Remotely

We believe that an important factor to success in a team is excellent collaboration and this is particularly true for us as an all-remote company.

We solicit input and feedback early, and we provide both positive and constructive feedback. We listen and we leave our egos at the door¹. We respect each other's time and we are responsive when we are a blocker.

We use a mix of synchronous and asynchronous communication, having a bias towards efficiency, speed and action while ensuring everyone who needs to participate can participate.

Video conferencing and Slack are central to how we work. We often use Loom videos, Figma / FigJam, Google Documents, and other creative mediums to share ideas and solicit feedback. Our team members routinely engage in informal Zoom calls to pair with each other.

We have a low-meeting / healthy meeting culture. When we have meetings, we make sure they are respectful by starting on time, having an agenda and ending on time (or even early!). We are intentional about how to best use our time together and we often distribute pre-work in advance if that allows for more fruitful discussion.

We are not afraid to experiment with new meeting styles or to phase out meetings that do not provide a good return on our time.

In-person

We aim to bring the whole team together for an onsite at least once a year. These tend to focus on company-wide discussions and connecting with each other over food / silly / serious competitive games².

Individual functions / team members may also meet up to better facilitate brainstorming, or just to not be alone for a little bit. These are more work-focused, though food and games are often present too.

Company Org Structure

• Our team is small and mighty and has 2 reporting structure levels right now
• Level 1: direct report to CEO Level 2: skip level report
• The leaders at Conveyor are also in the trenches, and are all Individual Contributors (ICs). We are a team full of player/coaches
• Career advancement opportunities are not restricted to moving into managerial roles. We want to support your career development and promote from within
• Skip level 1:1s with CEO for career progression check-ins, goal setting, execution action plans

Performance Feedback and Recognition

• Annual performance and comp review cycles
• Ongoing feedback and recognition culture- we pull feedback from those around us whenever we need to
• Start/stop/continue discussions are taking place on a regular basis
• Positive feedback and shoutouts are spotlighted in our weekly company All Hands meetings
• Manager evaluations on a regular basis to determine if a direct report is not just growing, but also thriving in their role

We believe good feedback is a gift - one that is bravely given and (hopefully) gratefully received. Holding back feedback deprives us of the opportunity to change and improve.

The regular practice of giving and receiving feedback is perhaps the most critical contributor to our growth and development here at Conveyor. It helps us identify our blind spots, our weaknesses, and even strengths. And with that clarity of self-awareness, we can develop plans for growth, chart our career directions, and unlock our potential as individuals, not to mention the immense benefits for the organization as a whole.

When things go well, we celebrate and share the credit. We often recognize our peers publicly through shoutouts and celebrate wins, both big and small. When things go poorly, we hold ourselves accountable. We encourage team members to practice giving critical feedback with the intent of helping each other be more successful. When we give feedback, we aim to uplift, not belittle.

We try not to attribute mistakes or unexpected outcomes to human error. Instead, we view them as a starting point for an inquiry, not the end. We practice blameless problem-solving via project retrospectives and blameless postmortems. This helps us to resolve difficult issues while supporting each other.

Giving and receiving feedback is not natural, however. It is a muscle that needs to be honed through cycles of practice and understanding.

Psychological Safety and Candidness

It’s important to us to have a psychologically safe environment; an environment where it's completely safe to ask for help, take risks, and share unpolished ideas or diverging opinions – a space where everyone feels valued for their contributions and accepted for who they are.

We encourage candidness and open discussions. We create room for dissent. We are not afraid to voice our thoughts, ideas, feedback, questions or concerns openly as a group.

A truly safe space breeds creativity and innovation, and openness leads to better decision-making, and a stronger, more inclusive team.
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Keeping it fun

Success doesn’t come without sacrifice, but having fun can make the sacrifice easier to swallow. We try to keep things light-hearted, leaving room for laughter and fostering a sense of togetherness. We should encourage and support each other to achieve work-life integration while understanding the importance of rest and recuperation for better outcomes.
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¹ Or whatever the equivalent to “door” is in Zoom
² Such as curling