Seattle Startup Life

What do the Black and Tan, Hoegarden, Boddingtons, Car Bombs, and nodes and roots all have in common? They all make up the intrinsic DNA of a startup. I strongly believe that team building is deeply rooted in activities outside of the cube. When choosing a company, I try to assess many things. I believe that in order to really bond as a company – especially a startup – you should take the time to really get to know the people you’re working with (read: quality time at bars, clubs, lounges).
At Conenza, we have a great time at our happy hours. Since I’ve joined roughly 2 months ago, I’ve been to a show that my cube-mate Andrew Smith put together (Crown Arubaaaaaaaaaa!), spent endless hours at Fado, had great discussions at Imo and racked up sizable bills at Collin’s. I’ve learn so many things from people that I’d probably never pick up in a 30 minute meeting during the day. Unless you have a drinking problem or it’s against your religion, I believe that having informal, voluntary drinking sessions is an important (even imperative) aspect to building a startup team.
Alas, a list of why Happy Hours are awesome for team building. Feel free to send this to your HR department.

1. Happy Hours bring you all together at a specific time to talk about anything
2. Happy Hours loosen the tension between yourself and your peers (I’d advise not getting too drunk that you’d put on a red Christmas vest in the middle of March in a bar).
3. Happy Hours expose the chatterbox in everyone. Interestingly, people that usually don’t speak are so loquacious after 2 vodka tonics.
4. Happy Hours are a stress reliever.

Good excuses for a Happy Hour:

1. Introduce new hires
2. Entertain visiting out of town employees
3. Celebrate a milestone – release, etc
4. Celebrate birthdays
5. Show off your Christmas sweater in March
6. Celebrate that you made it through another 80 hour work week

And some tips to make the outing a good one:

1. Make the outings regular and semi-scheduled. This doesn’t mean that there should be a mandatory drinking session every Friday, but leaving that option open gives employees something to look forward to at the end of a week or month.
2. Have someone pick up the tab; rotate as necessary. If your company isn’t big enough to fund the drinks, allocate someone to be responsible for the bill. It takes the stress of having to round up everyone at the end. And usually, all of the tabs end up being roughly the same amount anyways.
3. Go somewhere unpretentious. You don’t need attitude while you’re drinking.
4. Go somewhere close to work. Engineers hate to walk. And the ladies that look good in heels hate to walk even more.
5. Have a backup plan just in case your first place is packed.