Teal teamwork. A fun life with a fun job

I want to tell you how we operate and what's so exciting about turquoise organizations. Changing the way of management towards turquoise is a constant challenge in communication and self-organization, but also plenty of opportunities for personal development and freedom!

What is turquoise management?

Turquoise management it is a way of work of an organization, in which partnership, cooperation and trust dominate, and work not only allows you to earn a living, but is also a tool for creating a good life, with space for personal development and strengthening the private meaning of life. Turquoise companies have a flat organizational structure, and instead of a set hierarchy, there is a range of matters the employee knows about and performs, being responsible for them, without a supervisor. There is a trust that everyone is doing their job as best they can. Employees develop, share knowledge and experience, and support each other in performing specific tasks or functions.

The turquoise organization is a team that works closely together

Let's say this at the beginning: creating custom products is a team game. In order for all the pieces of the puzzle to play together, there must be good communication between us, we must see the meaning of work, understand its meaning for others and feel the space to express ourselves.

How does it work in practice? Here is an example of how your orders travel:

You placed an order in the store, but two days later you saw a buyer on a leash at your friend's and you want to order it without paying extra for shipping. You call or email with a request to add a product to an already placed order. Kasia accepts the request, makes a note with your order in the store. However, the list of orders is already printed, so he must remember to add the buyer's sewing to your order on the board with the printouts and tell the girls who create them. On the day of sewing, it turns out that you ordered a leash with large snap hooks (width 2,5 cm) for your little dog (S collar). Martyna catches it and before she sews it, she goes to ask Kasia if it should be like that. We want customers to be satisfied and dogs feel comfortable walking in our accessories, so Kasia calls you and asks if this is a deliberate procedure or if you want to change the width of the leash to one with a smaller carabiner. You agree that she is right, Kasia returns the price difference. You get the package and you are happy - the products have straight seams like a ruler (thanks to Paulina), in a perfectly fitted size (thanks to Martyna), with a presumed merchant (thanks to Kasia).

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Good team communication

In turquoise management, communication is one of the the most important ways of self-organization. There is a lot of freedom and just as much responsibility. How many heads, so many ideas, and each of us has different personal aspirations. The great advantage of this approach is the ability to draw from the experience of not one boss, but several - together, we can achieve much more than just a single person. Let's face it - spending eight hours together five days a week in close teamwork can sometimes build up those negative emotions as well. It is important to defuse the emerging conflict or divergence of interests in time, so we try to do so resolve any misunderstandings on a regular basis and talk about what bothers us - sometimes in private, sometimes in a circle.

On the shelf in the production room there is a small box titled "Cases" where we throw in all week issues worth discussing. On Fridays, we meet for a joint meeting, take out cards one by one and discuss the things that came to our minds during the week. There are many things - from arranging the toilet to clean, to choosing a new color of fittings, or other working hours.

To improve work and communication, we organize training sessions among ourselves. After reading the book "Communication Without Violence", I took the lead workshops on methods of good communication and expressing your thoughts. Kasia gathered her knowledge of tailor-made sewing and organized it for us classes "Made to measure"which were supposed to help Paulina and Martyna learn to create accessories according to your needs, without asking her for advice :) the amount of work - then we collect its fruits.

Partnership relations

In our way of creating a company, it is important that work is not a strenuous obligation, but one of the tools for creating a good life, achieving your own goals and personal development. Life is constantly changing, so it's important to talk about how to reconcile your needs with your responsibilities.

Kasia some time ago took the position of contacting customers and organizing orders. She likes to start the day late, so when the opportunity came, she suggested changing the opening hours - it was a great idea because it was for your benefit! We are now an hour longer openso more of you visit us.

Paulina and Martyna create accessories and prefer to spend more time with dogs and friends after work, which is why they proposed earlier working hours for myself. Due to the nature of their work, they do not have direct contact with clients, so they are independent of official working hours. Now the movement in the production room starts at 8:30 am. Coming earlier gets more items ready earlier, so they can get into packing faster.

I work from home four days a month. This is not a problem, because the most pressing problems girls solve without me among themselves. I, on the other hand, needed space to take on new challenges, such as writing articles as an expert for Empik, developing my own blog about living with animals or becoming an artist :D (yes, I like to draw and finally I have time for it).

Paulina takes care of herself in her spare time adoptions of old dogs and takes care of them until they find a new home. Its activity is associated with frequent visits to vets - each new dog must be examined. Depending on the needs of the charges, he adjusts the schedule and thus combines the care of adoptions and work duties. Some of Paulina's dogs you will see in the pictures while browsing our products, you can see them on facebook - we announce them on the fanpage so that they find homes faster. Everything is connected here, just like in life.

Employment stability because we take care of ourselves

Semployment stability it means inner peace and the possibility of long-term planning, which is why I have signed an employment contract with each of them. This makes it easier for girls to take any installments on the desired phone, start talking about a loan and ensure a safe (as long as you can count on retirement) future. We have medical care packages - Paulina and Martyna use it rarely or not at all, which is why their packages are lower, while Kasia's medical package has increased since Kasia fell ill with hypothyroidism and needs regular visits to specialists, which would cost a lot in private medical care. Life is better when you know you can jump to the doctor during work and nobody is looking at you as a wolf, because taking care of your own health is a sign of concern for yourself and for the work of the rest of the team.

Leader & mentor instead of the manager

There is no punishment or discipline, and instead of supervision we have regular conversations and feedback system. If something has gone wrong, this is an opportunity for me to discuss the situation and draw conclusions for the future so that this situation does not happen again. The conversation is couching-like, together we look for ideas for a solution. My assumption is that every idea we come to is worth a hundred times more, because it allows us to understand and take responsibility for given solutions, than when someone gives us the prikaz we have to do in advance, while we ourselves do not see any sense in it.

Good job - good life

Most of us have to work to have something to put in the pot, so hey, why not make these eight hours a pleasant space to live in, where you do not follow orders, but organize the work yourself, seeing what is needed and staying in touch with your feelings and needs, while seeing the meaning of what you are doing? The turquoise organization is a space to be authentic, involved, caring for yourself and others. I think, as Frederic Laloux, author of the turquoise management bible "Working Different" wrote, the turquoise model is the result of the development of human consciousness and the best path for modern business. As the icing on the cake, I can say that since I gave the helm and I am no longer the only person in charge of the boat, we have recorded a very dynamic increase in income :)