We’re diving into the second half of our Core Values in Action series! ApplyBoard has spent 2023 celebrating our six core values and the ApplyBoardians who live them every day.
One of these ApplyBoardians is Ankit Agarwal, Senior Manager, Application Journey. Ankit exemplifies our sixth core value of Making Work Fun. His manager, Director of Customer Service, Anuj Mittal, said it best—sharing that Ankit’s “team members are absolutely relaxed working with him, and that makes him a perfect candidate for our core value of Making Work Fun.” When people are relaxed around others, they’re more likely to feel like they can be themselves and have some fun.
Keep reading and check out the video below to learn what Making Work Fun means at ApplyBoard and how Ankit makes it happen.
Making Work Fun at ApplyBoard
At ApplyBoard, we believe in Making Work Fun and encourage ApplyBoardians to enjoy themselves while at work. To us, this core value means working hard and playing hard, celebrating each other’s successes, and promoting cross-functional relationships and collaboration. From ApplyClubs, where like-minded ApplyBoardians come together virtually over a shared passion or experience, to our epic table tennis and Mario Kart tournaments, we’re always thinking of new ways to make work fun!
What Making Work Fun Means to Ankit
Ankit has been working as a Senior Manager, Application Journey since 2021. One of his main responsibilities is ensuring that the application processing at ApplyBoard goes smoothly, he also shared that “one of the critical roles I play at ApplyBoard is to maintain cross-functional relationships with the other teams to ensure we’re able to keep our customers happy all the time.”
A big way Ankit maintains these cross-functional relationships is through organizing company parties, and multi-team team outings and lunches. According to his manager, Anuj, Ankit does a great job of this. Anuj shared that “Ankit is one of those managers who takes out his team very often to lunches, events, and outings. And that has brought the team really close as one tight unit.”
Even while managing a team that’s geographically separated, Ankit ensures his team members enjoy a fun and collaborative work environment.
When asked how he does this, he shared that “beyond organizing events myself, I encourage my teams to plan outings and team lunches, just to ensure that they’re motivated and able to keep the workspace fun.” One of the most recent lunches Ankit organized was actually for the entire CX Journey team in India. Ankit has helped his team have fun through bringing them together that also increases collaboration and promotes cross-functional relationship building.
Learn about two ApplyBoardians who go above and beyond to Deliver an A+ Customer Experience.
How Ankit is Making Work Fun
“Since I’ve been at ApplyBoard, I’ve been a guru party planner,” Ankit shared. These skills have made him the go-to person for putting on events. This past February, Ankit was the head organizer for the party of all parties: ApplyBash. This event brought together teams from the entire India office for a night of fun and entertainment. Ankit believes that ApplyBash provided an opportunity for ApplyBoardians to enjoy themselves and encouraged people from different teams to get to know each other. He went on to say that these events “allow team members to engage better. And when they do that, they’re well-collaborated and more motivated. Ultimately, that brings a very positive culture to the overall work environment.”
Another way Ankit is Making Work Fun is through celebrating other ApplyBoardians’ successes. Anuj shared an example of this with us. One of Ankit’s team members received an appreciation email from one of our customers, and Ankit waited until the team member was at lunch to place a handwritten appreciation note on their desk. Anuj shared that actions like this “allows team members to truly feel appreciated and proud.” We couldn’t agree more!
We’re extremely fortunate to have team members like Ankit. His efforts are what make ApplyBoard a place where people are excited to come to work, and they help foster an environment where individual team members feel seen and celebrated. Thank you for everything you do to make work fun, Ankit!
Interested in becoming an ApplyBoardian? Check out our open roles on the ApplyBoard Careers page.
