What's the Work-Life Balance Like at Vivid Seats?

Explain the evolution of hybrid work at Vivid Seats. What did different stages look like?

As a ticket marketplace company, we strongly believe in the power of experiencing live events together, so it’s only natural to look to replicate energizing experiences for our employees. 

Our evolution to hybrid was incremental, taking a test-and-learn approach as businesses and events reopened in 2021. We started with an optional nudge to come into the office and incentivized in-office attendance with catered lunches, games, intentional collaboration activities, town halls and social events. As a critical mass of employees saw the value and engagement, attendance became more organic. 

From there, we set expectations on what days would be in-office days to help teams organize their work with the teams they collaborated with most. Today, teams are in the office three days a week with their designated office days matching those of the teams they collaborate with the most.

What is one lesson you have learned since the start of your hybrid work setup?

We are always learning and adapting our programs that support our people. We learned we were able to amplify the benefits of hybrid work by structuring certain types of work while in-office, and other types while remote. Early in our transition, we learned that some employees felt more productive when tasks — such as heads-down coding or research — were completed at home. 

Based on this feedback, we put together resources for teams to rethink their work norms. Team meetings, one-on-ones, strategy sessions, pairing or onboarding are great in-person interactions, so we suggest that these types of work are scheduled during in-office days. This leaves more individual work and longer periods of focus for at-home days.

Equally important is communicating why we believe in a hybrid approach and how it benefits both employees and the business. When we know our purpose for coming into the office is to interact with one another, we start to form habits that build connection, trust and deeper business understanding. We know we are successful when connections that are made at a catered lunch or social event turn into learning something new about the business or create a deeper professional partnership.

What do you think is the secret behind your success when it comes to hybrid work? Why do employees like it?

When we think about the employee experience, we intentionally build programs that can flex to a variety of interests and needs. As a company, we can provide foundations: which days are in office, hybrid tools to be successful, a modern workspace, engaging in-person activities, etc. These foundations are meant to be built upon, catering to the unique needs and motivations of our employees. 

We want to empower teams to own how they work in the way that makes them most successful. Ultimately, it’s our employees’ actions — how they engage, ask questions and learn, mentor others, share perspective and have fun — that really creates an environment that allows us to take full advantage of a hybrid structure. 

To further enable our hybrid work structure, we’ve heavily invested in our physical office space with a brand-new Chicago headquarters and renovations across several of our other offices. Office designs have prioritized collaborative and interactive spaces that are built to inspire and connect — just as live events do for the passionate fans we serve.