Since the beginning of June, the Softagram and SSA Digi teams have been working together in a new office. In fact, we now share the bigger office, located nearby the river and the Oulu city center. It’s a perfect opportunity to improve ourselves, and it’s a fresh step for everyone in both companies!
The new office
Before moving day, we had met everyone and organized ourselves to move in the most efficient way. We did the move together just before the weekend, with everyone helping as much as they could. Now everything is in place to set up a real community of developers in Oulu: the Riverfront office is open!
We now have a flexible work environment with more space, making it a perfect place to welcome our dynamic team. We hope that the new office will bring not only renewed energies but also a new inspiration to all the team members.
Thanks to our change of location, it’s now possible for a part of the team to come by bike because the office is more accessible for them. Instead of 40-minute by bus, their commutes have has turned into a 10-minute bike ride!
One of the Softagram offices
The lunchroom, where it’s also possible to work or have meetings. There are also fruits available for everyone.
An international team
Even though we already had a multicultural team, it’s now even more international! It represents a new chance to share something about our home countries and to see the differences between work cultures. The office team is composed of Chinese, Thaï, Vietnamese, Colombian, Finnish, American, and French people. It allows discovering different ways of working and recognizing different behaviors.
For Nicolas, a Colombian back-end developer at SSADigi, it feels like a nice atmosphere and the international team allows him to feel integrated because he’s not the only foreigner in the company. Actually, there are five Colombians in the office!
Nicolas hopes that everyone will talk to everyone - it represents an opportunity not to be strangers. He has been working remotely at SSADigi for several months so it’s a total change of environment.
“What I really like about the new office is sharing the place with SSA Digi. A week after we've both moved to our new Riverside location, I feel like we're already building a tight-knit community. I'm looking forward to seeing how our teams will continue developing this relationship in the future.” says Michael Watkins - ML/AI developer at Softagram
For Quynh, one Vietnamese front-end developer at Softagram, the new office has more space and the atmosphere is better. She feels more comfortable to work and the dividers between desk make the work more private.
“For the next few months, I would suggest having a hang together day/meetup, e. g once/twice a month!”
Last week we have already celebrated the beginning of summer with some activities together with SSADigi and Softagram!
A place to learn and to find support
There are multiple interests in sharing an office: the goal is to have a positive atmosphere to share with everyone. Having a nice place to work allows for a motivating work-setting. To boost exchanges and avoid loneliness at work, it’s also an opportunity to talk to people with the same interests and to extend one’s network. The goal is to create a place of mutual assistance for developers, where it’s possible to improve its knowledge, which is why we want to set up some meetings for developers.
Many desks are electronic, allowing people to stand or sit however it’s most comfortable for them!
Our relaxing “code cave” can also be used for small meetings
So, what do you think of our new office?
Mathilde
A French student doing her internship in Finland
