Kindred for Work
How a Kindred circle works
Six colleagues. Four guided weeks. Written for both sides — what the organisation does, and what it actually feels like to be one of the six.
Six colleagues
Four weeks
One circle
The premise
Same company.
A bigger human network.
From invitation to continuation
A small, deliberate beginning
The company creates the conditions. Kindred guides the first four weeks. The circle belongs to the people in it.
Step 1
The company invites employees
You choose who is invited — a location, a function mix, a graduate intake, or everyone who joined recently. Taking part is always voluntary, and nobody is enrolled without opting in.
Step 2
The employee completes a short work profile
A few minutes: function, location, tenure, working arrangement and a handful of human interests. No age, no gender, nothing personal an employer has no business collecting.
Step 3
Kindred forms a circle of six
Circles are composed to create useful organisational bridges — different functions, different locations, a mix of tenure — with enough common ground that conversation comes easily.
Step 4
Four guided weeks
Week 1 meets the people behind the job titles. Week 2 finds common ground. Week 3 moves to voice notes. Week 4 turns the circle into something that can carry on.
Step 5
Kindred steps away
The programme ends after four weeks. The relationships can continue through ordinary work channels — a coffee, a lunch, a virtual catch-up or a group chat.
Step 6
The employer receives aggregate reporting
Participation, completion, relationship outcomes and 30-day continuation — at programme level only. Never individual responses, voice notes or anything attributable to one person.
Inside the circle
The four weeks, from the inside
Everything is asynchronous. Colleagues answer when it suits them, then see the circle’s responses once they have shared their own.
- Week 1
Meet the people behind the job titles
One short written prompt. Share your own response to unlock the circle’s answers.
- Week 2
Find what you have in common
Interests, weekends and the things that exist outside the working day.
- Week 3
Hear the people behind the profiles
A short voice note adds tone and personality to the conversation.
- Week 4
Take the relationship beyond Kindred
The circle considers how it wants to stay in touch once the programme closes.
Circle composition
Useful difference.
Enough common ground.
The aim is to introduce colleagues who would not normally get to know one another, while giving the conversation somewhere natural to begin.
- Different functions, so the circle bridges silos
- Different locations where the programme calls for it
- A mix of tenure, so new starters meet established colleagues
- Shared human interests as common ground — never the main driver
- Direct manager and report kept apart wherever that is known
Organisational diversity first
Interests help the conversation begin.
Privacy by design
What happens in a circle stays in the circle.
Kindred measures whether relationships form. It does not monitor the relationships themselves.
Employers see programme-level aggregate outcomes only — never private prompt responses, voice notes, reaction identities or attributable survey answers.
Shared inside the circle
- First name and work details
- Interests and a short introduction
- Weekly responses and voice notes
Never shared with the employer
- Private prompt responses
- Voice notes or reaction identities
- Any answer attributable to one person
The practical details
Frequently asked
How much time does it take?
Around five to ten minutes a week, whenever suits the employee. There are no meetings to attend and no live sessions.
Is it mandatory?
No. Kindred only works if it feels voluntary. Employees opt in, and can step away at any point.
Can my manager see what I wrote?
No. Responses and voice notes are visible only to the five other people in your circle. Nobody outside the circle — including your manager, HR and Kindred operators running the programme — sees them.
Why six people?
Six provides several possible relationships while keeping the circle small and recognisable. It also means one quiet week does not stall the conversation.
Why does it stop after four weeks?
Because an open-ended programme becomes another recurring obligation. Kindred creates a deliberate beginning, then steps away so relationships can continue naturally.
Do we need to integrate anything?
Not for a pilot. No Slack or Teams app, no HR system integration, no single sign-on project and no directory sync.
The Kindred 60
Ready to run one?
Sixty employees. Ten circles. Four weeks. Measured properly.