You might have met, quite often, the 5PM club term across our posts in Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram. What is the idea behind this club and what impact does it have on ISD and on its team?
To understand it better, we will have to go back in time, after World War 2 that caused great destruction – but it was an incentive for improvement and an accelerator for change and innovation. In that post-war time, companies such as 3M – a multinational conglomerate handling such fields as healthcare and consumer goods – defined a work strategy, which launched successful outcomes resulting in major development and growth. One of those strategies was the 15% rule – an action that allowed employees to devote 15% of their work time experimenting on their passion-driven initiatives, or with other words work on their “side” projects.
Google had a similar opportunity, the 20% time, which resulted in Gmail, AdSense and Google Talk.
ISD’s 5PM club idea started as a trigger for new projects development and for self-guided improvement oriented in two directions: forming and developing an idea and knowledge sharing by public speaking.
Forming and developing an idea
Many of us may spend quite some time working on a certain project and over time, as most of every employee ever, we might lose our motivation or full engagement in the ongoing process. Nevertheless, imagine: we have the energy, the desire and most importantly – the IDEA – what are we going to do? Following 3M and Google’s setups – within the 5PM club at ISD you are allocated up to five hours per week from your paid working program, to work on your personal project, with the support from the company and other colleagues.
A real example of such a project is StockControl Warehouse Automation – a software that handles diverse inventory management processes in small and medium warehouses and distribution centers by providing the online Warehouse Management Tool.
Another example is the Lunch SkypeBot – used to ease the daily lunch order for the entire team. This idea materialized from the necessity to efficientize the command process with a minimum wasted effort.
Nothing screams freedom like the possibility to work on something you are passionate about, something real and tangible, something that builds a growth mindset.
Knowledge sharing by public speaking
Here you can deliver a presentation and present it in front of our entire team. Our latest 5PM presentations included such topics as ACID principles, AutoCAD review, PLC programming language etc.
ISD encourages getting creative and speaking-up. Besides boosting your confidence, training your communication skills and advancing in your comprehension of a certain topic, these presentations cultivate curiosity in others and gather everyone in the same space together – learning from each other.
So, what are the benefits?
- Implementing the idea you have been postponing so long?
- Getting paid for working on your personal project?
- Showing off your presentation and public speaking skills?
The most effective way to choose the best option for you, is to do it!