Creating a virtual culture

In the article, we discussed the challenges of working from home, especially when it comes to company culture and onboarding new team members. During 2020, Supersonic Playground has made three new hires into marketing, design and customer success. Each of these hires has been a strategic move to grow the business, increase productivity and improve customer experience.

In normal circumstances, a large part of what makes a great company culture is based on what goes on in the office and then translated online. But these are far from normal circumstances, and so like many businesses we’ve had to adapt and do things slightly differently. This year most of our culture has been created with the team predominantly being online. From daily catch ups twice a day, to virtual parties and pumpkin carving – we’ve spent the last eight months building a team culture that has aided productivity and enabled the team to knit close bonds with one another. This culture has made onboarding new team members more manageable and less daunting, and it is a real credit to the wider Supersonic team.

“Starting a new job in the middle of a pandemic felt pretty daunting. One of my biggest concerns was that by working from home, I would struggle to form relationships with my colleagues, plus, having just immigrated to the UK in January, I didn’t have much. But, everyone at Supersonic has made the whole process so easy, by giving me all the equipment I needed to make my own home-working space and by making me feel comfortable and instantly part of the team, even when we’re not in the office. They are always coming up with new creative ways to keep the company culture alive by organizing virtual activities and meetups with the whole team.” – Ashleigh, Junior Digital Designer.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment, and we all miss being in our office. But, events such as last week’s pumpkin carving, while only a 1 ½ hour virtual event, didn’t feel distanced; it was just like being in the room together, laughing and joking and we all walked away feeling refreshed and positive. It’s not ideal, as being online can lead to feelings of detachment, but you can have fun, you can keep things upbeat, and you can cultivate culture online – it’s just harder.” – Rich, Company Director.