Introducing examples of measures that may improve human relations in the workplace [Summary of 2022 Social Activities]

Are you having trouble with interpersonal relationships at work?

Hello.
I'm Goto, the chair of Beyond's 5th Organizational Culture Committee. (Web Services Division)

It is often said that most work-related worries are related to interpersonal relationships, and whether or not you have fulfilling interpersonal relationships at work has a big impact on your motivation at work.

Therefore, at Beyond, the Organizational Culture Committee provides a forum for communication within the organization and plans events and implements measures to improve the internal environment with the aim of building fulfilling human relationships

In this article, I, as the Chairman of the Organizational Culture Committee, will candidly review the measures that were implemented throughout the year by the 5th Organizational Culture Committee

this information will be helpful to anyone who wants to start doing something to improve interpersonal relationships in the workplace

also introduce some of our less popular initiatives we hope you will use us a negative example

Well then, I'll be there

Issues regarding interpersonal relationships in the workplace (Beyond case)

First, I would like to share below the issues I felt regarding interpersonal relationships within the company, which I heard from the CEO when he was first appointed

• There aren't many opportunities to talk about things other than work
• There is little interaction across generations and departments
• I want to increase measures that provide psychological support to members

First of all, I personally feel that Beyond has always had fairly good interpersonal relationships in the workplace, but there is certainly a certain level of difference in attitude between those who have active interactions within the company and those who do not. Therefore, the 5th Organizational Culture Committee decided to consider measures to solve the above issues

A second youth?! The 5th term Organizational Culture Committee's activity policy

In order to resolve the above issues within one year, the four committee members first came up with a course of action

Here is the policy that was born out of this

• A second youth beyond
• Communication that respects diversity

Below we will explain what the above activity policy means and the background to its decision

Why Youth? Background to the Decision on the Activity Policy

 

I thought that people might be getting bored of the content soon, so I thought I'd take a break and share some cat pictures

Wow, it's irresistible. So please read on

 

Now, why did we decide on the above policy?

The first activity policy , "A second youth beyond," is to help people to continue living their lives even after they become working adults, when things are generally more difficult than when they were students and days tend to pass by quickly.

Our hope is that Beyond will help people create memories and relationships that can be called part of their youth

"Youth" was an idea I came up with half-jokingly, but the committee members gave me positive feedback, saying "That sounds good, doesn't it?", so we decided to go with it

Every time we announced in an internal activity report that "we aim to provide a second youth," I would think, "Ah, this is really embarrassing..."

The other , "communication that respects diversity," was adopted with the intention of taking into consideration that different people may have different images of "youth," wanting to be careful not to "impose youth

For example, one of the most common ways for working adults to have fun is to go out drinking, but for the 5th season we wanted enjoying the joys of their own youth

 

Below we will introduce the activities we have carried out in line with this policy, broadly by production, measures, and events

Launch of club activities system to encourage communication across departments and generations!

▲A group photo taken during Beyond Sauna Club activities

The club activity system was conceived with the idea that shared hobbies could be an opportunity to build deeper relationships

The system officially started in January 2021, and as of November 2022, more than half (34 people) of the approximately 60 members belong to some kind of club activity .

The club activity system was successful because it naturally created opportunities for employees to meet each other on weekends

After all, it's easier to become closer when people with common interests get together

Details of the club activities system are provided below

Working people also want to be young! A story about starting a club activity system

 

Eliminate worries after joining the company? New graduate training and welcome/farewell parties

This is not just something that the 5th Socibun (Organizational Culture Committee) has been doing every year, but it is something that Beyond has been doing every year as a regular event

When a new employee joins the company, the Sociobun usually holds a welcome party

When we meet online, the number of participants is usually 20 to 30 people or more, so we divide the meeting into breakout rooms of around four people and have new members rotate through each room

When I first joined the company, we had a welcome party, which was very helpful in easing the anxiety and tension I had after joining the company

By the way, if the number of members increases in the Canadian office, the meeting will be held on Saturday from 10:00 to 12:00 Japan time, or on Friday from 20:00 to 22:00 Canada time (this may vary depending on the season)

 

In addition to a welcome party for new graduates joining the company, we also hold communication games with senior members as part of the training

In the fifth term, students were paired up to interview each other and introduce themselves to everyone .

When I see how this type of training naturally leads to increased communication between new and existing members, I feel that it was a good idea to hold it

Once you start talking, communication will naturally develop more easily, but whether or not you have that initial opportunity will make a difference in how quickly you become friends

Bringing seasonal colors to a city with only buildings (lol) Holding seasonal events

In addition to the initiatives mentioned above, seasonal events were also held during the fifth term

The main events that were actually held were as follows:

■ Winter event example:
Christmas gift exchange

■Example of a spring event:
Ehomaki (a whole ehomaki roll)

Looking back at it now, it was a rather surreal event..

■Examples of summer events:
Tanabata event - A gathering where everyone writes their wishes on strips of paper (Best Tanabata Award will be announced)

Since it was Tanabata day, the number of tanzaku paper strips was significantly higher than on the first day!
Thank you to the Organizing and Cultural Committee for always coming up with fun events 🙌
We're looking forward to next year's Tanabata 🌟 pic.twitter.com/2YOtalkwwQ

— Beyond Inc. (@beyondjapaninfo) July 7, 2022

Just to add a comment, one of the wishes "I hope I don't get fat even if I eat Jiro," but I don't think that's possible, even if you write it on a strip of paper.

■Examples of autumn events:
Halloween Horror Night (watching horror movies while eating candy)

Once you become a working adult, you go out less and less, and your sense of the seasons gradually fades from your life

With that in mind, the 5th Socio-Bun held many seasonal events, involving company members, as they thought it might be a good opportunity to do so

My honest impression of seasonal events they are surprisingly exciting when you try them

 

that holding seasonal events is a good thing because it allows you to feel the seasons even if you only go back and forth between home and the office

Planning and running various parties

▲A scene from the 15th anniversary party

In addition to the initiatives mentioned above, we also sometimes collaborate with the Human Resources Department to plan parties held within the company

Even for parties like this, we carefully consider seating arrangements so that everyone who attends can enjoy themselves, and we select venues that will put people in a good mood

Additionally, in April 2022, Beyond held its 15th anniversary party, and we were in charge of the entertainment, which looked back on Beyond's history in a humorous way

It was quite interesting to ask senior colleagues with long tenure at the company about funny incidents that happened at Beyond in the past, and incidents that are still funny now

▲Slides of entertainment shown at the 15th anniversary party

Furthermore, when searching for a relatively large banquet hall, we the Venue Best Search service to be convenient and helpful.

Creating content on Google Sites as an opportunity to get to know our members

In addition to planning events, we also create content for the company

The website was created using Google Sites, which allows for speedy website creation without coding

Product 1: Beyond Encyclopedia

The Beyond Encyclopedia, which introduces each member working at Beyond, was released internally in November 2021

The most common use is when new employees join the company, and since this illustrated guide allows new members to quickly learn about existing employees, I feel that it makes communication much smoother

Production ② Creation of an internal portal site and internal album

We are also responsible for producing Beyond's in-house newsletter, the Beyond Illustrated Guide mentioned earlier, and a portal site that compiles all of the company's internal systems created as part of new employee training

To summarise what we have done, Socibun has done a lot of internal public relations work

At the same time as creating the in-house portal site, we also created a shared album for the company

Being able to casually reminisce like this can also be a topic of conversation within the company

Can we create "concentration"? Validating improvements to the work environment

▲Part of the actual verification data

Although it is slightly different from promoting interpersonal relationships, we also tested how work productivity changes when we specify foods, smells, and sounds that are used during work hours

To implement this initiative, we provided aroma diffusers, collected questionnaires and conducted surveys on healthy restaurants near the workplace and convenience store meals, and provided a different environment each week

Details of the initiative are introduced below by Koide of the 5th Organizational Culture Committee

[Improving work environment] I tried an experiment to see if productivity changes due to smells, food, and music.

It's difficult to say for sure whether the results are significant because the experiment was limited to within the company and the sample size was small, but I think this experiment gave each member an opportunity to think about what foods, smells, and sounds bring out their best performance

One thing to note about this test is that many people said that they couldn't smell as much as they expected because everyone in the office was wearing masks, so it may be necessary to use a fairly large diffuser when burning aroma, or to have individual diffusers

Is demand for online communication declining? Abolished initiatives

So far, we have introduced various measures implemented by Socibun

If would be interesting to try , we hope you will take them up!

 

Now, I would like to introduce some of the initiatives that have been abolished

・Coffee break

(The image has almost no relation to coffee break)

A coffee break is a 30-minute initiative where members who can get together during work hours gather together and chat online

Coffee breaks were originally started in 2020 as a way to alleviate stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced almost everyone to work remotely and reduced the amount of casual communication. At the time, this helped members to avoid stress, but from around 2022, restrictions on working remotely were relaxed and the number of participants gradually decreased

As a result, we continued to make improvements, such as starting the class every day at 3:00 p.m., then starting it at 12:30 p.m. after the lunch meeting, which would make it easier to participate, and then holding it only on Fridays.However, it became so common that there were sessions where no one showed up that we decided to discontinue the class

・Fellowship with Canadian members

▲The Canadian office

Beyond established its Canadian office in November 2020. When it was first established, the Canadian office only had two members from the Osaka office, so there was a desire to talk with Japanese members from time to time. To fulfill this desire, we decided to hold online chat sessions once or twice a month. This initiative was also a good opportunity for the Japanese members, as they found it interesting to hear about Canada

However, although this event was a great success at first, the number of participants gradually decreased with each event

What's more, it wasn't just Japan that saw a decrease in participants; the same was true for Canada

The decline in the participation rate of Canadian members occurred just as the number of Canadian members was beginning to increase through local recruitment

From this,

(Oh, I wonder if they're having fun over there already...)

It was realized that this was the case, and the fellowship was abolished

By the way, recently our Japanese members have been regularly visiting the Canadian office for long-term discussions

This will surely make our Canadian office even more lively now

・Online lunch social gathering

This also has a similar purpose to the coffee break mentioned above, but the original aim was to provide an opportunity for members to interact with those in leadership positions and above and gain various forms of stimulation

For this reason, we divided the meetings into groups of one person with a leader or higher position and three or so members, but as the meetings continued, they gradually began to resemble mere casual chat sessions, and the original purpose of the meetings began to fall short, which was an issue

However, if it still provides a good opportunity for casual conversation, then there is value in holding it, but we have heard many people say that they are tired of simple online exchanges with no specific theme, so after careful consideration we have decided to discontinue it

What do the abolished policies have in common?

As mentioned above, we have introduced the measures that have been abolished, but if there is one thing they have in common, it is that they were all conducted online

When online drinking parties first started to become popular, they were very popular due to the novelty of being able to have a drinking party from home and the convenience of being able to fall asleep in an instant after drinking. However, their popularity has tended to decline, perhaps because they do not allow for the same level of immersive communication as offline drinking parties

Now that COVID-19 restrictions are being relaxed, we are seeing an increase in offline events, but there may come a time in the future when we can only meet people online, so we should prepare for this by thinking about ways to enjoy online interactions

When the 5th Socibun held an online social gathering, the first meeting (about 2 hours) was a normal social gathering, but from the second meeting onwards, the rooms were divided into themes, such as a room for Werewolf games, a room for drawing games, and a room for Mahjong

In addition, the Board Game Club, one of the Beyond club activities, seems to enjoy playing board games online

[Summary] Various relationships can be born depending on the trigger

The main measures implemented are as follows

After working on various initiatives as a member of the Organizational Culture Committee for a year, I have come to realize that what is needed to build relationships is a ` `trigger

For example, I think it's quite rare for a situation to naturally arise where members in their 40s and members in their 20s go out together on the weekend

Therefore, by creating opportunities for interaction across generations through club activities and other events, and by creating opportunities to get to know different sides of members through seasonal events, each member was able to interact with people other than the ``usual members'' they are close to within the company.As a result, it felt like our dedication to ``creating opportunities'' from all directions led to the building of deep human relationships.

Our term ended at the end of October 2022, but I hope that the sixth generation of Socibun and beyond will continue to build good relationships within Beyond

That's all.

I would be happy if even one of these was helpful!

Thank you for watching until the end.