The pillars of productivity within our young, professional organisation.

Particularly over the past 20 years, hundreds of different structures, strategies and models have been devised to make an organisation as productive as possible. Our mix of modern benchmarks and older better-proven approaches, creates a unique working atmosphere with corresponding productivity.

As a brand new employee of Cube, I want to take the time in this blog post to fill you in on all the practices we adopt to avoid succumbing to the pressure.

Structure and software.

A clear structure is nice for every person, knowing where you stand and which person to contact. This ensures peace of mind as there are few situations where you have questions about the action to be taken.

Monday morning we start, the whole company strong, facing the big whiteboards. Together, we consider what is wise with regard to the distribution of staff across the various projects. Who is going to work on what this week and how does that person think they can accomplish these tasks. Post-its are used to create a comprehensible overview in this way. This is also the ultimate moment to discuss difficulties and challenges and solve them together.

This way, we have a scrum-like set-up of the week and we know exactly which projects are currently being developed. Each project then gets a regular project manager and this person has the freedom to set up his team according to the needs of the job.

Then finally the core of scrum comes around the corner, cast in the Trello app. This app creates simple visualisations of what still needs to be done, what is currently being worked on and what is finished. This digital representation is very useful as competent employees can work together in this to-do list along with the client. You can also see at a glance who is currently working on what or where someone needs help. This way, we keep an overview of our projects, know the status and see at a glance what still needs to be done.

One space, one team.

Our shop floor consists of a central space where each employee enjoys a private spot at one large wooden table. Cube resides in an old renovated 252 m2 factory hall on the top floor. Because everyone sits at one table, it is easy to communicate and come to each other's aid. One good push off and you roll three screens away to explain something for a moment.

Meanwhile, two smaller tables have already been added to accommodate all our talent in this hall. Because everyone in the company is on the same page with each other, literally and figuratively, it creates an amicable and informal atmosphere.

There are also a number of relationships running within the company that can be described as master apprenticeships. Experienced programmers and designers are paired with new recruits with less experience in these areas. By having a steady source of questions, you don't get stuck easily and a form of responsibility is also created.

In this way, knowledge continuously flows from the pro to his pupil and our team as a whole becomes more and more competent.

Distraction is king.

Building websites is a precise job where we spend hours peering at pixels, code and links. The right kind of distraction can contribute immensely to fresh thinking and productivity. On our shop floor there is a table football table on which we fanatically work out our frustrations. This activity is good not only for a short, invigorating break but also for team building.

Semi-regular teams are formed and, of course, a whiteboard is freed up to keep track of the weekly score. The weekly winner is the proud owner of an actual cup each time!

At lunch, we go about our business as we do during the day. All together at one big table. This also avoids small groups or people sitting alone and encourages group dialogue.

Friday afternoon drinks are of course better known and used at a large number of companies to create some cohesion. For us, this usually results in a few trays of beer, a few games of table football and banter on the shop floor.

Bob @ Cube.

As the newest blood in the company, I had been asked to write a piece on the working climate at Cube. I feel this also fits well with the team spirit of the whole thing. We don't have bloggers or regular writers but employees who explain a piece about our process. Everyone does their bit.

With my blog, I hope to have provided a good picture of the rigour of our profession, the informal learning atmosphere and our break practices. I see a few colleagues walking to the table so I quickly close to join them.

Some time for football!