Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

A year ago we started an employee-led group called Capstrat Green. Our purpose was to collectively understand sustainability. Most important for our professional lives, we have to understand how to communicate sustainability. We hope to know the sacrifices individuals may need to make and the expected outcomes. Then, understand the balance needed between the two.

This living experiment learning has simple objectives.

• We seek to help our clients better understand how sustainability plays into Corporate Social Responsibility by being a living example.

• We want to inspire our colleagues to think creatively, yet pragmatically when it comes to solving complex problems.

In short, sustainability is the ultimate in step ahead thinking. We’re required to learn, explore, analyze, refine and implement solutions that will have a guaranteed impact on our company’s culture, our client’s business and the environment. After determining our objectives here’s how we set it up:

Establisha cross-functional core team and a management representative.

We have representatives from all areas of our company, including accounting. We determined early that measurement is key. The team leads our company to find creative ideas that can be practically implemented. It’s worth noting, this is not planned as a Capstrat cost savings initiative. It’s reasonable to assume that conserving environmental resources may also have an impact on our spending. However, we are looking for the biggest impact we can make with the smallest sacrifice. Again, we want to create sustainable solutions to learn from and use to inspire others.

Solicit sustainable ideas from colleagues. The criteria are fairly simple.

Ideas must be implemented within reason. The team reviews ideas for:

• Expected impact versus cost to implement

• Ease to implement and adopt

• Results that can be documented

•Originality

Distribute rewards and recognition as appropriate to drive behavioral change.

The mission is to drive creative thinking with a purpose. Admittedly, that’s easy in a culture like Capstrat’s. Our passion for the world around us is hard to contain. The Green Team helps us balance all of the fantastic suggestions.