It’s no secret that Amplitude’s mission to help companies build better products is what has led this company (and our customers) to continued growth. What is lesser known is our mission to make Amplitude a great place to work for everyone.
As an early member of the POPs (People and Operations) team and a co-lead on our Diversity and Inclusion team, I can attest to the amount of effort that goes into creating and scaling a positive, supportive and productive workplace culture and environment.
Through trial and error, we’ve discovered some practices and initiatives we think are worth sharing. Focusing on building relationships internally, enhancing our communication, driving Diversity and Inclusion as well as wellness initiatives have all contributed to the workplace culture at Amplitude.
Relationship Building
As we grow, maintaining a close-knit culture where employees are well acquainted across teams is really top of mind for us. A low friction activity that has helped us accomplish this over the last few years is our Friday cross-team lunches.
Every Thursday, a Slackbot created by Jeffrey Wang, our Chief Architect, announces “There’s a cross-team lunch happening tomorrow! Will you be attending?” The Ampliteers who said “Yes” are sorted into groups of 5 or 6 and added to a group chat all together. On Friday we sync up, pick a local spot, and enjoy lunch together. It is an awesome opportunity to connect with people who we might not normally interact with very often. Cross-team lunches have always been well received, and our team loves to connect out of the office.
(Those who said “No” see this message. “That’s unfortunate. 🙁 Could you let me know why you can’t make it?”)
Similarly, our Manager of Enterprise Customer Success team, Varun Sharma, introduced the team to “Coffeebuddies”. We use the donut.ai slack integration to pair up people subscribed to the #coffeebuddies channel for weekly coffee outings. This is another great opportunity to get one-on-one connection across teams.
Communication
Last year we opened up new offices in Amsterdam and New York. With our HQ in San Francisco, we found ourselves relying on Slack too heavily and received feedback that a lot of information, such as employee action items or employee resources, were getting lost in the messaging abyss. We needed to make a change to better communicate across offices. While we continue to improve communication channels, two technologies in particular that have worked well in bridging the gap are Zoom and Honey.
Amplitude New York team, which just started in early 2018.
Using Zoom, we can now easily video conference and stay connected across continents. Employees can also use Zoom from home and not miss a beat. This provides flexibility with work schedules, allowing the team to better balance work and personal life.
Amplitude’s EMEA team in Amsterdam.
Honey is our company intranet – a one-stop shop for all offices to reference critical information and not have to wait for folks to come online to have questions answered. Collaboration is crucial to keep our team aligned and successful; Zoom and Honey have helped us do that.
Diversity & Inclusion
One of my favorite parts of growing our team is adding folks who bring new lifestyles and personalities. We strive to create an environment that is inclusive of our diverse teams by supporting and embracing our employees’ unique backgrounds and passions.
For example, we have a Mother’s Room/Prayer Room which provides a comfortable space and privacy. Also, our D&I team coordinates events to celebrate holidays from many cultures and religions on a monthly basis. Last year, we did a “Give Up to Feel Gratitude” Day for Ramadan, we celebrated Rosh Hashanah with traditional Jewish food and wine, and we hosted an International World Food Potluck.
On “Give Up to Feel Gratitude” Day during Ramadan, team members fasted from food or other daily habits like social media or coffee to focus on what we’re grateful for.
In addition to our internal celebratory events, we continue to give back to our community through a number of external organizations. For example, last December we teamed up with Meals on Wheels to hand out holiday gifts around our neighborhood. In 2018 we plan to get the company involved in educational programs around Diversity and Inclusion – exciting things to come!
Making placements for holiday meals with Meals on Wheels!
Wellness
Beyond our social, communication, and inclusion efforts, we’ve tried out a few wellness initiatives to keep our Ampliteers healthy. Weekly yoga classes with One Deep Breath Yoga, weekly salad bars, and a summer step challenge are among those efforts. Also, Amplitude has been generous enough to provide all employees with a monthly stipend to help support the cost of physical activity and wellness outside of work. Integrating all of these pieces into our day-to-day has been eventful and impactful.
Making Amplitude a great place to work
Building a company with an inclusive and evolving culture is hard work. We spend more time at the office than we do in our own homes, so ensuring it is a place anyone can thrive and find success is a priority. It is crucial that we choose to spend this time at a place we are proud to call our work home and are happy coming to every day. Amplitude strives to do just that.
We’re helping companies build better products — and we’d love for you to join us!
Check out our open positions here.
