24 ideas for a better company

 1. Pack your home office suitcase.

"We have purchased two home office suitcases that our employees can use if, for example, childcare is canceled and they cannot come to work. It contains a laptop with a UMTS card, a telephone, punch, staple gun, paper and a small printer. You are connected to the company network via a VPN tunnel. Both suitcases together cost around 1500 euros. Of course, it is up to everyone whether they want to work when the children are sick. But I've cared for my mother myself and I know that you don't have to sit in bed for eight hours. We have also used the case for assignments with customers in other cities. Five minutes to set up and you're ready to work."

Markus Dornseif heads the service company Dornseif Winterdienst

 

2. Adopt the 1 euro rule. Then everyone can work more concentrated.
“Being distracted eats up an incredible amount of time. Anyone who is interrupted in their work often needs minutes to pick up the thread again. But how do you stay focused when colleagues are constantly asking you for something? We have introduced the 1 euro rule in our office: Anyone wearing a headset must not be spoken to by others. It signals that the employee wants to work with concentration. If you still want to ask him something, you have to pay 1 euro. It's amazing: a lot of things are suddenly no longer so urgent."

Christoph Magnussen is the founder of several start-ups and CEO of the consultancy Blackboat

 

3. Have your team redesign the offices.
“You spend most of the day at work. You should feel comfortable there. That's why we made a five-digit budget available to our employees and asked: 'What do you want to change in the company premises?' Under the motto 'Pimp my Office', we collected suggestions and let the employees vote. The proposal with the most votes was implemented first, then the next - until the money ran out. We implemented the ideas in cross-departmental teams. The overall motivation has increased significantly as a result. Now employees can recharge their batteries with a power nap in our 'napping room', play video games in the creative living room or stay in the office after work for a table tennis tournament.”

Fabian Heilemann is the founder of the Internet portal Daily Deal and a partner in the investment company Heilemann Ventures

 

4. Do you have unpleasant tasks to do? Then you better do it now.
“When I founded my company at the age of 16, an older entrepreneur advised me: “Sven, the toad belongs at the beginning of the day, you have to swallow it immediately.” I stuck to that. For example, whenever there is an unpleasant conversation with a customer, I do it at eight o'clock in the morning. After that you can continue to work freely. And often, when you talk to people personally, there is a positive solution to the problem. That gives you a good feeling for the whole day.”

Sven Franzen is the founder and managing director of the Tiger Marketing Group

 

5. Call your customers again after a year
“We run a carpentry shop with our own shop and in 2012 we started calling all the customers we served a year earlier. We ask if there are any small things that need to be adjusted or repaired on the furniture. The idea hit like a bomb. Our fear that there would be nothing but small complaints that would take up a lot of time was unfounded. Only every twentieth call is there a complaint that is quickly eliminated. But every tenth call results in a new consultation, often about services that customers didn't even know we were offering. For everyone else, the call strengthens the customer relationship. We are happy to recommend someone who volunteers to fix minor damage.”

Torsten Utz offers interior design and carpentry with his company Utz Design

 

6. Surprise your customers with a bag of fragrant buns.
"The idea came from my employees: When we have completed a job with our craft business, we leave a bag of rolls with our customers, garnished with a card: "Thank you for letting us work for you." The whole thing costs a few euros, but has a sensational effect: you and your customers get to a completely different, personal level. We leave a good feeling behind, and our customers become advertising ambassadors for us when they tell their neighbors and friends about the bread rolls from their craftsman.

“Günter Schmitz is the owner and managing director of the Coplaning workshop

 

7. Give your employees a sense of achievement every day.
“A carpenter can see in the evening what he has done. For our employees, their own performance is not so clearly visible: With our family business, we take on customer service for companies from different industries. We have therefore formulated specific goals for each team based on the specifications of our clients. If these goals are achieved, the employees throw a colorful ball into a ball column that is placed in the middle of the office for everyone to see. In this way, the team can always see where it is and what it has already achieved. At the end of the month, the accounts are settled: Depending on the water level, there is sweets, cake, pizza or a surprise gift, and the achievement is celebrated together.”

Bernhard Sack, junior boss of the call center and communications service provider Tel-inform

 

8. Send your customers handwritten cards.
“When we went online with our luxury second-hand shop, we included a handwritten card in every package. The feedback on it was phenomenal. Our packages are packaged in high quality anyway, but with the personal message, the customer gets the feeling that she is unwrapping a gift. So we're going to keep doing it, even though we're sending out 2,000 packages a month today. The one who packs the box writes the card and signs it with his name. For example: 'Dear Anna, we hope you enjoy your new Louis Vuitton bag. Best regards, Max. It only takes a few seconds, but the relationship with the customer is immediately personal.”

Cécile Gaulke, founder of Rebelle, an online shop for second-hand designer fashion

 

9. Celebrate Thanksgiving next year.
“We are an advertising agency and we work a lot and hard. I thought we should stop and just be happy. I discovered Thanksgiving on the calendar and remembered the importance of this day. Since then we have been celebrating Thanksgiving with the whole team. The room is decorated for autumn and there are snacks to eat. Above all, we interpret our work. So let's take a look at what we've accomplished. Thanksgiving is a powerful symbol, and the festival doesn't cost a lot of money. In addition, nobody is in the Christmas party stress in October.”

Thilo Schirmer, managing partner of the advertising agency RosenbauerSolbach

 

10. Ask the magic question, "How did you think of that?"
“How do you do business with someone you just met at an event? The magic question is: 'How did you come up with that?!' In many years I have only seen a few people who would have answered this question in monosyllables. On the contrary: Encouraged by active listening, most of them can hardly be stopped for half an hour. Those who are allowed to tell their own story often report interesting and surprising things. One finds out: Who is the interlocutor? What is important to him? What is his company doing? Where does he have strengths, where points for improvement? Can I help him with these problems? Via a follow-up question like, 'What are you currently working on?' you end up in the present and get clues as to where to start with your offer.”

Peer-Arne Böttcher founded the Business Club Hamburg and blogs on impulse.de about efficient networking

 

11. Take your co-workers for a walk.
“As a founder, I need employees who will tell me their opinion honestly. And I have to listen very carefully myself. It's better outside of the office. I grab an employee and take him for a walk, to a café or to the park. Then I ask how he is doing or if he would like to get rid of something. What are we doing well, what can we do better? Outside in the fresh air you meet differently, the roles dissolve. The head clears and we can speak more openly and easily. And the nice thing: It inspires trust and costs us nothing.”

Sarah Haide founded Mycouchbox. The start-up sends out surprise snack boxes for TV evenings

 

12. Give a “Fail Award”
“We work in an open-plan office where it is difficult to make phone calls in peace. Then I had an idea with a colleague: We buy an old phone booth that you can retreat to. Proud of our idea, we bought a yellow house on Ebay – only to find out when it was delivered that it didn't fit through our door. That made my colleague and I the first winners of the 'Fail Awards', a challenge cup for the best mistake. It sounds funny, but it has a serious background: We don't want mistakes to be hushed up in our team, but instead discussed openly. That's the only way we can learn from them. The Fail Award helps with this. Important: You can only nominate yourself, it's not about pillorying others. The whole team votes to see who failed the most.”

Monika Frech is head of the Berlin innovation agency Dark Horse

 

13. Do video yoga with your team.
"'Ommm! Shanti, Shanti!' There was a lot of giggling the first time – and yet we decided straight away: our colleague yoga will become a fixed ritual. The great thing about it: It brings us exercise and relaxation, but costs next to nothing. Because it is hardly worth hiring a yoga teacher for our small team, we do an online course. For 16 euros a month we signed up for the Yoga Easy portal (there are many more), where you can watch countless videos, from courses for beginners to exercises for professionals. The video runs on a laptop, and the yoga teacher's instructions are played out of computer boxes. For the accident insurance, we have a sporty colleague as the group leader, that’s enough for low-threshold offers, and you don’t need an employee with a trainer’s license.”

Antonia Götsch is deputy editor-in-chief at impulse

 

14. Reinvent your business cards.
“Instead of business cards, we hand out small pieces of fabric with our web address on them. Anyone can copy it: simply print 'snippets of memory' on one side of the fabric and the company's Internet address on the other side. Then tear into credit card-sized pieces. Our customers have reacted very positively, the scraps of memory don't just disappear in a filing cabinet. We also have 'visiting gardens' that we give out. These are small bags with business cards, our label and flower seeds for a butterfly meadow. This is different from standard format cards. Things that are new and charming stick.”

Kerstin Duda is the head of the brand and design agency Dudadesign

 

15. Help young people with your network and your experience.
“When entrepreneurs are socially committed, there is often talk of foundations or large donations. We also have something that can often help more than money: a large network and a lot of experience. That's why I'm involved in the Joblinge project (www.joblinge.de). For four months I'm mentoring a youth who is struggling and looking for work. I listen to their problems, help to find solutions, try to give them self-confidence and teach them to grit their teeth sometimes. In addition to personal support, the young people receive a six-month qualification program. I now have my third Jobling. When he finally signed his apprenticeship contract, it was a nice feeling.”

René Martin is managing director of the management consultancy ConTraTo

 

16. Organize in-house car sharing.
“Our company cars should be utilized as much as possible. That's why we started internal company car sharing in the spring. All employees can access a pool of five vehicles by reserving a car via an online portal. We pay around 15 euros per month for the software. It's worth it because every employee uses the fleet more efficiently. Since three of our vehicles are electric, we chose Fleetster as the provider. When booking, the portal automatically takes into account the longer refueling times of e-cars and the limited range.”

Stefan Mayer, project manager at Allgäuer Überlandwerk, an electricity provider

 

17. Do you lack skilled workers? Let your employees recruit new colleagues.
“There is a great shortage of skilled workers in nursing, in Hamburg alone we are talking about 500 vacancies. So we have to position ourselves as an employer. And who could advertise for us more credibly than our own employees? That's why we offer our people a bonus if they refer people we know who we then hire. It's not about a disdainful bounty, from which taxes and social security were also deducted. Rather, we reward the commitment with a gift that will be remembered: a chic dinner with your partner, tickets to the cabaret, a brunch with the family. We have found about ten new employees in this way in the current year.”

Thomas Flotow is Managing Director of the nursing home operator Pflegen & Wohnen

 

18. Design a calendar to give away with your team.
“Our desk calendar is not just any promotional gift. On each calendar page, one of our employees gives his very personal excursion tip: from your favorite ice cream parlor to a weekend tour to the best toboggan run in the region. The team participated enthusiastically, the 52 weeks were full in no time. Externally, towards customers, interested parties and partners, the calendar makes our company human. That's great, because we're in a rather dry industry. The idea was so well received that there will be a new edition in 2015 – with recipes.”

Monika Düsterhöft is Head of Marketing at the software and consulting company IDL

 

19. Is your music on hold annoying? Then let young bands record new ones.
"Queues are terrible. We don't want anyone on our queue to suffer. But like any small to medium sized business, we don't have the resources to keep five operators on call all the time. That's how we came up with the idea of ​​the band contest: Young bands can apply to present their songs in our queue. About 20 sign up each year. Our support team will then select a band. We present them on our blog and on Facebook. A telephone system is of course not made to play music in high quality. But we're happy when someone calls and says, 'Please put me on hold.'”

Max Wittrock is the founder and managing director of Mymuesli

 

20. Bury failed projects with a post-mortem meeting
“Making one mistake is normal, making it twice is annoying. We therefore bury projects posted at Wooga with a post-mortem meeting. If a project is stopped, the team sits down: What should we keep? What do we want to do differently in the future? This results in a list of good and bad experiences that is presented to all colleagues. In this way, the whole company can learn, and for the project team, the meeting is comfort and motivation. A colleague once said to me: 'It's good to have in writing what you take away from a stopped project. Then it becomes clear that the work was not for the dustbin. Thanks to our experience, we work very differently now than we used to.'”

Stephanie Kaiser is responsible for new developments at the online game producer Wooga

 

21. Bring your dog to work.
"A dog is not only secretive and loyal. When our Buffy greets customers and business partners with a friendly wave, she is actually a real sales aid. The guests relaxedly talk about their own experiences with dogs, which creates an almost family atmosphere. In addition, the dog is good for the working atmosphere. A little playing with the dog relieves stress and clears the mind so that employees can get to work with full enthusiasm. Since our dog should also live in a species-appropriate way, he is taken into the forest for a few hours every day by a walking service with other dogs. Because first and foremost we take care of our customers, no matter how cute Buffy looks!"

Julia Schössler founded the marketing and PR agency Schoesslers. Your dog has its own email address.

 

22. Clear the cookies before booking a trip online.
Anyone who interrupts the online booking of a trip and later returns to the booking page often finds that the offer has become more expensive. The reason: so-called "cookies" on the computer tell the provider that you are interested in this trip - even days later. The higher tariff is intended to urge customers to book quickly before the price increases even further. Therefore important: delete cookies before booking !

Andreas Kurz is senior editor at impulse

 

23. Change jobs regularly.
“I play a kind of journey to Jerusalem in my company – but without reducing the number of chairs. Whenever there is a free seat in the office, for example because a colleague is on vacation, I take it and work there. This has many advantages: As a boss, you look more closely into the individual areas and see which processes are not working. Suggestions for improvement get through to me faster, decisions are easier to make. Our team of 23 sometimes manages to keep themselves busy without fulfilling a single customer request. That is typical for the IT industry, the colleagues in development are not the most communicative people, tasks are sometimes done twice. When I'm in close contact with all teams, I can manage projects and processes better."

Dominik Pusch, head of OktoPOS, sells software for franchise and chain stores

 

24. Give yourself a "I'll treat myself" folder.
“As an entrepreneur, you work a lot and rarely get praise. But everyone needs rewards. That's why I have an 'I'll treat myself to that' folder. There is everything in there that I would like to treat myself to: special hotels or restaurants, a sauna with a sea view, special shops that I want to visit, book tips, a massage with my nice Thai neighbor or vouchers that still want to be redeemed. When a larger project is completed, I immediately find an idea in the folder of what I could treat myself to. And before Christmas, she's full of gift inspiration.”

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