Unlocking Our Best Work

Principles for supporting great teams in an increasingly distant and disconnected working world.

Doing Our Best Work Together

Context:

The purpose of this document is to outline principles that any company or individual can follow which support making work more enjoyable, meaningful, and psychologically safe.
Last update 5/2024 - Sara Habib

COMPANY OPERATING PRINCIPLES:

Organizations should follow an organizational operating framework (you can use one that exists or design your own).
Organizations should share financial information transparently internally at least 1-2x/year.
Companies should offer options to benefit from company success (stock options, performance bonuses, co-ownership, etc).
Top-level goals and organizational vision should be clearly communicated via an established frequency.
Feedback loops should be varied in methodology, consistent in rhythm, and frequent in cadence.
“Success” should be clearly defined at the organizational, department, and individual levels. It should be measurable.
Meetings should always have an agenda and should be used for collaborative conversation vs updates. They should be regularly reviewed and audited to ensure high value.

BENEFITS PRINCIPLES:

Paid time off should be flexible and workers should not be required to earn it.
Organizations should compensate for a minimum of 3 months parental leave.
Organizations should talk with workers about benefits that matter to them, and should build benefits plans based on employee feedback.
Benefits should be generous AND financially sustainable.

PRINCIPLES FOR RELATIONSHIPS:

All employment agreements are relationship agreements. We are always in relationship with our companies and our teammates.
These relationships are unique in our lives. Many of us spend more time over the course of our lives with our coworkers than our friends. We need to relate to our coworkers in a totally different way than other relationships we have with friends or family. It is very important to cultivate our coworker relationships with thoughtfulness and intention.
Seek first to understand.
Communicate early and often.
Do not place yourself in opposition to individuals, debate only ideas.
Say the thing.
Clean it up later.
Take full responsibility for your actions and your well-being.

PRINCIPLES FOR WORKERS:

Workers have a responsibility to understand their own unique ideal work culture, infrastructure, and role, and to communicate it to the organization they are working for.
Workers should invest in personal development and in growing their emotional professionalism (have all your feelings and communicate about them in a good way which does not place a drain on teammates).
Workers should be clear and honest with organizations and themselves about what they can contribute, what they want to learn, and what they find draining and demotivating.
Workers should accept that some roles may require them to work in a way that pushes the envelope of their experience, includes items they find draining, or may otherwise require them to extend their comfort zone. Workers can say no to working in these roles. And, orgnizations may not always adapt roles to meet individual workers’ needs.