EVEROAD: Develop kindness & creativity in your company
By: Laura Corcos
Tags: Company Culture, Happiness, Kindness, Creativity, Startup

Creating an atmosphere of kindness in the workplace is a smart and modern business approach that has been becoming more and more popular in France over the last few years. Statistics show overall company performance is better when kindness is spread around.

The old excuse of telling colleagues who ask for help that it is not your responsibility or your job is now seen as insensitive and selfish especially in the startup world. Opening your door to a coworker in need is now seen as the norm in present business models and overall company mentalities. No matter the level of the request, a kind response or even a smile often boosts creativity and enhances team spirit.

Company leaders often wonder how they can create a kinder more cohesive atmosphere in all their departments. Here is a fresh, fun idea of a game that we have recently played at Everoad which has been really successful so don’t hesitate to try it in your company.

“Gorilla & Peanuts”

Few weeks ago, during a tough work period linked to our high objectives at a really key period of our development, we were in need of a fresh and peps moment. As Office & Happiness Manager of Everoad, I suggested to all our teams that we play a fun mystery game called “Gorilla & Peanuts”. I wanted to empower one of your main values, which is “People first”. People will be the reason for our success, and it’s also the reason why Everoad started and lives every day.

The rules were simple: each one of us is a ‘Gorilla’ and has to randomly draw the name of a colleague who then becomes his ‘Peanut’ for the week. During the week the Gorilla had to take care of their Peanut with the aim of ensuring they had a nice week and work environment without being unmasked. At the end of the week, the Peanuts had to guess who had taken care of them all week and find out who was their Gorilla.

In the beginning, the game was received with mixed feelings. Some enjoyed the concept right away whereas others were shy or even sceptical about the purpose of the game or its effectiveness so they showed little interest in the idea.

It gave incredible motivation

However, when the first little mysteries started to surface, including pictures shared on our Slack of what the Peanuts received, it gave incredible motivation and energy to other Gorillas to be better than others and always more innovative. We then witnessed an amazing level of attention and intrigue between participants and the excitement and spirit of the game was on the rise.

Since images speak louder than words, let’s discover more about the game in pictures. Below we have an impressive selection amongst more than 60 pictures published on the display board in our office space

Kindness is Key

From chocolates and candy to breakfast treats with flowers and candles through to poems and short notes, people were getting more fond of their Gorillas with every new surprise and the curiosity was mounting.

You can make an impact at any level, anytime

Another of our values is “All owners” that we define as “You can make an impact at any level, anytime.” We demonstrated it during this week because on the contrary for the “forgotten Peanuts” (it even became a new channel on Slack), received presents and little notes from other volunteers of the company. It proves how human fit and compassion were strong!

Watching the smiles and hearing the laughs all week long, I have to say that I was really proud of the team! Almost everyone played the game and demonstrated a great level of creativity, generosity, and kindness.

It was a good life lesson that showed how thoughtfulness and compassion, when mixed with creativity, can produce so much joy and fun in taking care of each other. It was interesting to see that it become a phenomenon at Everoad because of the way it was presented and communicated. The impact was great!

Never underestimate teamwork!

Finally to conclude, this little game taught us different key things: first, we underestimated how kindness and taking care of each other has a positive impact on the wellness of people, we should all think about it carefully and keep it in mind every single day. We have also realized how it is nice to give free rein to one’s imagination and creativity. And finally, it has raised awareness of how energy spreads and is contagious when highlighted. This was the most impressive impact and we learned how much we should communicate on what we do to motivate people to do their maximum and give everything.

As our CEO said at the end of the week: