All companies have a reason for being, often characterized by their values, unique attributes, and distinctive ways of operating that impact their business over time. At GMB, our operational structure revolves around a self-managed, Team of Teams philosophy which helps us achieve our purpose of equipping and empowering people to build a better future of abundance.
Team of Teams is both a people-first philosophy and a way we structure teammates in our company. Instead of a traditional hierarchical structure with a CEO sitting at the top of a pyramid, in our Team of Teams environment, we operate like a network of teams that come together around specific goals and work toward the company’s overarching purpose. Two main characteristics of our Team of Teams approach include the ways that all GMB teammates are empowered from day one and how we structure our organization to encourage connection and trust.
Empowered Individuals
With an understanding of our company goals in mind, our empowered teammates are trusted to make decisions that best serve our clients and our company. And while each individual is part of a particular set of teams based on roles, skills, and passions, we all realize that we are part of a larger network that exists to serve educators and students in their pursuit of lifelong learning.
This feeling of empowerment and inclusivity leads to what we call Catchbox Moments. At our quarterly GMB University (GMBU) company-wide gatherings, we allow space for teammates to share their thoughts, give feedback, and offer their “even better if” ideas with our tossable catchbox microphone.
“I think the culture here has really changed how I approach my work and how I really operate,” shared one structural engineer at our January GMBU session. “The culture here is just something different. It’s like I want to immerse myself into it and I’m taking on roles and responsibilities now that if you would have asked me a couple of years ago, I was like, ‘absolutely not.’”
Connection and Trust
Our teams consist of supportive members who value feedback, fun, trust, and honesty. We prioritize trust-building by openly sharing, acknowledging our strengths and mistakes, and celebrating each other’s contributions. We believe that creating a workplace that fosters connection and trust between team members can transform how we work and how we feel about the work that we do.
“I will say that I have never felt so connected before, even to people that I have never met before,” said one architectural designer. “And to me that’s wonderful because you don’t have that at every firm, so thank you for making those connections possible, especially with a remote first environment.”
GMB embraces a flexible workplace that empowers each person to decide where and how they work best. To ensure teammates can build trust and connections across locations, we create intentional touchpoints between multidisciplinary teams. This may look like daily morning touch points to get to know each other, coming together at our annual GMBU in-person gathering, or choosing to work at one of our technology-rich Learning Hub locations.
Our Work Makes a Difference
GMB has a singular focus on serving the education market, even recently expanding the ways that we can impact students and the success of schools and universities. This dedication to supporting learners and educators unites our team with a common goal. When everyone has the same central compass guiding them, both within our organization and on a client’s project, we can make a real difference with our work.
“Part of me wishes to work on the biggest, most complicated electrical engineering projects, but I am very proud to talk about the work we do in the education sector,” added one electrical engineer who is working with GMB for the second time in their career. “Talking to other electrical engineers reinforced in me the joy I get from being at a ribbon cutting, hearing the success stories of the world-changing educators that inhabit our buildings, and hearing my community members talk about the cool new school down the road.”
