Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category

Yamming It Up

Monday, April 26th, 2010

yammerlogo1Keeping up to date on what is going on in the organization can be tough, especially when you take into account the fast pace at which we do things. Back in 2009, we wanted a way to stay connected as we opened offices all over the world. After debating the use of several different systems, we finally decided to use Yammer (www.yammer.com). Similar to a Facebook news feed, our team can post updates on Yammer about what they are doing and what’s going on in the office. With a mix of useful information and entertaining observations on the feed, Yammer creates a communication vehicle and promotes transparency within the company, both endlessly pursued goals of ours.

Consistent interaction with Yammer makes work easier in a number of ways:
-    Brainstorming: Team members post a question and get immediate thoughts, ideas, and feedback
-    Collaborating: Another team member might be able to contribute to a project someone else been Yammering about (i.e. a graph or a customer quote)
-    Instant updates: Yammer provides access to the most up-to-date information within the company
-    Feedback: Our team members can see what our customers or press are saying about the Rubicon Project

Frank said it best: “Active communication is one of our culture values.  Yammer gives us the ability to communicate in real-time with our entire team in NY, LA, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, and Sydney.   We’re able to share more “raw” information, which has already increased our internal efficiency quite significantly.  It also makes information sharing fun.” We highly recommend Yammer to any company hoping to encourage “by the people for the people” communication in the office!


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Communication: Engineering Style

Thursday, January 21st, 2010
Our very own Interfaces team!

These guys rock: Meet our Interfaces team!

Here at the Rubicon Project, we have many different ways of communicating to the group at large. From “all hands on deck” team meetings, to monthly newsletters, to emails from our founders, to our internal communication tool called Yammer, there is never any lack of information flowing throughout the organization. It is a goal of ours to make sure that are team members feel a part of the business (not just their department), and that they know where we are headed as a company (and why!), plus our current wins, losses, and areas for improvement. Transparency and communication are definitely 2 of our core values we have put a lot of effort into over the last two and half years, and the results are very promising! Our team members know what’s going on, feel empowered, and know how they can personally contribute to our growth and future.

The best part about creating a culture of communication is when our team members take it upon themselves to communicate what is going on in their department to the rest of the organization, through their eyes. Our most recent addition is a fun and informative blog from our Interfaces Engineering team. This group of guys has no shortage of personality, and their blog shows it! The blog is a combination of  new info about projects and releases they are working on (and will be working on), sharing of thanks for hard work and collaboration, and even weekly Simpson references. It gives the rest of a glimpse into what is going on (and what we should be proud of!) in our biggest asset: our technology! Huge thank you to Dave Johnson, our UI engineer and very own budding author. Keep making us laugh Dave!

Although we can’t share our blog with you (internal only, sorry folks), we are very open about the communication strategies we use internally- look for more Rubicon Project culture blog posts about this topic in the future!


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