The first month of this new year is almost gone. So, before we get caught in the rush of new projects and adventures, we want to take a break and reflect. The year 2018 has been an amazing year, and we are grateful to all of our partners and friends who have walked the path with us. Needless to say that without them, we wouldn’t celebrate our 7th year of existence. So, we want to take this opportunity and thank all of the amazing people we have worked with or are working with. They gave us the chance to do great things and we couldn’t be more proud of being a part of it all.
However, as humbled and thankful as we are, this post is, in fact, a thank you to our team and family, the Wiredelta family. They are the wheels of this machine and Wiredelta works the way it does only because of their hard work and commitment.
Any company is only as good as the people in it
Historically, humans have always been social beings living in groups, or “packs”. Even from an early evolutionary time, we understood that power stands in numbers. In other words, we have more chances of survival if we stick together. As a result, we developed settlements, colonies and, later on, cities to keep close and keep safe.
Over time, we became exceptionally skilled at working together and using our combined strength, we conquered Earth. Needless to say, a factor that will probably never change in our behaviour, is the pack ideology. We will always rely on collaborating with others, combining our skills and knowledge for the greater purpose.
Ditch the “divide and conquer”
Much like colonies or tribes, companies also rely on the collaboration of people. Sadly, most times we forget how to be a team, and end up working in silos. As a result, people find themselves in the “9 to 5 jobs” that we all dread.
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However, as companies grow and start expanding they divide into different departments, and eventually in different offices. The bigger the company, the more spread, and communication simply breaks. Evidently, this situation cannot be avoided, however, it can be mended.
Embrace the “unite and conquer”
Wiredelta is far from a big corporation, but in the past few years, we have been growing at an incredible speed. Today we are grateful to have a team of over 50 people in 3 offices in Denmark and India. But what we pride ourselves most with is the fact that we are an actual team. In fact, we consider ourselves more than a team. We are a family.
The key to our successful collaboration is in our mindset. Wiredelta is based on culture and growth, empowerment and acceptance. When our two co-founders started Wiredelta, they were strangers in a distant country, with a culture opposite to anything they knew. They began Wiredelta’s journey with nothing but each other, determination and hope. Soon enough though, they found amazing people who wanted to join them. People with similar drives and desires to learn and become so much more, and Wiredelta, as we know it today, was born.
We are not a team, we are a family
Today, we see every wheel of our system just as important. We know that if one of us fails, we all fail. This results in the desire to work together instead of alongside, and even more importantly, connect on a personal level. We are more than a team, we are a family and we take care of each other.
To ensure we maintain our relationships strong and happy, we try to engage as much as we can. In other words, we take every opportunity to laugh, play and enjoy time together.
Team Building
Twice a year, Wiredelta organizes special parties to celebrate our achievements over the year, the team and simply unwind. During these celebrations, we like to try different traditional team-building exercises.
This year, during our Summer party, our CEO, Mark Denker had the fun idea to play rugby with a frisbee. We were encouraged to work as a team in a challenging physical competition. No one got hurt, but half of us couldn’t walk properly for a week and we were a better team for it. The moral of the story is that we work fine as a team but we need to work out more.
During the Christmas Party our CFO, Aske Buemann tried something a bit more rudimentary. We started with a simple but very entertaining game of Pictionary, where the biggest challenge was reading each other’s writing. Trust us when we say, doctors would have trouble reading a developers’ writing.
After the “warm up”, Aske convinced most of us to participate in a trust-building exercise. He blindfolded us and made us walk around aimlessly, while he was “setting up the course” by putting obstacles in front of us.
According to Aske, aside from trust, the exercise also builds teamwork and coordination. However, this last activity made us question our management and fear for our limbs. But, we were bribed with amazing food and nice drinks, so we crossed that as a fun activity and moved on.
Good conversation comes with good food
Of course, we can’t rely on team building only twice a year. That would never work. So lunch is the perfect time of the day to reconnect and get back in touch with our coworkers. But, during our workday, we are all busy with our tasks and coordinating lunch can be tricky. Which is why Wiredelta organizes team lunches for all three offices to give us the incentive to sit down, take a break and talk to each other.
“The joy on the face of the innocent” – Infamous lunches, by Wiredelta
However, these meals serve other purposes as well. Wiredelta welcomes many interns over the year in every office, and in our experience, they tend to be intimidated by the new experience. So, the team lunches are the perfect opportunity for them to get to know the team and become a part of it.
TGIF!
As fun as lunch is, we are always a bit pressed by the clock as our minds are on our tasks and we tend to hurry back to work. So, what better way to unwind than a Friday bar? As it is also the tradition with Danish companies, Wiredelta organizes a Friday bar once a month where we play games, have a drink and relax.
Most times, people might be fine with hanging out only once a month. But that is not the case with Wiredelta. We like to spend time together and we have fun when we do. So, we don’t want to wait a month for the chance to mingle. Which is why we take the initiative and organize our own Friday bars and “play dates”.
Challenging one other
Of course, during our Friday bars, we don’t spend all our time drinking and talking to each other. We also do more mature and serious things, like playing brain-teasing games to keep us sharp and focused. Our most favorites are Bears vs. Babies, Unstable Unicorns and Exploding Kittens. All very, very serious, mature games, perfect for team building.
In fact, there are so many benefits from these exercises. Build trust and workplace confidence by blocking your boss’ action 4 times in a row without getting fired. Improve your communication and patience by still talking to your coworker who stole all your adorable baby unicorns. Learn that failure is sometimes an option after you lose your bear army in the saddest battle with an army of babies. And the list goes on. All good things!
Celebrating the good things in life
We think that the most crucial part of being a team is being there during important parts of our lives. For example, this past year, our awesome technical lead in Coimbatore, Rajarathinam got married! Hence, we had the opportunity of celebrating this amazing event as a family.
Once again, Raja, we wish you and your beautiful wife a happy, long life together and we hope all your wishes come true!
At the end of the day
In the end, we want to say thank you to our amazing team one more time. They have been working so hard to keep the wheels running as smooth as they do. So, thanks to them for being a part of our family and caring as much as they do. We wouldn’t be here without them.
If you want to learn more about our team’s incredible work, read some of our cases. In each and every one of them, you will find awesome technologies combined together to create beautiful solutions.
If you are just looking for inspiration, check out some of our other posts. Every other week we will bring you something fresh that is sure to entertain you and teach you something new at the same time!
