“The Big Spaceship is nothing more than a learning organization applying Design Thinking to empower its employees to do great things. And their Employee Handbook reflects just that.”
If you’re thinking to start a business and have thought about introducing the ideology of Design Thinking to foster creativity, collaboration and innovation in the workplace, you have to check out Big Spaceship – a digital agency – and its Employee Handbook. Seriously, just glance through it, it will inspire you (and make you want to work for them)!
If only all companies had the same creative and collaborative culture as Big Spaceship does. I’ve read many employee manuals, and boy, they are boring! However, this manual is everything but boring. It is designed for new and existing employees to familiarize themselves with the company’s work environment. It’s a way to let them know how the company works, what is expected of them, and to show that Big Spaceship is nothing more than a learning organization that empowers its employees to do great things. And their Employee Handbook reflects just that. They have applied the Design Thinking ideology not only to their work environment, but of course, to their employee handbook. They have made it welcoming and friendly, unlike most of the 100-page boring handbooks available in big corporations that people tend to stay away from.
| But how does all of this translate into increasing morale? Well, if you do some research on factors that contribute to a high employee morale, you will find the following:
|  Big Spaceship puts people first |
Guess what? Big Spaceship has all of them checked and explained on their employee handbook. They emphasize autonomy, which in turn comes with responsibility. But that is when trust emerges. They believe in the employee to make the right judgments; whether is being more rational, or intuitive about a situation or a project. They trust that employee, and that’s why they hired them; because they are passionate about what they do, and that should translate into their work. Oh, and I don’t even have to talk about teamwork – in a learning organization that is highly creative, teamwork is everything, otherwise things just won’t fit together beautifully and harmoniously.
What about communication? At Big Spaceship, that’s a given; they believe it to be the key to any project. They instruct their employees to avoid jargons to prevent misunderstanding from happening not only within the team, but also with clients, leading to cohesive and outstanding work and best use of time. There is no time for extra explanation that could have been avoided to start with, especially when working in projects with tight deadlines.
At Big Spaceship, they believe everyone is creative, and things, processes, and people are the way they are because someone decided to take action on them and just do it. They encourage new employees to do just the same. If an employee has an idea, they should try it out… That is how success comes about: executing, not thinking or wondering. Also, having fun is important, no one there wants employees to be bored and not feel inspired, and that’s why employees are encouraged to think outside of the box, or to do things like bringing their pets to work, or going for a walk to clear their minds. In the end, Big Spaceship believes it isn’t all about technical work, it’s about people, collaboration, relationships, and fun! And of course, Big Spaceship makes it all possible because of their hierarchy-free system, where the client is part of the team, and the team is part of something bigger – as long as each employee shoots for the stars, wherever they land is going to be a pretty awesome place to be. And that’s Big Spaceship.
What about communication? At Big Spaceship, that’s a given; they believe it to be the key to any project. They instruct their employees to avoid jargons to prevent misunderstanding from happening not only within the team, but also with clients, leading to cohesive and outstanding work and best use of time. There is no time for extra explanation that could have been avoided to start with, especially when working in projects with tight deadlines.
At Big Spaceship, they believe everyone is creative, and things, processes, and people are the way they are because someone decided to take action on them and just do it. They encourage new employees to do just the same. If an employee has an idea, they should try it out… That is how success comes about: executing, not thinking or wondering. Also, having fun is important, no one there wants employees to be bored and not feel inspired, and that’s why employees are encouraged to think outside of the box, or to do things like bringing their pets to work, or going for a walk to clear their minds. In the end, Big Spaceship believes it isn’t all about technical work, it’s about people, collaboration, relationships, and fun! And of course, Big Spaceship makes it all possible because of their hierarchy-free system, where the client is part of the team, and the team is part of something bigger – as long as each employee shoots for the stars, wherever they land is going to be a pretty awesome place to be. And that’s Big Spaceship.
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