The majority of CodeScience works from home and many have never met another employee in person!

I always pause when I think about that. Really? How can that be?

We have invested heavily in our tools (Zoom, Slack, Salesforce) to enable remote workforces to remain connected. We have invested heavily in our culture to ensure that we are consistently acknowledging our team and connecting them across our tools. We have it as a key criteria in our hiring process to ensure that new employees are suited for this environment.

However, it is not enough.

So we bring the entire company together for our annual All Hands celebration. The goal is to build relationships, celebrate, and learn some skills together that are difficult to do remotely (and that order is our priority as well!). As the company has grown, the investment has significantly grown as well. It is absolutely worth every penny.

A concern we have been working through is that we lack many of the norms that an organization develops when they physically work together every day. We have not been exposed to actually being in person. (Again, crazy to think about that!) So we are working to architect our event, and organization, to set us up for success by relying on one of our company values: inclusivity.

We also decided that the time is right to roll out a CodeScience Code of Conduct for our events. A huge thanks should go out to http://confcodeofconduct.com/ and Jason Lemkin at SaaStr, as we have modified and adopted their Code of Conduct for use at CodeScience events. This will now be in effect for all CodeScience internal events and external events that we are hosting. We will also encourage our partners, where we are just a sponsor, to adopt a similar Code of Conduct for their events.

I thought I would publish this out for other leaders to consider as they bring their organizations together for events. I would love your input and feedback on this as well — we are learning this in realtime. You can find me on Twitter.

In an upcoming post, we will document how we have configured our solution using both Salesforce and Twilio to ensure that any infractions of our Code of Conduct are responded to, tracked, and investigated.

Thoughts for All Hands
Creating an inclusive environment is the first step in ensuring that everyone comes away from All Hands feeling it was successful. Inclusivity will encompasses many different interactions.

For many, this will feel like a gigantic celebration and homecoming. For others, it may be intimidating. Be compassionate and empathetic of your teammates. For a good percentage of the company, this is the first time to meet anyone from CodeScience in person!

Alcohol
A couple of knowns going into the weekend: we value treating everyone like adults, this is a celebration, alcohol can lower inhibitions, and excessive alcohol can increase the chance of poor decision making. Please consider your actions and behavior even in the presence of alcohol. We do have team members who choose not to drink and want to be inclusive of them. If someone has crossed the sobriety line, I would encourage you to look after them to ensure their safety and adherence to our code of conduct.

Gender
Tech is notoriously male dominated, but we are making strides in finding a balance; however, we must ensure that every gender, gender identity, and gender expression is welcome and respected. “Hiring non-males” does not create gender balance — it starts with inclusivity. Consider whether your word choices and conversation topics are inclusive with regards to gender.

Introvert/Extrovert
Business can appear to favor extroverts and our company has shining examples of extroverts. However, a business full of only extroverts will never thrive. As we define CodeScience as a thriving business, logic leads us to know our company is filled with introverts AND extroverts. For every person that desires to be outgoing and social, there are just as many that may feel drained to be social in large groups. Provide space for everyone to exist and not force people into uncomfortable situations.

Physical Contact
Without a doubt, this is a professional event and we expect our physical interactions to reflect that. However, some may find that hugs are comfortable in a business environment while others do not. Communicate and respect personal space. For many of us, this is our first time being together and we will be learning these individual boundaries together.

Politics
We live in divisive times. Let’s not succumb to a binary state of views around politics that risks us excluding members of our community. Be mindful of differing views and political affiliations (unless disliking the band Rush is a political affiliation).

Religion
Everyone should be respectful of a variety of religious beliefs (or lack thereof). Religious beliefs are often core to an individual’s value system and our work events are not an appropriate venue to challenge those beliefs. From Christian, to Buddhist, to Jewish, to Atheist, to Pastafarian (and everything in between), we welcome and are respectful to all.

We are confident that All Hands will be a magnificent event for the entire company. If you are ever in doubt, default to inclusivity!

In addition to this document, it will be posted on our website and there will be signage onsite at our events with the Code of Conduct. It is to act as both a reminder as well as provide an actionable path for reporting any concerns or violations.
Our Code of Conduct is not designed to limit; rather, it is designed to create inclusive and safe spaces for everyone to participate. The phone number and email address listed will be monitored by our executive team and we will be transparent in documenting the process that we will follow up with the case. The process will be published out prior to our All Hands in Atlanta.

We look forward to seeing the shining faces of our team in Atlanta!


Want to be part of the CodeScience dream team and be able to attend next year’s All Hands celebration? Check out our opportunities — we’re hiring!