In this episode, we were joined by Johnathan Grzybowski, Co-founder & CMO of Penji. Offering a variety of on-demand graphic design services, Penji works with businesses to provide external design support for a monthly fee. The Penji team operates 24-hours a day, with both in their New Jersey office as well as around the world.
With a long history in entrepreneurship, with personal successes and failures, Johnathan has learned that one of the most important parts within an organization are its people. As an organization leader, Johnathan explained that the people working for a company are critical for its success. Therefore, respect for team members and supporting them to achieve their goals is one of the driving forces behind Penji’s culture, alongside transparency and openness.
During our conversation, Johnathan touched on various themes that explained how Penji’s culture helps their organization thrive:
- Transparency and teamwork allows the team members to work harder during a period of rapid growth, because there is a sense of a shared vision and shared goals. They have an opportunity to be autonomous, to take ownership of their roles, and to contribute new ideas towards projects.
- An open culture fosters the opportunity for new ideas to flourish. When failure is accepted as a possibility, team members are more likely try new things and may potentially accomplish something that was previously thought to be impossible.
- Performance reviews are important, but are work better when they are done in both directions. In addition to providing feedback to their people, leaders can also ask their team members how they or the company can improve.
- Regular communication and check-ins are important, especially if a team member is having an issue or difficulty within or outside of the workplace. This allows leaders to better support their team members and address issues or concerns before they become larger problems.
