# Pod Calls: Connecting our Constellation of CivicActioners

 

 

Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2023

 By  [CivicActions](/civicactions)

As you might guess, working at a fully distributed company means we have to get a little creative when it comes to connecting with our colleagues, especially those who work on different projects. So, we took a little inspiration from astronomy and created some constellations of our own to connect every star team member at CivicActions. Loosely arranged by time zone, our pod calls, named Vela, Pyxis, Hydra, Ursa, and Crux, after different constellations, are casual, social group calls designed to support culture, connectedness and personal growth across our distributed teams. Pods take place for 30 minutes once a week, but are not rigid and CivicActioners are encouraged to “Pod Hop” if they are unable to make their regular pod call time.

We took our inspiration for naming the Pods from the constellations. Photo by[ Vincentiu Solomon](https://unsplash.com/@vincentiu?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on[ Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/constellations?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)

Our pod hosts come from a range of departments at CivicActions, including people operations, engineering, product management, and help desk. Pod hosts have the unique tasks of not only organizing the pod calls, but also helping to create the pod conversational dynamic, soliciting discussion topics from the group, and ensuring everyone present is included in the conversation. Topics can range from anything from “favorite body of water” to “favorite cartoon from your childhood” to “stump the audience with show and tell” where people bring obscure objects to display and everyone else has to guess what they are. Between meetings, pod members connect in their distinct Slack channels to continue the conversation and plan for future discussions.

According to Rachael Adams, who is a Pod Host and Resource Planning Analyst, the pod calls are great for fostering a community for new hires during the onboarding process.

“Our new teammates have the opportunity to join each pod call during their first couple of weeks at CivicActions. When a new person is on the call, we all take the opportunity to introduce ourselves and share how long we have been employed and what we do at CivicActions, where we live, and perhaps an interesting fact about ourselves,” said Rachael. “Pod calls are fantastic for new people. It gives them a chance to meet a bunch of people in a relaxed setting. It’s a great way to break the ice.”

Pod calls are not just a space for discovering points of shared interests in their personal lives — they also allow people to learn from each other as well. Bob Schmitt, who hosts Vela Pod and is a Product Manager, enjoys how project-related conversations help people learn from each other.

“I’ll sometimes learn new project management related tips, or learn about what other folks are particularly interested in, so that when a related issue comes up later, I can go to that person and get informed responses, “ Bob said.

Pod calls are truly emblematic of our CivicActions culture of care. We love using these social times to foster team spirit, encourage communication, and ultimately build community by providing a regular platform for collaboration and relationship building among CivicActioners.