Holacracy put in practice for good | Nina Pestke, PR & Marketing soulbottles

#NewWorkModels — Humans Of New Work

What does work mean to you?
Professional development.

One thing you like/dislike about your job?
Being independently creative in my contribution to the world on the one hand, and on the other, having the feeling that it will take a lot longer to get to a better world.

How is the human at the core of your work?
We want to appreciate and work together, meaning there are no professional masks and there’s always space for interpersonal relationships.

One thing you’d like to change about the work system?
I’m hoping for a humanization of work.

Nina Pestke is responsible for communications, PR and marketing at B-Corp holacracy organization soulbottles. By producing 100% plastic-free glass bottles, the Berlin company fights global plastic waste and donates a Euro per sale to Viva con Agua’s drinking water projects. For a year, Nina has been advocating to create social impact outside the system and to contribute to the world through small daily changes. In brief, bringing more soul to the world and internally to the organization However, when reflecting on the very start of her career, she remembers a different kind of work culture which she experienced in different newsrooms of media industries ranging from radio and television to newspapers and blogs and, ultimately, in the creative department of a traditional advertising agency. What she values are the insights she’s gained from framing creative, conceptual work by structured processes. Still, Nina wasn’t entirely fulfilled.

“The human factor often plays a minor role in most of the agencies. I missed having the opportunity to fully contribute and be driven by purpose rather than earning a paycheck. So I decided to change my work-life and, as simple as it sounds I saw a job posting for soulbottles, sent my application and it worked out.”

The shift from the glamorous advertising world to a young, self-organized social startup was indeed a radical one. What the founders Georg Tarne and Paul Kupfer grew from a crazy idea with 20 bottles in their shared apartment has now evolved to a 30-man holacracy organization with 500 retailers worldwide. The glass bottle itself is the product of the Thuringian glass-blowing town, hence the 100% Made in Germany label. Not only is soulbottles’ social impact is impressive, but also the how they work together. Organized in circles as part of their holacracy structure, as well as practicing non-violent communication, both show the importance of individual empowerment as part of the collective.

“At work, we aim to meet each other purposefully and appreciatively, while remaining efficient. As you can tell from the name, Holacracy sets our company structure and non-violent communication in the way we communicate with each other. Both models put empowerment at the forefront. Holacratic work is based on the self-organization and the self-responsibility of all employees in their roles. There’s no boss or supervisor. We have a bi-weekly tactical meeting where we take our time to exchange thoughts about projects and to enable transparency and direct feedback. These meetings follow a certain structure, which was unusual to me at first. For example, the check-in and check-out where we ask, ‘What is alive with you?’ It’s unusual but pretty important to know how everyone is doing and to be able to react to that. Also being fully present at the meeting. We always question, ‘What do you need to remain focused?’ Of course, to live this kind of structure we spend more time in meetings but it pays off.”

Open communication and consideration of personal needs are at the core of self-organization. That’s how salaries were established together at the beginning of this year. Whether holacracy could work for larger organizations, is unclear to Nina.

“If you don’t try it, you’ll never know. I believe that solid structure and commitment by everyone can open up many opportunities. For instance, we’re currently experimenting with a colleague who will work remotely for five weeks and only be on-site one week, and with another colleague who has just become a mother and started to work part-time with us; partly at home, partly at the office. That’s what I mean with humanizing work.”

Originally published at www.humansofnewwork.com.