After weeks of rain in Irving, Texas, the sun was a welcome sight as it shone off the sidewalk chalk painted brightly on the pavement. The playground was wide open and the toys stood ready…not for children, but for Fellowship Technologies’ employees during “recess” at the quarterly All-Hands meeting.
There was a back-to-school theme and the challenge was that no technology could be used during the day - a stretch for a software company full of techies! Our staff was literally forced to remember back to how we did things before computers. Poster board, markers and glue were the tools of the day. CEO, Jeff Hook, played the part of “Principal Hook” while each of the employees sat with their “home room teachers,” consisting of the Fellowship Tech Executive Team. Each department had to present their accomplishments for the past quarter as well as their goals for the next…and all without PowerPoint, Internet or even clipart! The morning was full of classes and presentations with a break to walk to lunch, in single-file lines of course, before heading out to recess.
Games of kickball, football, and foursquare ensued and plenty of bumps and bruises were the rewards for the competitive and friendly matches. After recess came “story time” led by Tammy Polk, VP of Talent and Organizational Effectiveness, with the help of our resident puppeteer, Brian Holt, who uses this skill at his local church in the children’s ministry. Finally, the day was ended with craft projects as part of a fun team exercise.
We know this may sound silly to some, or frivolous to others, but at Fellowship Technologies we hope to nurture a sense of fun and family as well as a strong work ethic and high expectations among our staff. It’s all about balance in our company’s culture. We love to play hard because we all know how much we value working hard. The relationships that are strengthened through this interaction and the information exchanged are invaluable to us as a company and as individuals, and we hope to share both our culture and our lessons with each one of our church partners.
