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A few months ago I wrote about why we chose the startup life and why our team took the chance to work at a startup rather than at any other bigger company. At the time I was pretty new at advertio, having only been working there for a few weeks, but the teamwork and effort were already visible.
Now that I have been here for a while, I can still say the same. We are a group of tech-savvy misfits who believe in the product we are building and we have got each other’s backs throughout the entire process. Yes, there are days that are more difficult than others, when we work a full day and at the end of it we don’t really know what we’ve been doing for the last eight hours, but the good days outweigh the bad ones by a wide margin, so we carry on coding, designing and strategising.
Over the last six months I have also witnessed new people coming in and others leaving for new projects; throughout all these changes the team stayed focussed and worked hard on improving our product and preparing some exciting updates. (More information coming very soon!) At the same time, as I witnessed all of this at a distance (I work remotely for 80% of the month as I live in a different city — you can check out my post about this here), I started becoming aware of some aspects that go to make up our company culture.
#1 — Communication is key
Even though we are still a small team, it is important to make sure we all trust each other and are not afraid to ask questions and make suggestions. To guarantee everyone’s voice is heard we encourage each person to write down three positive and three negative things about the previous two weeks, which we then present to each other.
This enables us to find out how people are feeling and what are some of the common pains the team is experiencing, in order to then see how we can improve. This is also a great chance to let others know what we are grateful for in our workplace and what we like about advertio. At the same time, we all get along very well so if something is bothering us we feel comfortable speaking up and not waiting for that specific meeting to let our voices be heard.
#2 — Spending time together
I keep hearing people say that if one third of our lives is spent working, we should try to make the most of the time we are not doing that, and I agree. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also try to enjoy the time we spend working and that we shouldn’t make our jobs more dynamic and fun.
At advertio, we believe in hard work and staying focussed on the tasks ahead, but we also want people to enjoy themselves and create bonds. To do so, we try to get together as much as we can to watch a movie, go out to lunch or even going on a boat trip.
This allows us to become closer and to welcome new team members in a more relaxed environment. Also, the better you know someone the easier it is to work with them because you start finding out what they are like and how to adapt your work style to theirs.
#3 — With great power, comes great responsibility
I mentioned in the “Why we chose the startup life” post that I am given a lot of freedom here — maybe even more than the rest of the team because I work remotely. At the time I also said that I turned that freedom into responsibility because I did not want to let the team down, especially because they’re not with me every day and don’t know what I’m doing at all times.
While this is very true for me, it is also true for the rest of the team. Everyone has a say on what tasks they need to complete and can work from home when they need to. This brings an increased sense of responsibility, because when you can decide what to do, you inevitably become answerable for that decision.
#4 — We want to keep growing
Not only do we need to grow our team, but we really do want to. Each addition to the team is also an addition to our personal growth and we all learn a lot from each other.
For example, I’ve learned from Rui, our growth hacker, the importance of testing and trying different scenarios even when I thought the path I was taking was the best. At the same time, I’ve learned from Ana, our designer, how you can turn vague ideas into visual assets that everyone understands. And Diogo, our project manager, has taught me that even when you are under a lot of stress and have countless tasks, you can always take some time to be nice to everyone.
These are just a few examples from my personal experience and I can easily say I’ve learned something from each of my peers, even those who have just arrived, which serves to show why we love welcoming new people with different nationalities, backgrounds and experiences that can all be translated into the way we work.
With that in mind, I’m glad to say we have a few job opportunities open and are looking for people to join us in our quest to improve the way people advertise online. If you want to be part of the team, check out our openings: https://jobs.advertio.com/
Lastly, if you need help getting started with online advertising, let me know!
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