Building the Best Place to Work
Don’t you hate it when people tell you what to do? Or even worse, what to think?
The history of Epic Learning is a saga of well-meaning people telling us “You can’t create a culture with remote teams. You need to get the teams together regularly”.
Over the past eight years, we have proved that this is not the case.
Many of our team members have never met each other in person. In fact, one team member went on a road trip with a visiting friend from overseas and became the first person in eight years to meet every member of the team.
The truth is that you can have a great remote working business with a strong culture if you hire the right people, support them effectively, communicate consistently across many channels and foster a shared focus and goal.
When your team looks forward to catching up on a Monday after the weekend, when they are fired up about trying something new to solve problems for your client, and when they comfortably both seek and offer help as part of everyday practice, it is hard not to satisfy your clients and deliver great outcomes for the end users.
The real secret is that the team has a mission that unites it.
There is a problem in education.
As a society, we have apparently decided that education should be hard work as if learners need to earn their learning by first suffering the torture of education. At Epic Learning, our team believe that this is wrong.
Kids enjoy learning, and so do adults.
Effective learning comes from empowering learners to make connections in an interesting, even compelling, way. The Epic Learning team shares this mission: to make learning engaging and effective for modern learners.
It is no accident that virtually all of the Epic Learning team are gamers. Our team knows the power and satisfaction of becoming so totally involved in the challenge, even the grind, of a game until you reach an objective. The mastery that comes with it is an additional bonus.
United behind such a powerful goal, the team is given focus. In fact, in a team meeting, you can see team members physically wince when confronted with poorly designed educational materials. And you can see them animate as they discuss how they can transform this from a torturous chore to a glorious learning experience.
As gamers, we know the importance of roles and the contribution each team member makes to the success of the mission. A party can’t all be made of Tanks, or Healers, or Rogues. But when you combine those roles correctly, a party can be very formidable. Each member of the team understands what they bring, and what their team members bring, to the battle.
Nobody stands alone.
But together, they can be unbeatable.
I am proud to be part of that team. Proud to be able to contribute my piece to the work that we all do together.
I am also proud of the fact that we are recognised as one of the Best Places to Work in New Zealand. Stay tuned for the final announcement of the finalists and winners of the Best Places to Work Awards on 25 September 2024.
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