Company Culture as a Potluck, Not a Buffet

Did you know the average person spends roughly one fifth of their year at work? Yeah… we were surprised when we did the math, too! With so much of our time spent with our colleagues, you can imagine how much the topic of company culture comes up in conversations with prospective team members, internal meetings, etc.

As much as culture may be driven by company-initiated activities, we strongly believe it's not something that any one person or team can create or maintain on their own. People teams can host events, create spaces and opportunities for moments of levity, and develop programs that help make interpersonal connections happen (and we love doing it!), but it’s the team members who create the magic that is a company’s culture.

A great culture at work requires everyone contributing and building together to resonate and be sustained. It would be great if culture could be delivered on a silver platter like a sweet treat at a holiday party, but your work experience is going to be much more heavily influenced by the people you interact with most often, whether that’s your immediate team, the people who sit near to you in the office, or the people who always hype up your memes on Slack.

When I went through my own interview process before joining PromptQL, I immediately noticed how social people were: they ate lunch together, spoke of their common interests, and seemed to just genuinely like each other. After joining, it became obvious that the culture was thriving because it was something the entire team takes ownership of. So, rather than talking about the programs we have to help foster a better work environment, I thought it’d be great to highlight some of the traditions our own team members had built to forge connections with their coworkers.

Started by: Adam, Cade, Lili, Melanie, & Rob  

Lili Raihi: It started simply: four of us decided to grab dinner and get to know our new coworkers better. But Rob and Adam had just moved to San Francisco—Rob from Alabama and Adam from Australia—and Cade and I knew the city, so it became a way to help our newly transplanted coworkers learn the city a bit. It didn’t take long before it grew from just dinner to events and activities around the city. Melanie joined the core group pretty quickly, but there’s a number of other people who join us any given month.

Adam Malone: I was already exploring the area, but I didn’t know many people in San Francisco. This was a chance to increase my social bar (like a Sims character), and it was a great way to explore things already vetted by people I trust. We’ve been to a number of great restaurants, but so far my favorite thing was when Rob and his wife invited a bunch of us over for the 4th of July. While work talk isn’t forbidden, it’s really been a great opportunity to get to know people and build friendships and real connections.

Started By: Karthik, Tiru, Rohit & Karthikeyan

Karthikeyan Chinnakonda: We have a table tennis table on the third floor, and one day someone casually picked up a racquet and invited one of us to play a game. We’ve been playing weekly since then. It’s been about two or three months now. It’s really accessible. Some of us live near the office, so we’ll grab a coffee and play, sometimes we also go out and meet up with our friends and families.

It’s really nice to have this connection with my coworkers. It gives me a reason to come work from the office, and it’s just plain fun. Sometimes we talk business while we play. We can bounce ideas off each other, but sometimes just explaining my work to a coworker helps me understand my own work better.

Tiru Selvan, Karthikeyan Chinnakonda, and Krushan Bauva playing at the Bangalore office

Started By: Britt & Kendra

Britt Harris: We work remotely so we don’t get a chance to have the water cooler conversations people in the office get to have, so in addition to our actual meetings, we also have coworking sessions on the calendar. One day one of us said, I’m going to make tea, and the other said, oh, that sounds good, I will, too! We just started talking about tea and realized it was a thing we both loved.

When working remotely, it can be easy to just hop onto a call and get right to work. Taking time to pause and have tea together builds camaraderie and brings a moment of calm to the work day. It’s a small way to connect and acknowledge that we are people first and foremost, and our sole purpose isn’t just to do a task; you can stop and take a break to nourish yourself. We’ve visited each other a couple of times over the years, so we’ve been able to do tea in person, too.

Britt's tea station at home, with photo of Britt and Kendra Britt and Kendra, IRL

Kendra Bentley: Working as a remote team member can feel isolating at times, but that isolation fades when you bond with your manager or teammates over shared interests. Our tea obsession may seem lighthearted, but it’s uniquely strengthened our connection. Every meeting now starts with a personal check-in and a comforting cup of tea—white, black, green, or herbal and fruity blends. I love that we start our days this way. I truly value both the variety of tasks we handle in the People team and the warmth of our personal connection over a shared love of tea. Joining PromptQL and the People team has been such a good match[a]!

With offices in San Francisco and Bangalore and remote employees across the globe, maintaining culture looks a little different for everyone. Want to learn more about our culture and see our open roles? Check out our careers page here!