All In by Stephanie Breedlove

Author:Stephanie Breedlove
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626343603
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Published: 2017-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

The Power of Social Capital

When you invest in partnership, you prioritize truly knowing someone. This builds reliance, interdependence, and trust. These are the building blocks of social capital that are critical to entrepreneurial success. Social capital makes companies robust, and it compounds with time. Taking the time to know your co-founders, your employees, and your business partners builds value. This creates comfort in candor and even conflict, and this is the space where good ideas flourish and become great.1 Greatness comes from true partnership.

There is opportunity to create partnership in every facet of life, even in unexpected places. During our first eight years in business, we had no structure around breaks, meals, or socializing. By the third office, we had a breakroom with a table, dishes, microwave, coffeemaker, and snacks. Our employees used it when it seemed to fit their needs. Some ate at their desks, only taking short lunches when they were busy. Others would grab the free food without lingering in the breakroom. Our office backed up to a greenbelt, providing a wonderful view. The lush open space also brought rodents. We started to see droppings on desktops and keyboards, primarily in the cubicles with food stored in them. Then our family of rats got brazen and began visiting during the day, eating the basket of chocolate that had just been delivered or strolling down the aisle on the way to their favorite drawer of food, sending people squealing in every direction. It was a serious problem.

We had to trap the rats, and that was an adventure. I’ll never forget entering the supply closet early one morning blocked by a long tail with a furry, fat rat on the other end stuck in the trap. Then we had to prevent this from ever happening again. We prohibited food from being stored or eaten anywhere in the office except the breakroom. We gave every employee a private shelf for food and drink storage. All snacks and meals were to be taken as a formal break in the breakroom. Here’s what happened: Employees initially felt controlled, and the management team worried about loss of productivity with all of the breaks that were going to be taken. Then something unexpected occurred. People began planning lunches together in the breakroom. They coordinated snack breaks. They even began bringing breakfast in and eating together before work. Socializing after work increased and comfortable chatter around the office became the norm. They were getting to really know each other, to trust each other, to form a bond of partnership. Team performance and new ideas increased, sick days decreased, employee satisfaction improved, all because we had to get rid of the rats. There have been two more offices, and the policy and all of its amazing partnership benefits remains. The breakrooms have gotten larger and filled with many more amenities, an insignificant price to pay for the power of partnership.

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