Introducing
The workplace has changed and will never be the same again. Remote, distributed and hybrid working brings many benefits in terms of flexibility and efficiency but it can also weaken the informal social bonds that come from impromptu, unplanned chats in the office, the “water cooler” moments, the canteen conversations – we might underestimate the benefits but these interactions really matter in a work environment.
Kantin wants to help bring the casual discussions and the banter, back to the workplace, regardless of where you happen to be. These non-work related interactions are actually really important for businesses. They build social bonds, friendships and a real sense of belonging by allowing people to get to know their colleagues a bit better. That casual, canteen chatter could also be the thing that sparks the “Big Idea” that drives innovation, solves problems, and makes new connections. Serendipity matters and businesses need to re-enable it.
What is Kantin?
Kantin is a voice centric mobile app that enables work colleagues get to know each other better and build stronger social connections, which can have a knock-on beneficial impact on the overall business. It addresses some of the specific challenges associated with remote and distributed teams which are now exaggerated further in the new hybrid and remote working norm.
The name KANTIN is a phonetic play on the word "canteen" and Kantin's goal is to facilitate the type of spontaneous, unscheduled, social conversations that would typically happen in a co-located office environment and most likely in the canteen. These conversations would mostly happen where people gather informally and Kantin is now bringing this to people who are working from home and across geographies.
In those traditional settings, such as the canteen, you might find yourself sitting with colleagues you work closely with, colleagues you share interests with, or just random colleagues who just happen to be at the table when you sat down. We have tried to recreate those three types of interactions in Kantin, by using tables as a gathering point and topics as a discovery mechanism. Tables are used to host audio discussions and tables can be both topic driven or generic in nature where anything goes - just like in the real world.
Tables can be permanent and setup by the admin to capture some elements of the culture of an organisation or they can be temporary and setup by anyone and they then disappear as soon as the conversation ends.