Basecamp ruffled some feathers this week with the announcement of some policy changes. I do like a good feather-ruffling. I've had twenty years of experience working in an office, so I thought I'd offer my two cents about these changes. Let's take them one by one.
1. No more societal and political discussions on our company Basecamp account. People can still use Signal, WhatsApp, or a personal Basecamp account but not the company account.
My take: Fine by me. I've always had the mindset that when you're at work, work is the priority. Too many people muddy the waters between work and personal life.
2. No more paternalistic benefits. For years we've offered a fitness benefit, a wellness allowance, a farmer's market share, and continuing education allowances. They felt good at the time, but we've had a change of heart. It's none of our business what you do outside of work, and it's not Basecamp's place to encourage certain behaviors â regardless of good intention.
My take: This is another one that I do not have a problem with. I've always viewed these perks as nice-to-haves. The problem is that it doesn't take long for people to view luxuries as necessities.
3. No more committees. For nearly all of our 21 year existence, we were proudly committee-free. No big working groups making big decisions, or putting forward formalized, groupthink recommendations. No bureaucracy. But recently, a few sprung up. No longer.
My take: Love it! I have experience trying to extract decisions from large groups. It's very painful. Individual responsibility is key.
4. No more lingering or dwelling on past decisions. We've become a bit too precious with decision making over the last few years.
My take: Another good one and I follow this advice in my personal life. Make the decision. Okay to analyze and learn from it but then move on.
5. No more 360 reviews. We introduced 360s, which required peers to provide feedback on peers. The problem is, peer feedback is often positive and reassuring, which is fun to read but not very useful. Assigning peer surveys started to feel like assigning busy work.
My take: I never saw the benefit from 360 reviews. Reviews need to be honest and feedback needs to be constructive, which doesn't always happen with peers. The same phenomenon exists with referrals. I'm sure we all know someone who won't say anything bad about people, so you can't trust them when they recommend an applicant.
6. Not forgetting what we do here. We make project management, team communication, and email software. We are not a social impact company. Our impact is contained to what we do and how we do it.
My take: Business owners set the tone. Some want to go beyond the scope of the company. Basecamp wants to get back to the fundamentals. I don't have a problem with this one either.
Based on all the furor on the Church of Twitter, lots of people are up in arms about these changes. I suppose if you work at Basecamp, and you're not happy with these changes then you know what to do.
1. No more societal and political discussions on our company Basecamp account. People can still use Signal, WhatsApp, or a personal Basecamp account but not the company account.
My take: Fine by me. I've always had the mindset that when you're at work, work is the priority. Too many people muddy the waters between work and personal life.
2. No more paternalistic benefits. For years we've offered a fitness benefit, a wellness allowance, a farmer's market share, and continuing education allowances. They felt good at the time, but we've had a change of heart. It's none of our business what you do outside of work, and it's not Basecamp's place to encourage certain behaviors â regardless of good intention.
My take: This is another one that I do not have a problem with. I've always viewed these perks as nice-to-haves. The problem is that it doesn't take long for people to view luxuries as necessities.
3. No more committees. For nearly all of our 21 year existence, we were proudly committee-free. No big working groups making big decisions, or putting forward formalized, groupthink recommendations. No bureaucracy. But recently, a few sprung up. No longer.
My take: Love it! I have experience trying to extract decisions from large groups. It's very painful. Individual responsibility is key.
4. No more lingering or dwelling on past decisions. We've become a bit too precious with decision making over the last few years.
My take: Another good one and I follow this advice in my personal life. Make the decision. Okay to analyze and learn from it but then move on.
5. No more 360 reviews. We introduced 360s, which required peers to provide feedback on peers. The problem is, peer feedback is often positive and reassuring, which is fun to read but not very useful. Assigning peer surveys started to feel like assigning busy work.
My take: I never saw the benefit from 360 reviews. Reviews need to be honest and feedback needs to be constructive, which doesn't always happen with peers. The same phenomenon exists with referrals. I'm sure we all know someone who won't say anything bad about people, so you can't trust them when they recommend an applicant.
6. Not forgetting what we do here. We make project management, team communication, and email software. We are not a social impact company. Our impact is contained to what we do and how we do it.
My take: Business owners set the tone. Some want to go beyond the scope of the company. Basecamp wants to get back to the fundamentals. I don't have a problem with this one either.
Based on all the furor on the Church of Twitter, lots of people are up in arms about these changes. I suppose if you work at Basecamp, and you're not happy with these changes then you know what to do.