Aug 13, 2023
Company Values
It’s been 18 months since we set our values, and they are still relevant and capture our team culture really well. It’s a good sign. Here are our four values: ADAPTABILITY, TRANSPERANCY, OWNERSHIP, and EMPATHY. We still use the language in our day-to-day conversations, and it helps us gain focus and direction in moments of ambiguity.
Adaptibility: We are about adjusting based on the situation and learnings; being ok with change and having flexibility are important when bringing value to customers. Our team believes this is one of the most important attributes your start-up might have. Especially when there are so many unknowns and everything changes so often.
Transparency: Being able to build trust and honesty without our team and with our users is powerful, it allows us to work in the open, collaborate freely, and have effective communication.
Ownership: Be empowered to make decisions. Have confidence in yourself, understanding that the team has your back. Own your craft, because you are the captain of your ship and the best person for the job.
Empathy: Understanding our customers, their motives, and their needs means we are putting customer value front and centre as we go. Building connections with the Backpocket team also contributes to the overall success of the organisation and makes it an enjoyable place to work.
Our process was quite straight-forward and easy for the team to follow:
1. The team had to share examples of behaviours displayed by the team that they thought were descriptive of our culture.
2. We also explored the values of other companies and proposed those that seemed well-suited to our culture, providing a rationale for their compatibility.
3. We wrote them on sticky notes.
4. Then we grouped similar ideas together, gave each group a theme, and voted on the most important ones.
5. This gave us six basic values to start with.
6. After the workshop, we refined and cleaned them up, leading to the four we have now: ADAPTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, OWNERSHIP, and EMPATHY.
Crafting impactful company values can be enhanced by using the SCQA framework for better clarity and alignment.
Values
Adaptibility: We are about adjusting based on the situation and learnings; being ok with change and having flexibility are important when bringing value to customers. Our team believes this is one of the most important attributes your start-up might have. Especially when there are so many unknowns and everything changes so often.
Transparency: Being able to build trust and honesty without our team and with our users is powerful, it allows us to work in the open, collaborate freely, and have effective communication.
Ownership: Be empowered to make decisions. Have confidence in yourself, understanding that the team has your back. Own your craft, because you are the captain of your ship and the best person for the job.
Empathy: Understanding our customers, their motives, and their needs means we are putting customer value front and centre as we go. Building connections with the Backpocket team also contributes to the overall success of the organisation and makes it an enjoyable place to work.
Process
Our process was quite straight-forward and easy for the team to follow:
1. The team had to share examples of behaviours displayed by the team that they thought were descriptive of our culture.
2. We also explored the values of other companies and proposed those that seemed well-suited to our culture, providing a rationale for their compatibility.
3. We wrote them on sticky notes.
4. Then we grouped similar ideas together, gave each group a theme, and voted on the most important ones.
5. This gave us six basic values to start with.
6. After the workshop, we refined and cleaned them up, leading to the four we have now: ADAPTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, OWNERSHIP, and EMPATHY.
Crafting impactful company values can be enhanced by using the SCQA framework for better clarity and alignment.
About Max Antonov
Head of Product @ Backpocket and a Product Coach.
I write about product management and random topics that are on my mind.
You can find me on Twitter,
Substack,
LinkedIn or
Goodreads
