I am personally quite thankful to work at a company that has a great culture. A culture that acts like it speaks – a team of people who understand that the world is too big and life too short to just keep making money.
We encourage employees to take on small volunteering projects, specifically applying our skills to organizations that are making a difference in our communities.
Thus, I volunteer for a small drop-in homeless shelter for young adults (ages 18-29). And mostly I provide technology or marketing solutions, support thereof and other basic business consulting.
Today my team at Launch was printing 500 new flyers. We had already completed a draft via email, so today I brought a printed draft for them to hold, read and use. After several small tweaks we approved it by the end of the meeting.
During the meeting, they needed to set up some single point of contact for clients and volunteers. We registered a google voice number and performed some basic setup. Then we messed with settings and added notifications.
Getting the decision makers in a room together can be extremely valuable for working sessions.
The outcome of this volunteering? People will be able to find a phone number to a group of people willing and able to help. This gives me hope.
And all it took was one hour and the commitment of my team to support me.
For my productivity it means I have to work from home on Wednesdays, and I eat up about 30 minutes driving to and from the place. My normal commute is 50 minutes, so I’m basically using the time gained by working from home to volunteer.
At a time to be thankful, I’m thankful for our culture, this team and the customers that believe in us.