Why trust is the foundation of success
Trust is good, control is better? I don’t think so. Controlling timesheets or presences in the office was never a thing at Mindnow. Instead, we believe in an environment where every Mind can thrive without micromanaging. This article is about how we maintain Mindnow’s company culture of collectively achieving goals and supporting each other.
Remote work and its potential
Our Minds work in offices as well as individual workplaces in different countries and sometimes even time zones. It’s important to meet in person from time to time and that’s why all our office locations are always available to everyone. We encourage our team to travel to Zurich, Belgrade, or Catania and have in-person conversations with peers. At the same time, we recognize that in terms of performance, it doesn’t make a difference where people work. It’s a highly personal decision everyone has to make for themselves.
What matters is a work culture where everyone can work to their fullest potential and be the best version of themselves. This culture is created by mutual trust between the company and each Mind from day 1, no matter where you are.
Meeting culture at Mindnow
We try to keep the number of meetings low. That’s why we have introduced a meeting-free day. However, (online) meetings are the core of our communication.
1
Project team meetings
To maintain our self-organization, we empower our teams with meeting formats within projects, such as daily standups and retrospectives. These are for open discussions and feedback, which ultimately helps us identify issues and work to find solutions as a team.
2
Mindmeeting
Besides project-based meetings, we hold a full-company meeting once a month, our Mindmeeting. There we talk about the current progress in projects, specific company-wide topics, policies, and learnings.
3
1-on-1 sessions
We also coach individual Minds to help them improve their performance, reach their goals, and move into their zone of excellence. If needed, additional external training and educational resources are provided.
Would you like to know more about our remote work best practices? Here are our tips on how to nail remote work from day 1.
How to maintain a company culture of trust
We believe that each employee at Mindnow does their best work without being told. Our trust in every Mind making their own decisions influences how we work with each other, and how we deliver value to our clients.
Remote-first
We embrace remote work and utilize in-person interaction when necessary.Self-organization
Every Mind has the autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work.Value > time
We measure our success by the value we create, not by the hours in a timesheet.Respectful communication
We value open and direct communication while respecting each other's perspectives and opinions.Learning Mindset
We strive to learn from our mistakes and encourage our people to improve continuously.Proactive problem-solving
We take initiative and approach challenges with a solutions-oriented mindset.
Open communication is key
At Mindnow, we emphasize radical honesty to help everyone improve and grow. Through positive encouragement, we celebrate our Minds’ achievements but also openly discuss weaknesses. Since managers and project teams are often spread across different countries, effective remote communication is everything at Mindnow.
And if conflicts arise? In these extremely rare cases, we follow a clear sequence and structure to resolve the conflict. Our management team doesn’t intervene in conflict situations but encourages the people involved to solve the issue among themselves.
Every Mind an entrepreneur
The core of our company culture is the belief that every Mind is an entrepreneur and takes ownership of their work. This is how our trust is backed up and how we see our path to innovation and constant improvement. We can trust each other because Minds are not just working for the company – they are the company.
The entrepreneurial spirit of thinking big is deeply rooted in our mindset. It’s the way we approach our work. By empowering Minds to develop their own ideas, we can unleash their full potential and create even more value for our clients and the market.
Venture building is driven by innovation
As a result of our entrepreneurial culture, we have already launched several successful spin-offs and internal ventures. From the family banking app Clanq to our AI-based CV builder Cubra to our contact tracing app Mindful: All these digital products were driven not only by identified gaps in the market but our Minds’ commitment to innovation.
We know every step of the entrepreneurial journey, from ideation to launching products. This does not only define who we are but also gives us a competitive advantage – considering talents and clients alike.
Ownership attracts talents
In an environment where anyone can pitch and launch their ideas, we foster a deep sense of ownership. This leads to a higher level of engagement and satisfaction among our employees. At the same time, our approach to ownership is not only beneficial for our team spirit, but it also attracts talented and ambitious professionals who want to work and innovate with us.
Success for all
Our expertise in building and launching ventures provides a unique perspective and skill set that we also bring to our client projects. We understand the challenges and opportunities of creating digital products and businesses and we leverage this knowledge to deliver value. With the extensive know-how and expertise of our talented people, we are well-equipped to ideate, invent, validate, design, and launch any product that we believe has the potential to make a difference.
I’m so proud to see how our teams bring a fresh and innovative perspective to every project. They apply the same rigor and focus on outcomes to our client work as we do to our own ventures, it’s amazing.
With a culture focused on trust and self-organization, we have built a dynamic environment where our talented Minds are empowered to thrive. No amount of controlling timesheets in the world can compete with this entrepreneurial mindset.
We firmly believe that our success as a company is a reflection of our culture of trust and we are committed to upholding it as we continue to grow. As a Co-CEO, I’m more than committed to cultivating a work environment that fosters innovation, and thus, success for all.
