Here at Shield Safety HQ, we have recently opened a brand-new floor of our Manchester’s Northern Quarter offices. This is now our fifth floor here as a result of our rapid growth (which shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.)
Something you might not know about us is that we really live and breathe our brand, which is why our strong brand identity is reflected everywhere in the new office, with a few monkeys added in!
Aside from looking great, one of the main reasons for the new look office is to incorporate the learning from the agile transformation our Software Team has gone through in the last year.
We’ve been using elements of agile methodologies for some time, however, by fully adopting the approach, the team were able to improve efficiencies and ways of working. Just a few features we’ve introduced are:
Kanban
Here at Shield Safety we recognise that Kanban boards are actually more than just a board, they’re a way of working that results in lean product delivery. The boards are an integral tool for us used for optimising the flow of work by visualising status of tickets, progress made and issues faced.
By adopting this approach, and working through a process, the team are focussed on the work at hand – which leads to great results.
Collaborative layout
The Software Team now sit in squads in their new office, made up of a development, UX design, QA and project management. We’ve found that, not only has the working environment improved, collaboration has also increased such as pair programming.
Breakout spaces
There are two breakout spaces and several other work spaces – including the kitchen, demo areas and huddle spots – available at all times allow for colleagues to work together on any aspect of a project at any time.
In these spaces, we hold frequent meetings such as sprint planning sessions, team retrospectives and feature demos to ensure we are communicating well with our stakeholders as well as within our teams.
Parties
We ‘cut the ribbon’ with the new office with a few glasses of pop, and this is no rare occasion here at Shield Safety. We have Friday drinks every week and there are many events in the social calendar throughout the year. Our new office is a great space for hosting these events.
A few extras
In addition to the fridge full of Friday drinks, fruit bowls and free breakfast, we also like to give our Shield Safety colleagues a break from all their hard work once in a while… enter the games consoles. Fancy a game?
Would you like to become part of the rapidly growing team? We have a range of job roles available across Software, Environmental Health and Customer Success. Simply visit http://shieldsafety.co.uk/aboutus/careers/ to find out more.
The information contained in this blog article has been created for marketing purposes and is not official guidance and should not be used as a substitute for official Food Safety, Fire Safety and Health & Safety advice. Shield Safety take no responsibility if the information in the blog article is used to form part of a safety management system or used to form part of any legal or regulatory compliance for your business. For official guidance and to engage with Shield Safety services please do call our team on 020 3740 3744 or email hello@shieldsafety.co.uk.
