The Gini Way How we do things around here 12. April 2018 gini.net
This handbook is intended to be a living document describing how we work together here at Gini. It serves as a guidebook for new employees and a frame of reference for seasoned Ginis. If you have an idea of how to improve the handbook, you hereby have the explicit mandate to act. Use the advice process as described below, for example by asking in our chat if someone has an objection to your changes or additions. Likewise, if you find that parts of this handbook do not match reality (any more), it is your obligation to speak up and make others aware of it. This ensures to keep this an honest description of how we actually do stuff rather than a shallow tale of how we would like to be seen. Some links in this document point to pages on the web that can only be accessed with a Gini account.
Contents Why we exist
3
What we value
3
Who we are
5
How we are structured
5
How we make decisions
7
How we resolve conflicts
8
How we hold each other accountable
9
How we foster individual growth
9
How we guide each other
10
How we recognise individual progress
10
How we give each other feedback
11
How we evaluate each other
11
How we communicate
12
Your first days at Gini
13
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. In brief: You may share and adapt this work as long as you attribute us by providing a link to the original.
Why we exist We founded Gini to free mankind from paperwork. Each and everyone of us has to spend too much time with unpleasant, bureaucratic tasks - which are a pure waste of time compared to the beautiful things we could do instead on this planet. That's why we are creating a digital personal assistant that, just like a human butler, takes care of the tasks we don't enjoy and leaves us with free time and positive emotions instead. In our day-to-day lives, we all have to deal with dozens of manual tasks related to paperwork - especially with, but not limited to, paper documents. We have to pay bills, organize snail mail, read bank statements and insurance letters, change providers, cancel subscriptions and search for better tariffs, manage our financials and get in touch with companies' customer support. Very often and for the absolute majority of people, those tasks come with negative emotions and strong frustrations. Which is why many of us postpone those unpleasant tasks as long as possible - often to the point where we amassed piles of paper and developed a bad conscience. Gini aims to be the one-stop, forward thinking personal assistant that understands our needs and improves our quality of life. Gini is a polite and unobtrusive, extremely smart companion at our side. We want Gini to be an important part of people's lives, affecting millions of consumers and spreading happiness.
What we value Our values are what define us - it is our DNA and describes how we do things the “Gini Way”. They are guidelines for our everyday behaviour, help us reflect on our own actions, and give both new team members and external parties insight into how we function. They express what we value and what we don't. They are the foundation for our culture. They describe what we will not compromise on. Following and applying our values allows us to: ● Guide our decision-making and help in conflict resolution ● Ensure consistent behavior without the need for a formal hierarchy ● Hire people that agree with our values and work ethics ● Give clear feedback to each other to reflect and learn, thus constantly improve ● Identify high-performing Ginis and those that have unmet potential in need of support ● Select the “right” customers, partners, and suppliers (and get rid of those that don't fit) Living our values ensures that we work together in the culture of our choice - no matter how fast we grow, how many offices we have and which industries we enter. Following our values is key to achieving our purpose, maximizing employee happiness and fulfilling our role in society. Gini's underlying principles are defined by four values. There is no priority in our values - only the combination of all four defines what we mean with the "Gini Way".
Excellence Everything we touch is magical, beautiful, technologically ingenious and created with love. We don't do things half-heartedly - whatever we do, we do it properly. We give attention to detail and strive for perfection. We are eager to continuously learn and improve - both as individuals and as a team. Commitment and responsibility We fight for our vision and our goals - and are determined to succeed. We take responsibility autonomously until the very end. We actively contribute our ideas and opinions and bring up shortcomings directly. We live maximum openness and transparency. We interact with each other in a relaxed yet professional manner. Opportunities rather than risks We give ourselves freedom for bold ideas and are not afraid to make mistakes. We find ways to make things work and won't settle for excuses of why they don't. We get to the bottom of things and solve them - or ask for help in doing so. We dare to think outside the box and to constantly question the status quo. We don't follow conventions and what others deem to be normal. Love We treat each other with love, appreciation, and respect. We leave behind a wonderful feeling for anybody who gets in touch with Gini. We celebrate wins and go through failures together. We make sure that all aspects of our lives are compatible.
Who we are Our organizational structure is based on the assumption that Ginis are trustworthy, responsible adults that are capable of making important decisions and want to make a positive contribution to Gini and the world. Until we are proven wrong, trusting each other is our default means of engagement. We don't see Ginis as cogs in the Gini machine. We treat each other like people that have lives beyond work. We invite each other to bring our whole selves when we come to the office. We want to provide more than a means of income. We want to provide an environment of meaning, community, and personal growth. An environment of psychological safety that allows people to be authentic. An environment where it is safe to disagree and to ask questions that challenge the status quo. A place where we truly love to work. A place that creates happy people. In return, we expect Ginis to do more than following orders. We expect from each other to take responsibility and initiative in the pursuit of our purpose.
How we are structured Gini is a living network of interrelated - yet mostly autonomous - teams that we call academies. The term derives from the metaphor of the personal assistant we are building that learns new skills in these academies. For an in depth description on how we are structured and why, read this blog post.
The basic unit of people at Gini is an academy. Academies are our primary structure. This is where work happens. An academy is a cross-functional group of people working on a shared vision. An academy is formed around a market segment. Its cross-functional members complement each other’s strengths and have all necessary expertise to serve that market end to end. Each academy is a miniature version of Gini as a whole — startups within a startup. Academies are granted a lot of autonomy but are expected to align on Gini’s overall purpose and avoid sub-optimization. Academies don’t have bosses with coercive power that call the shots. However, this doesn’t mean that everyone is equal, but instead of a rigid power hierarchy, fluid hierarchies of recognition, influence, and skill emerge. Leadership is required, supervision is not.
Because academies are cross-functional, Ginis of the same function are scattered across the organization. In order to facilitate learning and competency development within functions, we have functional faculties (e.g. sales, mobile) that meet and exchange regularly. They also help us calibrate decisions across the organization. Standards are not enforced. Instead, a practice or tool becomes a standard only when enough academies have adopted it to make it a de facto standard. Instead of creating company-wide bureaucracy, we make what works transparent so others can copy. Guidelines are used to document good practices.
There are Ginis that don’t work within one of our academies. This may be because academies don’t need a full-time person for a role and they “outsource” it or because these people act as coaches for academies. We call this group of people the consulting specialists institute (CSI). We try to keep this group to a bare minimum as to not create an accidental power hierarchy that threatens the autonomy of academies. The CSI does not control the academies, nor does it come up with rules for academies to follow. It is a support structure that may formulate guidelines after consulting with academies and after a clear need has been expressed by academies. The expectation is that the academies own the whole value chain and do everything themselves, except for the things they choose to delegate to the CSI.
People with a shared interest in some subject or problem organize in clubs (e.g. events, runners). Clubs engage in a learning process based on that shared interest. They collaborate over an extended period to share experiences and ideas, and to find solutions. Clubs are more loosely organized than faculties. While someone’s main expertise determines the faculty they are part of, anyone can participate in any number of clubs based on their interests.
How we make decisions One of the reasons we are structured as autonomous academies is to allow decentralized decision-making. The goal is to move decision-making authority to the information and enable those that feel the sense of urgency to take initiative. This avoids decision bottlenecks and allows for decisions being made quickly where they are needed. We use mandates, consent, and advice process as described below. For an in depth description on how we make decisions and why, read this blog post. The simplest case for making decisions is when someone has a mandate to do so. Either explicitly given by a group someone is deciding for or implicitly by someone’s role. This could be a recruiter rejecting a candidate after a first screening or a developer choosing an editor to write her code. They wouldn’t inform anyone about these decisions. If someone inquires to understand a specific decision, we expect people to explain their reasoning — to sell their decision, if you will. This helps others understand and accept their choices, as well as enabling them to learn from those choices. There are no managers or team leads that call all the shots within our academies. When we decide in a group (academy or other) and there is no mandate for someone to make the decision, we default to consent. We prefer consent over consensus or majority vote. While consensus is commonly interpreted as everyone is for a proposal, consent is weaker and is defined by the absence of reasoned, substantial objections. “No-one objects” (consent) leaves more solution options than “Everyone agrees” (consensus). Objections must come in the form of suggestions how to alter the proposal to make it acceptable. This makes discussions more solution focused. If we can’t agree as a group, we choose a decision-maker that follows the advice process. For cases that are not covered above, we default to the advice process. Everyone is encouraged to move topics forward they think are important and urgent. We expect decision-makers to consult experts and those affected, and to be as transparent as possible throughout the process. The greater the impact of a decision, the more people we consult. Advice received must be taken into consideration. But advice is simply advice. Ownership of the issue stays clearly with one person: the decision-maker. Decision-makers need to be willing to question their initial assumptions and ideas for a solution and zoom back out to the problem space.
Decision-makers make sure everybody is committed to the decision, especially those that disagree. There is no need to make watered down decisions to please everyone. People respect decisions if they feel they were heard and understood. If we disagree with a decision, we practice forgiveness and bring it up with the decision-maker. We follow the conflict resolution process if necessary. To be clear, there are no dedicated decision-makers. You become a decision-maker by identifying a decision to be made and taking initiative or by being chosen by a group of people unable to decide something by consent. Nobody is in control. Everybody is in charge. Decision-making is not evenly distributed among all Ginis and some voices carry more weight than others. Ginis with higher recognition from their peers end up influencing decisions more than others. There is a natural hierarchy of recognition and merit. An even distribution was never the goal. The goal is inclusion and openness and to enable those that feel the sense of urgency to take initiative. Expertise in a certain area often influences who makes a decision, but it’s not the sole criteria that makes someone a good fit for decision-making. Understanding of all points of view and thoughtfully weighing options may be more important in some circumstances.
How we resolve conflicts In a conventional workplace, people often raise a dispute with a boss to settle the matter. At Gini, disagreements are resolved amongst peers. 1. First, the two people with a conflict sit together and try to sort it out privately. 2. If they can’t agree on a solution, they nominate a colleague they both trust to act as a mediator. The mediator doesn’t impose a decision but supports the participants in coming to their own solution. 3. If mediation fails, a panel of topic-relevant colleagues is assembled. Again the panel does not impose a solution. As the initiator of a conflict, using the four steps of nonviolent communication can be helpful, because it allows people to be less defensive and more open to critique. 1. State factual observations that are leading you to feel the need to say something. No judgement. No evaluation. 2. State the feeling that the observation is triggering in you. Avoid moral judgement. 3. State the need that is the cause of that feeling. 4. Make a concrete request for action to meet the need just identified. Be clear and specific. Request, don’t demand. Having no bosses at Gini only works as long as we keep each other accountable. Conflict resolution is a vital piece of the puzzle that helps us do so. We rely on each and every Gini to step up and approach colleagues who fail to uphold their commitments. This is hard and often feels uncomfortable. Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin—you can’t have one without the other.
How we hold each other accountable Instead of a coercive power hierarchy where information flows up and commands flow down, we use peer pressure and transparency to keep each other accountable. Peer pressure, when used in the right context, can be a good thing. There are four ingredients that allow us to do so. 1. Ginis belong to and identify with one academy and its mission. 2. Academy members have a shared responsibility for achieving this mission. 3. All relevant information is open and transparent to the academy. 4. Academy performance information is made comparable across academies. Academies are self-organized. W ithin an academy its members keep each other accountable based on our company values and purpose, as well as self-defined principles, roles and objectives. Each academy brings their recent progress and future plans to our monthly team exchange. The team exchange is intended to be an open discussion where we hold each other accountable across academies. It is not a status update in the form of a presentation. Everyone gets to discuss, give feedback on, and challenge what they heard. Every Gini has the obligation to act on a problem or an opportunity he or she senses, even when it falls outside of the scope of his or her role. It’s not enough to say, “Somebody should do something about this problem,” and leave it at that. Often the right thing to do is to go and talk about it with the colleague whose role relates to the topic, or bring it up at the team exchange.
How we foster individual growth At Gini, we want to create happy employees and excellent products. Based on the assumption that individual growth is a key factor for motivation, enabling each person at Gini to reach their maximum potential is crucial. This is why we not only support, but expect individual growth and development from each other. We are convinced that our basic qualities are things we can cultivate through our efforts — that we are not limited to a fixed amount of skills and talents. We strive for continuous growth and learning by stretching ourselves and sticking to it, even — or especially — when it’s not going well. We want to enable every Gini to become their best, knowing that individual growth has no final destination. It’s a journey — a lifelong discipline. We believe that every Gini has the intrinsic motivation to grow and become better at what they do. At the same time, each of us has a unique combination of strengths that, if utilized optimally, will maximize each Gini’s contribution and impact. If this is true, forcing ourselves on fixed development paths will not cater for optimal growth for most of us. Instead, it would limit growth and make people feel out of place as we try to force them on the same path.
Every Gini has a default learning budget of 5 days and € 2.5k to spend each year on their individual development and growth. With the learning budget, we have in mind learning in its original meaning of expanding one’s capacity to create. This generally involves theory and practice. Remember the peer pressure and transparency from the previous section? The same applies here. Everyone is free to do with their budget whatever they think will help them grow, as long as they make it transparent in a shared spreadsheet and be open to the enquiry of their peers. While there are plenty of options to take on additional responsibility, we also offer options for each Gini to transform completely how they are contributing value. The intention is to avoid anybody feeling stuck in a certain position and seeing leaving the company as the only possibility to break out of it. In order to help Ginis work in their perfect position at any given time while also ensuring continuity of ongoing work, we established a process for smoothly switching roles and positions.
How we guide each other Every Gini has a steward. A steward is a Gini’s personal contact to the organization. A steward supports the growth of an individual Gini through guidance within the organization and sparring of growth options. Most often this happens through regular 1-on-1 sessions. Stewards are not managers or supervisors that track someone’s workload, assign them tasks and do their performance evaluation. They are guides for a Gini’s development within our organization. Becoming a steward is not a promotion in the traditional sense where someone switches to people management for a department of experts. We see it as someone taking on a role because they have great people and coaching skills, not because they excelled at a different role. This is just one — not the — option to show leadership within Gini. Every Gini can book sessions to work on personal development topics with a professional business coach that is at our office each Friday. This external view from an experienced coach has proven very valuable to work on personal development within Gini and beyond. Every Gini may pick one or several mentors to support them in their professional development. A mentor is a consultant or trainer for specific knowledge and skills. Ginis pick mentors that are more knowledgeable and that inspire them to become better in areas they want to explore. We have the general concept of a mentor, but we are currently not making full use of it. This is still very much work in progress.
How we recognise individual progress Without seniority titles or power hierarchies, it is less obvious how to acknowledge and appreciate the progress of individuals and who has the mandate to do so. We are not all the same in the way we can receive and accept recognition. What feels very meaningful to one person, may feel indifferent or even awkward to another. People respond very differently to words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, physical touch, or receiving gifts. We identify the individually most powerful sources of recognition and use various tools to recognize appreciated behavior. And, once a year, each Gini self-reflects and describes their own contributions, impact and development in the previous 12 months and adds to the picture with support from their peers.
How we give each other feedback There are at least three different kinds of feedback: appreciation, advice, and evaluation. We separate pay raise discussions (evaluation) from feedback (advice) because the emotional impact of being evaluated tends to drown out the advice on improving performance. Combining the two kills learning. When giving feedback we check our intentions and make sure we are ready to help others learn and grow. We focus on the behavior, not the person. We focus criticism on the situation we want to address, on what someone does or says, rather than the individual themselves. We try to connect and speak in “I” language, to share how we have been inspired, touched, puzzled, hurt, frustrated, or angered as a result of what the other person has said or done. We are specific and use examples from the recent past. Vague statements are easier to make, but not actionable, and hence not helping the other person to improve and grow. We get ready before asking for feedback. “Ready” means that we want to hear the truth, not simply validation. We are curious, not defensive. When receiving feedback, it is tempting to become defensive or “explain away” the criticism. We intentionally resist this natural reflex. Instead, we let the other person finish completely and try to listen deeply. Then ask questions with the intent of inquiry. We cultivate a growth mindset and understand mistakes and feedback as opportunities to grow, rather than personal failures. Our feedback mechanism is a specific case of the advice process. You ask experts (e.g. people in your faculty) and people affected (e.g. people in your academy) for advice on your personal and professional development. Feedback comes from the people around you. Who is best equipped to give you feedback is highly situational, but usually involves people from diverse areas. Generally, this could be anyone. A member of your academy, someone you worked with closely lately from another academy, a client, or someone else. Stewards facilitate the 360° feedback sessions of their stewardees within their first six months at Gini. Afterwards, Ginis pick their own diverse peer group and meet with them every six months in order to get a broad perspective. The received feedback is yours and yours alone, you decide what to do with it. There is no obligation to share with anyone.
How we evaluate each other ϧ TODO: define and describe evaluation and pay raise process
How we communicate We put a high emphasis on how we treat each other here at Gini that goes beyond “being professional”. We want to stress that being empathic is not only important because it makes us feel better. It also enables more effective communication. Read more on that here. By default, all information is open to all Ginis. Making something private is a conscious decision that you should have a good reason for. The benefit of openness is that everyone knows what’s going on, which is necessary to enable decentralized decision-making. We are a German company with its foundation in Munich. Many of us are well-versed in the Bavarian dialect. But being the world-open people that we are, we also invited non-German speaking people to join us here at Gini. Which is why we communicate in English if participants of a conversation - in writing or spoken word - are non-German speaking. We use Gmail (email), Slack (chat), Confluence (wiki), Zoom (video call) and of course face-to-face communication. Email is for the things nobody should miss. Use email if you expect a thoughtful response. Email is less volatile than chat and allows people to sleep on it and come back to it later. It is great for announcements or summaries where little or no response is required. We created a couple of templates to categorize emails and allow for quicker comprehension and a better overview. Chat is quicker and more conversational, but there is no expectation that everyone will read it. Use chat for messages you want quick feedback on or when you expect some back and forth. Its real-time aspect invites dialog. Meetings have a bad reputation, because many people abuse them for gatherings of little value to most participants. Every Gini is asked to use the law of two feet, meaning if you are in a meeting where you are neither contributing nor learning, use your two feet and go someplace else. Also, if you are invited to a meeting and you are unsure about the desired outcome and the reason why you should attend, ask the inviter to clarify. Please consider your and the recipient's needs when choosing an appropriate channel for communication. If possible choose an asynchronous channel (i.e. email or chat) that doesn’t interrupt the recipient and allows people to answer when it suits them. This enables us to focus and take care of correspondences when we are at a natural pause in our current task. If in doubt, over-communicate. Many conflicts stem from assumptions of what other people think. If you feel like you are being misunderstood, switch to a higher bandwidth channel, e.g. from chat to video call. One-on-one face-to-face communication has the broadest bandwidth. It reduces the chance of misinterpreting tone and meaning. Do that whenever it’s feasible - definitely for important things. We are structured in cross-functional academies because we think communication within a team tackling a user need is the one we should optimize for.
Your first days at Gini Dear Gini-to-be, Now you know about our purpose and our values. You are familiar with our structure. You are aware of the principles that guide us in our work and company life. You now have a rough idea about what we expect from each other and what we will expect from you. Looks like you are well-prepared and fully equipped for your first day at Gini, which will be awesome! You might still be a bit puzzled about certain things and be overwhelmed with new information. But no worries! On your first day, you will be met by your onboarding buddy who will help you out with getting settled in. He or she will introduce you to your colleagues, help you set up your laptop, get all the passwords you need, introduce you to internal tools, etc. You will learn about the most important places at the office and in the neighbourhood, such as where the coffee machine and the foosball table are and where to find good lunch ;) You will meet your steward who will be your sparring partner in regular bilateral meetings to discuss any topic you may have. And last but not least, you will be introduced to all the academies and faculties within Gini, meet their members and learn what they do and how you can contribute. If you haven’t worked in a self-organizing environment with fully cross-functional teams before, the way we work will take some getting used to. Even if you intellectually fully understand and buy into our way of working, be prepared for an acclimation period of around 18 months. The good news is your new colleagues are here to help and it’s OK to admit when you are struggling. We think, once you internalized our way of working, you will find it liberating and won’t ever want to go back to a coercive power hierarchy :) Have any burning questions? Don’t hesitate to drop us a line. We are looking forward to welcoming you on board! Still on the fence, if you should apply? Or just want to see how all this looks like in real life? Stop by in our Munich office for a coffee or a whole day of co-working. We like to share what we learned thus far. Sincerely yours, Gini
