Separated By Miles, United By Culture

In just a day, we all were asked to change the way we work and live. In a week, we got accustomed to our new way of working. Maybe in a few months, our companies might become growth positive while working remotely.

Today we are cribbing about not being able to step out of our houses. Not being able to work towards meeting our targets and deadlines, We are the missing the chaos we call ‘Life’.

To be honest, I never thought that I would miss my commute to the office, I often used to bicker about. I never thought I would miss the constructive arguments I had with my teammates at Xeno. Covid-19 is not only a pandemic taking a toll on thousands of lives but is also affecting the emotional well-being of those who are healthy, socially distant & quarantined.

Restoring ‘normalcy’ in these adverse circumstances is a worry for businesses. Especially startups in which the team is closely knit together. Suddenly, the people you are accustomed to working with on a daily basis are now working with you over video calls.

At Xeno, keeping the happiness curve of the team upwards is the core of our culture. A happy team is a strong team. And we're working together to survive, learn and even win as ONE. Aiming to combat COVID-19 with a wide smile on our faces with a vision in our mind and beats in our hearts. 

You would wonder how that smile is still alive. At Xeno, we ensure the mental sanctity of our team keeps intact. And this is how we do it:

1. Focused Start to the Day: Teams sit together, brainstorm and lay down the tasks for the day. This not only reiterates the goals we want to achieve but also keeps us in loop with what our collaborative efforts will bring us to closer to the larger picture.
2. Company-wide catch up: “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy”. We’re an ambitious lot at Xeno which undoubtedly require us to hustle day in and out, but what makes this fun is the bond we share with each other, and to not miss any of that, our day starts with a ‘company-wide scrum’, where we strictly discuss everything BUT WORK.
3. Taking breaks together: Yes! We have constant tea & sutta breaks on Zoom, sometimes even a highly stressful and competitive game of Ludo accompanied by the compulsory sledging and bad-mouthing: we all want to win!
4. Abnormal is the New Normal: Making our daily calls fun: we got a mailer from the Head HR last Saturday to come on the company catch-up Zoom call with a funny headgear, the first 10 min just went by ridiculing everyone’s 10 am pleasingly unpleasant looks!
5. Virtual Meeting Rooms: Most of us have specific zoom rooms open for anyone to join at any time of the day to say “hi” or to discuss anything. For eg. To catch hold of our co-founder, Pranav for a sec, we just go to his zoom room and catch up with him. Is it almost a simulation of the real world?
6. Celebrations won’t Stop: The only little drawback is not having a bite of that cake we cut everytime we’re celebrating a HappyXen’s birthday. Nevertheless, thanks to Zoom, our birthday celebrations are as lit as they could be. We still turn up best dressed for every party!
7. Culturally Stronger: We’re more aligned with our respective team members’ state of mind than we ever were before through constant conversations, transparency, and honesty. Not just that, we’re even attending weekly town halls and are looking forward to attending the most awaited Quarterly Townhall on April 8th, digging deep in our wardrobes to adhere to a fun dress-code.

Yes, the times are tough. Yes, we’re oblivious to what the future holds and are shrouded by doubts and uncertainty; but what keeps us going is the unanimous belief in our mission with our culture as our backbone acting as a ray of happiness. Our culture id our silver lining that unites us as a team and everyone associated with us. We are working within the four walls of our houses while staying focused, motivated and most importantly, sane. And we aim to hit bull’s eye in the future and beyond.

So, all you Hustlers, hang in there! Work hard, put on a smile and get going.

Until next time!

Quarantined Regards,

Kavya Prasad | HappyXeno