Social Games Online designs, develops, operates and markets Free-to-Play games for both mobile devices and the web within the Social Casino category with games Mundo Slots or Slot.com to provide unique moments of fun, excitement and a leisure alternative, with the best slots and available to everyone.
With a strong start-up philosophy and a team of more than 50 game makers of different profiles (Developers, Analysts, Marketers, Artists, Designers, etc.), they work with the most effective High Performance tools and methodologies, such as OKR and Agile, as well as in a culture that reflects their being passionate about their work.
Yair Marc Martinez, CEO of Social Games Online and Eva Gol, Head of Culture & Customer Success of ActioGlobal®, speak about how teams and people are developed through Radical Candor, the feedback model based on radical honesty.
A few months ago I realized that it was difficult for us as teams to interact, we were like ... well, ... very isolated, each one of us doing our own thing, and it was difficult to talk to each other assertively. Anything that was said was either something extremely "nice" that didn't lead anywhere or it was an excessively harsh criticism. This lack of empathy and commitment among us, often caused the teams to clash unnecessarily, generating a loop: poor communication, poor teamwork, poor cultural maturity and, of course, poor performance. For an organization like ours, young and collectively intelligent, to remain in such a situation was unacceptable.
I got in touch with @ActioGlobal® so that together we can figure out how to create an environment of psychological safety where people communicate with more empathy, but also call a spade a spade, challenge each other to improve, while always being there for each other and finally, we have begun our cultural evolution by implementing a High Performance feedback model: Radical Candor.
ActioGlobal has developed a high-impact program that transforms the culture of organizations by Radical Candor.
Radical Candor like meaning “Radical Honesty”.
Yes, right, it´s the model based on Kim Scott's book. The Radical Candor program helped us to transmit and entrench a feedback culture in the organization. A culture oriented to both giving and receiving high-quality feedback, and this has been totally in line with the humility and generosity we were talking about before.
So, have you felt that Radical Candor has helped you to improve your communication?
A resounding “Yes”. Before, people didn't feel comfortable sharing their worries.
Thus, I would say that we have not only improved our communication, but we have also learned how to give and receive feedback since we are aware that the person we are talking to is important to us, that we respect him/her and that, precisely for this reason, we have the moral obligation to challenge him/her and take care of him/her at the same time. If we want to be great professionals as well as the best team, feedback is undoubtedly a fundamental pillar.
I clearly understand that it has helped you in your interpersonal relationships, and obviously it has also helped each of you individually, but I find it difficult to identify the impact on the organization regarding your culture.
I know what you mean, true, the most obvious part is to see that people are more empathetic, that they communicate more and that they have more confidence in each other. But when that emotional bond is generated in the team, when there is a sense of respect for you, for me and for everything we want to achieve together, then there is this "click" in the organization: the team becomes more motivated, aligned, more collaborative, more productive, more agile, innovating, is sharing knowledge .... and what does this translate into? Impact. Performance.
Feedback is closely related to the performance of the organization.
Let's not forget that, after all, a team is synergy.
Agree. For me, a team is almost perfect when synergy and communication flow. But what is it that you particularly like about this High Performance feedback model?
There are many feedback models (the traffic light, AID, MIMO...). WelI, I´d say, actually
These axes make it very clear. Either one is in Radical Candor or at a stage out of touch with it.
It´s something simple, but yet effective, so you can react quickly and move to the right place. I thought it could easily fit in Social Games Online because it is a very visual, straightforward and powerful method.
I am very happy to hear you say this, because organizations and leaders need to understand the importance of promoting a feedback culture. Not only is the way of working important, but also the values and principles behind it. We see this in all transformations with PEAK®. There is no point in setting up a network of self-organized teams working towards OKR and common goals if these teams are not able to share information transparently and communicate effectively. This is why feedback needs to be culturally anchored, innate and spontaneous in the organization.
I like this phrase by Peter Drucker who says that "business culture eats strategy for breakfast". And especially in a modern knowledge economy environment like ours this could not be more true.
In a complex, volatile, uncertain and ambiguous business environment, all team members bring a unique, very deep and ultimately vital knowledge to the company. The best ideas will come from the teams (rather than from the boss). They are the first to experience conflict. But they often don't dare to raise their voices. Sometimes they want to but don't dare or don't know how. Problems become entrenched, conflicts remain unresolved and opportunities stay hidden.
That is why I believe that Radical Candor should be the pillar of any healthy company culture that seeks to grow and improve.
"In the MundoSlots team there has always been a fear of being too forthcoming and so to spoil both the professional and personal relationship with the colleague. Thanks to feedback model of Radical Candor this barrier has been reduced, making the bonds that we feared could be broken even stronger."
"Giving and receiving feedback is one of the most complicated issues within teams, and thanks to the Radical Candor model, we have managed to create important groundwork for promoting this practice. It has been a revolution within the company and it has had a very positive impact. Undoubtedly, there is still a lot of work to do, but the tools we have learned thanks to this training are crucial to take the first step towards becoming a company that is not afraid to address issues in a positive and constructive way".
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