As FreshBooks has grown over the years, I noticed more and more people didn’t know each other’s names anymore.
– Grace Antonio, FreshBooks Manager of Support Operations
Toronto-based accounting company FreshBooks had a great problem: their team had rapidly grown from 20 to 200 people, meaning that many of their employees had never met. To encourage collaboration, the company set up randomly arranged coffee and lunch dates, introducing two to four colleagues from different departments so they have a chance to interact. So far, 92 out of the 200+ employees have met up.
By stepping outside of their bubble, employees can learn what goes on in other departments. This gives them an opportunity to share ideas and will hopefully lead to great collaboration. More importantly, it improves employee engagement: FreshBooks employees have reported that they made meaningful connections to their new acquaintances, and more friends in the workplace equals happier employees.
