5 Lessons in Comparing Office Cultures

Having just changed companies (from Maximizer Software to ActiveState), and now getting used to the culture at the new office, here are five specific ways in which the two companies are different.

1. Political Hierarchy
Keep in mind Maximizer has 100 people in Vancouver, and another 75 in international offices (UK, Australia, South Africa, and Hong Kong), while ActiveState has less than 30 people in Vancouver only. That said, Maximizer is no Microsoft or Oracle. But the flatness of the ActiveState culture at first caught me off guard. At Maximizer, as a member of the senior executive team, I mostly socialized and collaborated with the other senior executives, and those that were one level under me (directors and managers). I rarely spoke with staff level (unless they were in marketing), and the staff in sales and support (the largest groups) would never speak to me at company social functions. In fact, most of them never came into my office, and if they did, they acted very nervous. ActiveState is entirely different in that everyone is more on equal ground and anyone can go into the president's office even.

2. Gay Office Managers make for Fun Times
At ActiveState, our gay office manager/receptionist/accounting & customer service assistant provides a core element of our open, fun, friendly, and humorous workplace. He jokes around with everyone, from the marketing staff up to the president in the same tone. At my old company, a gay office manager certainly would not have fit into the culture.

3. Perks are Good
Maximizer was getting to the point, and with the economy and all, where we were pulling away things like food and snacks for staff (though we did still have massages). At ActiveState, I was pleasantly surprised with fully stocked kitchen with fresh fruit, tons of snacks, breakfast, and lunch options. Then, I learned that there was staff yoga/pilates three times a week that the company subsidized! This feels like the tech boom of 1999 or a video game company, and I'm liking these perks.

4. People Invite Each Other to Parties
At Maximizer, in all my years there, I don't recall ever being invited to a house party that a staffer was having. In one month, I've already been invited to three. Very surprising and different coming from my old world, but seems to be the norm here.

5. Operations need to be Streamlined for Growth
ActiveState, having grown up in the open source space, and being a smaller company, has some streamlining to benefit from in operations and IT. Even before I started, and they asked me what type of software (OS, apps, etc) I wanted on my laptop, I was surprised. And I was allowed to bring in my new BlackBerry, while others were using iPhones or other mobile platforms. Choice is good, but I definitely wasn't used to the ad-hoc nature of IT operations.