At Next Day Animations, we are committed to honoring and growing leadership in every role.
Our organizational model at Next Day helps us create ample opportunities for leadership. Our company thrives by building opportunities throughout the company that grow perspective, experience and leadership skills.
We have a bottom-up approach to leadership. Imagine a tree. At our organization, the members of the executive team are the roots. They provide the structure and foundation for the rest of the team to flourish as the tree grows and sprouts new branches.
With a strong foundation rooted in clarity, partnership, inventiveness and authenticity, our organization grows. As our organization grows, more opportunities for leadership emerge.
Click on the link above to learn more about our core values.
What do leadership opportunties at every level look like?
Cross-Team Advisory Council
We are a small business with no board of directors. Instead, we form an advisory council from members of different departments who serve as a sounding board for the leadership on important issues, such as living out our values, sustainability, benefits and compensation, and strategic planning.
The council is self-led and meets quarterly to discuss relevant topics and advise the leadership team. This gives team members an opportunity to think about big picture issues affecting the business, make decisions, and collaborate across teams.
Leading Teams
As our organization grows, opportunities emerge for people to lead departments, teams and colleagues. Team leaders have the responsibility and learning opportunities of facilitating weekly meetings, meeting with team members for one-on-ones, and keeping their teams on track with current projects, goals, and priorities.
Personalized Professional Development Plans
For some people, leadership is being the designated expert in a certain area, someone who the rest of the team can go to for advice. Every member of our organization makes an annual professional development plan that is catered to their role, interests, and goals.
This allows our company to develop our collective toolbox through exploring new skills and deepening our expertise. Often, after learning something new, people will bring that knowledge back to the team by leading a skill-share or workshop.
“We think of career growth like a trellis, not a ladder – we can all grow upwards or outwards, organically, filling in spaces where we have interest. There is a structure for advancement, but flexibility within the system, and it is designed for mutual support rather than competition.” -Next Day Animations Career Growth Philosophy
Each year, our Grant committee and our Scholarship Committee choose the recipients of each respective award. Check out our playlist with past Grant recipients above.
Committees
We have a number of “extra curricular” activities that staff are invited to participate in, which come with their own practices in leadership. From our grant and scholarship programs, to retreat planning, to working on our B Corp Recertification, we regularly form committees from people across departments, selecting a committee chair or leader to keep the committee on track and accountable.
New Initiatives
We pride ourselves on remaining agile and adaptable to change. We do not shy away from trying new things. And new things mean new leadership opportunities.
Whether it’s experimenting with a new animation style or technology, or trying out a bold new marketing strategy, the magic behind these new innovations is the people making it happen.
Leading a new initiative involves lots of learning, communicating with colleagues, and project management. It requires strong leadership, and is the heart of what we do.
Check out the video below, created this Spring. Taking on this project required further developing our hybrid animation skills, creating plenty of new opportunities. Krystal and Laura, our Producer and Partnership Director, even got big breaks as actors in the Our Process video.
There are countless ways to be a good leader, and we are lucky to have so many amazing leaders at Next Day Animations in every single seat. Our bottom-up leadership philosophy means we have a thriving organizational tree, ready to grow and adapt to the changing winds!
Reach our team today to talk about leadership – or your next great idea getting turned into an explainer video! Click here or call 202-747-0404.
