Fun is one of the four Evolytics core values, and it has always been one of my personal favorites. While there are many benefits to working at a small company, one of the best is the lack of bureaucracy and the ability to wear numerous hats if you choose to.
When I started at Evolytics, it was a team of seven, and we didn’t really have someone specifically dedicated to planning office events. I took it upon myself to become the “Captain of Fun.”

I started out with planning a few small things: bringing in cupcakes to celebrate birthdays, organizing a secret Santa party, and turning the football fantasy team draft into a celebration with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.  While my official title is Senior Analyst, I take great pride in my unofficial “Captain of Fun” role.

So, how does all of this lead to the Evolytics tradition of New Business Doughnuts?

One day, as I picked up a doughnut for breakfast at my favorite Kansas City doughnut shop, I thought, why not just get a dozen for the office?
Upon arrival, I announced to the team that they were about to taste the best doughnuts in Kansas City, which immediately sparked a debate in the room with everyone having their own opinion on their favorite doughnut shop. The outcome from that mornings discussion resulted in one of my favorite days at Evolytics: the doughnut taste test.  Who says hypothesis testing isn’t fun?

The entire company blocked our morning calendars, and we designed an elaborate blind taste test with two categories, ordinary glazed and specialty, from a variety of local doughnut shops. Who won? Well, that’s super secret proprietary knowledge, but our doughnut taste test sparked the idea to celebrate every new business client win with doughnuts.

In fact, I noticed that a few of my coworkers were planning to open their own doughnut shop. They were even talking about what should be kept in mind when starting a business of that nature. For example, one of them suggested that custom folding boxes could be useful in attracting customers; another suggested that the strategy for making a doughnut should be different so that people who want to try new flavors can do so; and so on. Overall, it was a positive experience. Such small, enjoyable activities and tests motivate employees to do better in their lives and provide them with a better understanding of good workplace culture.

And guess what, a few years, several new team members and a new office later, doughnuts are still a way we like to celebrate at Evolytics. However, the veteran Evolytics staff learned from our sugar-filled morning that while doughnuts are delicious, tasting 15 different ones in one morning is well… a lot.  Now-a-days we have a new version of the doughnut taste test.  We bring in different doughnuts each time we have new business wins.  It is a great way for us to take a break from our work and learn about the work we are doing with our clients.  Here at Evolytics, we definitely work really hard, but we also like to have some fun too.