This week our Company had our annual “remote” celebration and it was no small feat. With about 35 teams of people located from Auburn, Maine to Palm Beach, Florida it was an amazing technological achievement for an organization like ours with limited financial resources, but plenty of heart.

As I watched the live event this year with our Concord, NH team I was inspired by the wonderful culture our team members have created. As I thought about Paul Spiegelman’s 8 Cs of company culture, I think our team is right in line with him.

Eight Cs of Company Culture. A few years back I read an Inc Magazine article about 8 Tips from Paul Spiegelman, the founder and CEO of Beryl Co., a call-center company in Bedford, Texas, for how he built his unique, people-centric culture. Here are his 8 Tips.

1. Camaraderie. Enjoy each other, have fun. Select the right team members, who will add and not subtract from this balance.
2. Celebrations. Teams should regularly celebrate accomplishments together. These celebrations should be fun and reinforce the goals and mission of the organization.
3. Community. Team members get connected to their local communities together. This could include doing a volunteer activity together as a team, one that inspires the local team.
4. Communication. There is regular, open communication between and among all team members. This includes feedback on personal objectives each team member has and also how the team and organization are doing with their goals and objectives.
5. Caring. Team members and leaders genuinely care about each other. Displays of kindness are a regular occurrence; rewards and awards are customized for the person.
6. Commitment to learning. The organization invests resources into creating a learning environment; one that allows individuals to develop professionally and at the speed that fits the needs of the individual and the organization.
7. Consistency. Leaders behave consistently and their behavior reinforces the mission of the organization and fits-in with these Cs of culture. This also means they treat all team members in a fair and equitable fashion.
8. Connect. Team members have opportunities to connect with each other and also others outside their teams. There is no corporate bureaucracy that limits or discourages this kind of connection. Supervisors connect regularly with their team members and provide helpful support and feedback.

For these 8 Cs to become a reality you need to have the right people in the right roles. For us, this has made all the difference.

(Author’s Note – If you would like to learn more about how we executed our celebration, please contact me at sawood@workopportunities.net)