At Winn, we implemented the Fish Philosophy many years ago as a way to bring a positive and enriching culture to our business. “The FISH! Philosophy empowers employees to be more effective in any job. When a team lives the philosophy, they improve their culture and create better results. Organizations worldwide use the FISH! Philosophy to improve teamwork, customer service, employee engagement, retention, recognition and leadership.” Traditionally we host a variety of fun activities and parties in the office on a regular basis. While many of us are working from home and managing remote teams, we have come together to keep this philosophy alive despite the current challenges.

What Is The Fish Philosophy?

Choose Your Attitude – Attitude is a choice and making a conscious decision to be positive and uplifting at work will impact employee morale as well as your career path. There will surely be days when positivity doesn’t come easy, but as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Play – It’s important that employees enjoy their job in order to get their best effort. Make work fun with games and contests to break up the monotony. This can be as simple as starting funny email chains that circulate through the office.

Make Someone’s Day – Take the time out to encourage and comfort your coworkers. Small gestures like sending a friendly email, bringing in snacks for the team or just being there for someone to talk to can go a long way towards creating a great company culture.

Be Present – Being present doesn’t only mean showing up to work, although that is a big part of it. It also includes being engaged, energetic and productive while you’re on the clock. When a healthy culture is in place you will experience lower absenteeism rates and turnover, which saves your company money.

How We’re Using It With Remote Teams

Weekly Company Meetings

Rather than our typical monthly meeting, we meet every Tuesday morning for a Zoom meeting. We cover the highlights from the week, opportunities and provide an open forum for anyone to discuss anything on their mind. We also include a few fun activities to keep the meetings fresh.

Mid-Day Stretch

Once a week around noon we all gather for a ten-minute mid-day stretch via Zoom. It is very informal and simply meant as a check-in to get the blood flowing.

Talent Show

We had several volunteers to show off their talents during a company meeting. We had people singing, showing off paintings and photos, a puppet show and several other fun performances.

Yoga Session

One of our teammates invited his girlfriend who is a yoga instructor and mental health coach to lead us in a relaxing yoga session via Zoom.

Charity Drive

One of our project managers has organized a variety of canned food drives with drop offs in front of the office building.

Riddle Contest

We had everyone submit their favorite riddle and voted on our favorites with the winner receiving a small prize.

Joke Contest

Same concept as the riddle contest, but with jokes.

Fun Emails

This is something that has been on-going for years here at Winn. We have our daily funny meme emails, random animal facts and several other lighthearted emails that go out to the whole company.

All of these activities have brought us together and given us an opportunity to focus on something fun. We recommend the Fish Philosophy to any business looking to boost its company culture.