Post by DEVnet

We love remote work. 💻 But sometimes, the fastest route to real impact still goes through the client’s front door. 🚪 Here’s why and how we’re reconnecting in person. Status quo: A hybrid zoo 🧩 🔹 Hybrid clients: We work for more than 20 clients (from world leading insurers to banking startups and energy giants). Our internal survey about work from home showed that all our clients use a hybrid work model: Staff members work from home at least two days per week and sometimes almost entirely. 🔹 Hybrid DEVnet: All our consultants also use a hybrid model and work between three possible locations: from home, in one of our four offices (in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Wroclaw) or at our clients’ offices. Challenge: New Complexity of bringing people together 🔄 🔹 Treasured team ups: Amidst this hybrid diversity, there is one common feedback from our clients and our staff: Face-to-face collaboration remains highly beneficial for at least three things: (1) building relationships and team spirit (2) sharing ideas and knowhow (3) solving thornier challenges. 🔹 Obstacles on the way: But these personal exchanges have become trickier to arrange and less frequent because: (1) Setting up meetings with people who work remotely is logistically difficult. (2) Some clients have cut back on office space and external visits to improve efficiency and security. Solution: Proactive engagement in tailor-made workshops 🤝 To maximise the benefits of personal encounters, we proactively facilitate meetups with our clients in two ways – internally and externally: 🔹 Invite: We arrange work sessions in our offices. One example was a seminar with 12 colleagues of Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall with input from both sides. It included technological deep dives on data analytics, best practices in data modelling and the role of enterprise architecture in data science, all rounded up with dinners at Augustiner beer garden and an Italian restaurant. 🍽️ 🔹 Explore: We also organise workshops at our clients’ locations. These are more like one- or two-day mini conferences for project groups with a mix of business and social aspects: collaboration on technical issues; talks about trends such as data strategy in the age of GenAI; assessing clients’ digital maturity and finally, evening events for socialising. 🌆 The feedback of our clients and our consultants has been enthusiastic. 🙌 Teams have grown closer together, exchanges of practical tips & tricks have measurably boosted progress and joint ideas have sprung up to foster collaboration. So, we are already designing new meetups. What experiences do you make in combining the benefits of remote and personal interaction? Do you have tips to share? Or would you be interested in such workshops? #DEVnet #InPersonCollaboration #Workshop