickly find answers
tant to have exceptions
A wellwhich gets us faster to best
with every example, and
maintained
products. That's part of
these typically involve
our "how we work" culture.
common sense. But an
culture will
Finally, culture sticks
established culture allows
make your
when it becomes habit.
for a more open environbusiness grow. That's how I know we've
ment and growth.
nailed it. If we're adding
It's the job of the CEO to
something nobody likes,
set the tone for the culture,
it won't evolve and it usually dies quickly.
while the whole team grows it. It's an
Be careful: Culture is contagious, and cusorganic process that's pretty cool to watch,
tomers, vendors, neighbors, friends and
as there are basic ideas and policies that
service partners are going to take notice.
promote core beliefs that can morph into
Be proactive with this and be honest with
better ideas with higher value.
your team. A well-maintained culture
One way I keep culture in check is by
will make your business grow.
giving an anonymous "ask me anything"
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Riva Sayegh

the meeting
and to join the
conversation."
http://www.tomesoftware.com
i3 - September/October 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - September/October 2017
