“Value exchange is not always monetary” — by Your Majesty＜vol.10＞
The one which is going to appear at the milestone of the 10th is Your Majesty, which has got more than 200 awards and has clients including Netflix and Samsung. Having more than 30 members in Amsterdam and NYC , it practices various experimental work styles which are outside–the–box, searching for each member’s own “WORKS GOOD! MAGAZINE”. We interviewed them thoroughly.
Question 1：
Please tell us about your company.
Your Majesty, we are a design and technology firm, with offices in New York and Amsterdam. We work with global brands and start-ups, creating digital products, services, and brand experiences across multiple devices.
We have a core team of 22 people in Amsterdam and 12 in New York. Our design team consists of 13 people, with about the same number in our development team, and the remainder comprising strategists and producers. We also maintain a network of specialists for work requiring specific skill sets.
Question 2：
When your team starts a new project, what work process is followed?
We start all new projects by building a team based on the kind of work required. Once the team is established, we run tailor-made immersive workshops, involving the team and the client, to define goals, requirements, and develop interpersonal relationships.
All our projects include at least one partner and a director for each discipline involved. Although we adapt our approach to the kind of work being undertaken, we will typically manage strategy and road-mapping (where required), concept development, and design discovery.
We involve the entire team in all stages of the project to ensure we consider different perspectives and everyone gains a thorough understanding of the whole project.
Question 3：
On average, how much time does the team spend on one project?
The time taken on a project varies according to the nature of the work. Since we work on anything from product launch campaigns, brands, large-scale platforms, installations, to helping start-ups, timelines range from a few weeks to a few months, or even longer.
Question 4：
In what way does your company provide a good working environment for its employees?
We encourage our staff to maintain a healthy balance between their work and personal life; we do not have an organisational culture in which we work late at night. We also take staff’s personal needs into account by being flexible and allowing people to work from home or another country, if needed.
In addition to offering typical company benefits, we run an ongoing project for a prototypical workplace. We promote personal growth by only working for clients from Monday to Thursday and reserving Friday for internal and personal projects, as well as offering each individual a personal education budget.
Furthermore, we maintain a flat hierarchy to allow individuals to influence not only our projects but also how we operate and the direction of the company.
There are more minor activities too: a group breakfast on Monday morning, over which we share stories from the weekend and company updates for the coming week; regular team outings; providing plenty of snacks at all times; and providing gym memberships to encourage people to keep active and healthy.
Question 5：
On what basis does your company/team decide to work on projects?
We choose to partner clients with whom we share similar values, but this is only one of the criterion in selecting projects. For example, we also opt for projects that allow us to improve our expertise in a sector or provide us with creative freedom: the value exchange is not always monetary.
Question 6：
What does your company consider most important in a workplace?
We believe a positive environment, where we can be honest with one another and our dogs in office, to be important.
Question 7：
Finally, as a company, what do you believe is the most important factor for carrying out ‘good work’?
Passion and a good attitude, in both our clients and our team, are crucial. Passion is what drives us, but when this is combined with an attitude of tackling challenges, being bold, and wanting to learn, we believe high-quality work is accomplished.
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