Team spirit without spirits: can agencies build culture away from alcohol?

How do you solve a problem like… promoting agency culture without relying on booze?

Alicia Iveson, co-founder and chief executive officer, Hijinks: “A few weeks ago the whole agency went to 180 The Strand to see the UVA exhibition. It was time away from our laptops, time together and time to get us all thinking differently about light and space. From art galleries to theaters to cinema to museums, we are so lucky to have a wealth of world-class creative institutions right on our doorstep and admission is often less than the price of a round of pints. It’s an opportunity for teams to get together and keeping it during work hours means that everyone can get involved. Plus, waking up the next day with ideas rather than a hangover is much better.”

Yana Miladinova, communications consultant, Hard Numbers: “As one of the non-boozers, you can feel quite isolated during social gatherings and parties, especially when the others are bonding over a glass of wine or a beer. However, at Hard Numbers, we go for team activities that everyone can enjoy without the need for alcohol. And what can bring people together more than some friendly competition? From a fierce tug of war through to a mini-golf game and escape rooms, we are promoting a culture where everyone can be a part of the team over juice and crisps in the park.”

James Kirkham, chief executive officer and founder, Iconic: “Booze-free team culture doesn’t need you to immediately start climbing rope bridges or building rafts. Forced activities always exacerbate those things you don’t have in common and can even build resentment for people who simply don’t want to be there.

“The reality is that those familiar tropes still exist whether people drink or not. If you’re inside a pub, restaurant, or rock climbing, they’re all just social spaces built to enable good conversions. The key is to nurture good, flowing conversation away from meeting formats or worse still, the Zoom screen. Not drinking alcohol is far more common now from the healthy-minded Gen Z, right the way up to boomers who’ve discovered the benefits of 0.0%. Allow open conversation to flourish, and not try and stifle it with overly staged ‘team build’ activities that do the exact opposite. You don’t need to fill the time, that’s where the conversation lives.”

Ed Glover, chief executive officer, Recipe: “About 18 months ago we could feel the world, post-pandemic, had changed. The idea of trying to rebuild the agency culture by just going to the pub seemed very clichéd.

”In the early days, we would frequently buy lunch for the whole team. What we loved about those lunches was essentially the opportunity to ‘break bread’ with each other. So, we took the decision to invest in device-free time together. This now takes the form of our monthly All Agency company meetings. We have the typical presentation before lunch but now we order food into the office, the desks are cleared and we all sit down together and enjoy a huge team lunch. Then we take the rest of the afternoon off to chat, play games (darts, ping pong etc), and organize speakers to come and talk to us about different topics. The change has been extremely well received and has genuinely helped everyone at the agency get to know each other better, without the need for booze.”

Camilla Yates, strategy director, Elvis: “While it‘s true that in the old days agency culture often did focus heavily on drinking, I think things have changed. Young people starting out in the industry have a different relationship with alcohol than their older colleagues: Gen Z drink about 20% less alcohol per capita than millennials did at their age. So, to create an inclusive environment, agencies need to be more inventive with their extra-curricular activities. We dedicate a day per month to building culture, taking the whole agency to a diverse range of places. As well as volunteering in food banks, we've been to The British Museum, a gaming cafe and a bouldering wall - all great opportunities to socialize without booze.”

Sam Biggins, managing director, Evoluted: “We've tried to ensure our culture is led bottom-up, rather than top-down, by introducing cultural officer roles which can be held by anyone at Evoluted and are rotated every six to12 months. These include officers for socials and events, CSR, wellbeing and diversity and inclusion. Our monthly socials are fully expensed and deliberately varied - this quarter alone we'll have had a bake-off, pottery-making, archery, karaoke and a meal out. Through regular staff surveys we gauge the activities, times and formats people want and tailor our socials accordingly to make sure there's something for everyone. Alcohol might be present sometimes where suitable but it's never emphasized or mandatory.”

Lisa Bent, head of HR, SeenConnects: ”Having fun is often linked to alcohol and alcohol is often used to boost confidence and/or reduce awkwardness, hence why it tends to be at the center of casual and extra professional gatherings. I believe a lack of meaningful connection is the real issue. People work together, but how well do they know each other? Creating space in work time for colleagues to connect, take interest and find commonality is key. At Seen Connects I changed Thirsty Thursday to Social Hour for this reason. Once there’s commonality, there’s a connection which will positively impact working relationships, culture, options and uptake for after work activities.”

Neil Henderson, chief exec, St Luke’s: ”The idea that an agency needs booze to fuel a great culture is out of date. At St Luke’s we have regular events which generate the kind of stories and memories that pull people together and none of them rely on alcohol. We present our latest creative work to each other every quarter with all the crazy stories of how our masterpieces came to pass, we go away for a day a year to learn something new like axe-throwing, go karting or baking, we update each other every Thursday on the week’s madness with all the stories of derring-do and mishaps that come with our industry. Add clubs like softball, netball, the choir and the running club and you have a team that knows how to enjoy itself but isn’t waiting for money behind the bar to have fun.”

Caroline Miller, managing director, Indigo Pearl: “After running an agency for 20+ years, I've seen the culture transform from an alcohol-centric one to one that incorporates a new generation's tastes and habits, and is much more considerate to other cultures. Everyone should feel included and all of us are better off as a result. Although we still go to award ceremonies and have raucous karaoke nights, we also have movie nights, including a dress-up Barbie viewing, and visits to the Tate Gallery and Winter Wonderland. It’s much more fun when our culture isn't dominated by drinking, so cheers to millennials and Gen Z for making our out-of-office bonding time more creative and inclusive, and much healthier.”

Cecilia de la Vasca, joint managing director, Passion: “We have a few non-drinkers at Passion (me included) so in the last couple of years we have made a conscious effort to diversify our socials to be more inclusive of non-drinkers. Not everyone enjoys or feels comfortable with drinking sessions, so providing alternatives is key. It’s inevitable that at least once a week colleagues end up in the pub at their own accord (or encouraged by managers!) which is totally fine and understandable but our “Sports & Social Committee”, driven by employees, organizes a good number of meetups and socials in or outside the office that don’t have to include alcohol: movie nights, game nights and cultural tours are some of them. We promote our employees to join in sporty activities or share their hobbies and interests with the wider team. This is a really important part of our efforts to create a more inclusive culture in the workplace.”

Mark McDonnell, client services director, EBY: “We were very much aware of this challenge when I was Client Service Director of a team of 15 back in 2016. We threw it open to the team, organized a monthly social that wasn’t focused on alcohol. The team came back with socials like escape rooms, bowling, trampolining and rounders, as well as a meal or two in nice restaurants, where it wasn’t compulsory to down shots of oddly colored alcohol. It was much more inclusive and we saw more engagement with the whole team. It’s nice to see these bonds continue all these years later.

“Long gone are the days where you could find your MD supping a pint in the local at 4pm on a Thursday, or the agency was going to BUY a pub – both true.”

Chloe Notter, team engagement manager, Brandwidth: “A key part of my role in the People Team is organizing optional biweekly social events to encourage the team to set their alarms, travel into the office, and get to know their colleagues face-to-face. From vegan options in our office afternoon tea to Halloween-themed mocktails to sip whilst we carve pumpkins, we ensure the events are accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Sometimes the socials just let the team unleash their creativity (mug decorating anyone?) but we also look at our calendar of significant cultural events and see how we can incorporate a celebration of diversity into the activities.”

Want to join in future debates? Give me a shout: sam.bradley@thedrum.com.