{"id":1614,"date":"2014-03-21t22:27:17","date_gmt":"2014-03-21t22:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/?p=1614"},"modified":"2014-03-21t22:27:17","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21t22:27:17","slug":"going-beyond-foosball-startup-perks-with-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/blog\/going-beyond-foosball-startup-perks-with-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"going beyond foosball: startup perks with meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"
as the office and operations manager at magoosh, a large part of my responsibilities is to foster company culture by organizing various events and perks for our employees. we might not have free laundry services and a masseuse here at magoosh, but the perks we do have are absolutely integral to who we really are as a team. they embody all of our company values<\/a> and are truly magooshy and fun at the same time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n lunch and learns are in some ways the epitome of \u201cmagooshiness.\u201d the basic concept of a lunch and learn is to have one team member teach all the others about a topic that he or she has some expertise in (over lunch). but at magoosh, we really go beyond that. there are so many topics that magooshers are passionate about that they often go the extra mile and bring in materials and powerpoints to make these lunches really amazing learning experiences. from fractals to sql to liqueurs, we\u2019ve had lunch and learns on all sorts of topics. they bring out the most inquisitive sides of us and let our curiosity and creativity shine. by fostering a culture of constant learning, we are able to further our empathy for magoosh students who are experiencing their own educational challenges.<\/p>\n in the interest of making our lunch and learns as accessible as possible, we\u2019ve also invited the startup we share an office space with to join us for them. and we occasionally bring in people from outside our company to come in and give talks on topics like investing that we want an expert for. it\u2019s all completely flexible – teach whatever you want, whenever there\u2019s time, to whomever you want! at the end of the day, our lunch and learns are just like our product: making education fun and accessible for everyone \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n magooshers are a pretty diverse bunch. that\u2019s wonderful for working, but near-catastrophic for planning events. despite this – or maybe because of it – the enjoyable part for me is getting everyone involved in the planning. i like to make it a collaborative process, and, well, it\u2019s just more fun this way. we have a simple voting system: people pitch their ideas for where to go, and then everyone votes using asana<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n there usually end up being at least three major frontrunners, people choose sides, and then campaigning begins! flurries of gchats are sent back and forth, appeals are overheard in the kitchen\u2026 it goes on for days. obviously, there are clear merits to a team dinner – the bonding, the casual atmosphere, the chance to let loose. at magoosh, though, it\u2019s not just about the dinner itself, but also the \u201cgame of dinners\u201d that unfailingly precedes it.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n this one is pretty self explanatory: we have a monthly stipend for employees to use toward taking classes, again, a perk that many other companies have also. what makes our version \u201cmagooshy\u201d is that we use this stipend for absolutely whatever kind of class we want to take – it doesn\u2019t have to be related to our profession; it doesn\u2019t have to be career-related at all. we fully appreciate art, gardening, cooking, dance, bartending, any and all classes out there that make us expand our horizons. at the end of the day, that\u2019s what the classes stipend is really all about: stretching ourselves to try something we never thought we would. i\u2019ve used the stipend for skiing classes, which were an absolute blast, and other magooshers have used it for krav maga<\/a>, ballet, and ceramics. the world is our oyster; we try anything and everything!<\/p>\nlunch and learns: lunchtime lessons on world religions, liqueurs, and nigerian culture<\/h2>\n
team dinners: when campaign season arrives at magoosh<\/h2>\n
classes stipend: helping magooshers become pro ballerinas and skiers on the side<\/h2>\n
activity fund: playing outside the box<\/h2>\n