Kim's Blog

Company Culture: White Space Day

The past couple of weeks I’ve discussed company culture and the power it has to positively build upon your company. Previously I focused on employee morale, constructed through the simplicity of paper awards and Pop Rocks candy. Coming up, we’ll hold White Space Day.

Introduced to White Space Day at a conference years ago, I was intrigued by the concept. It’s difficult to coordinate a weekend (or longer) retreat through an entire company around deadlines and home life. Yet, creative people—like the talented ones we employ at Shakespeare Squared—need a chance to decompress and let the creative juices flow, free of formatting and deadlines and constraints. The happy medium came in the form of White Space Day.

White Space Day is a time for employees to reflect individually outside the office. From walks in the park to museum visits, employees are encouraged to use the time away from the office to think about themselves, their goals and how they’re being achieved. Vulnerable to the unplugged nature of day, employees are discouraged to run errands or participate in normal activities. Instead, employees use the time to be alone and to relish in personal reflection. We hold no requirements about White Space Day—no written reports about what they did or what they learned—instead, through the sheer openness of white space, we ask our employees to do whatever they want. At the next staff meeting following White Space Day, we open the floor for people to share what they did or learned.

While it sounds like a vacation, our employees take this day very seriously. From insightful journaling to life-changing career switches, we’ve seen it all as employees come back rejuvenated and more passionate about their ventures. At Shakespeare Squared we’re the detail-oriented type, those constantly attached to our work and waiting to help in any which way we can. Needless to say, the unusual freedom took some getting used to.

After a couple years though, our employees have learned to detach and have helped our new staff do the same. We now hold White Space Day twice a year, and every time is an exciting, invigorating and introspective journey.

Check back next week to learn about a few of our more casual company culture builders!