Culture @ NTR Lab: bonding

Our company loves company events. We have regular monthly pizza parties to celebrate colleagues’ birthdays, guitar playing parties, as well as others kinds of entertainment, such as visiting an extreme park, going to restaurants, etc.

No matter the event, the most important thing is that we do it together. It is typical for us to create a spreadsheet and discuss organizational issues for a forthcoming event.

This summer we also had some outdoors gatherings. Two of the most recent ones were held in Moscow, for our headquarters staff, and the other in Tomsk, for the development staff.

COMPANY PARTY IN MOSCOW – AUGUST 9, 2018

By Marat Pukita, HR:

“We decided to meet just like that, because it’s summer and because there are a lot of new employees in Moscow and we wanted to introduce them to each other in an informal, friendly atmosphere of communication and light sports.

We decided to hold a small company party on a weekday, since on weekends everyone with family leaves Moscow for their cottage or spends time with their families.

We wanted to keep it local, so we chose a place just a 15 minute drive from the office in a picturesque park, on the shore of a large pond.

The main entertainment was paintball and everyone had a wonderful time shooting their colleagues and covering them in paint. Along with paintball people could play volleyball and badminton.

But a party isn’t a party without food and the food was wonderful, catered by a well-known chef. There were various shish kebabs, sliced meat and fish, magnificent meat and fish salads, fruit and good Georgian wine.

The games, food and (of course) wine created a relaxed, mellow atmosphere that encouraged everyone to mingle and talk.

Our people really enjoyed themselves; it was comfortable and not stressful. The fact that we were in a separate house was especially good. It gave us the privacy to not only talk shop, but to explore other subjects while listening to excellent jazz music.

We chose place for party in the city, so it was easy for everyone to get home. Otherwise the whole holiday would be spoiled by a long, tiring journey home after a good wonderful party with colleagues. Afterwards, everyone was happy and glad for the time spent in nature, so close to the office.

Management felt it was a success, too. It is important to give our people a sense of belonging to one company whose competitive advantage is goodwill and respectful democracy, i.e., not imposing their values and ideology, but creating conditions where it’s OK for everyone to be themselves.”

Moscow party post 1Can’t hide from the boss, that’s him on the left.

Moscow party post 2Let the games begin! Tatiana, Head of Mobile Development; Alexander, Python Developer; Nick, CEO; Pavel, Java Developer.

Moscow party post 3Paintball briefing: shoot to spatter. From left to right: Pavel, Senior Android Developer; Alexander, Python Developer; Pavel, Java Developer; Nick, CEO; Dmitry, Xamarin Developer; Denis, iOS Team Lead; Tatiana, Head of Mobile Development; Leonid, .NET Developer; Evgeniy – CTO.

COMPANY PARTY IN TOMSK – JULY 26, 2018

By Elena Nimchenko, Business Development Manager:

“This year our traditional summer get-together took place in a picturesque location in the village of Aksenovo, 30-40 kilometers from the town. It was a small recreation center, with a large wooden house, bathhouse, summer house, and a fenced area on the shore of the lake. Every company event is special and our execs from Moscow make it a point to come to many of them. This time was no exception.

First we went on a boat ride. The lake is shallow and very warm, even in the middle it was easy to reach the bottom. It was so close that we thought we might even run aground. Wonderful water lilies grow on the lake and the whole view is absolutely mesmerizing. We swam in the lake and watched the geese and turkeys that were walking around.

As people began arriving at the recreation center we went to the bathhouse. There is nothing better after a week of hard work and also nothing better to strengthen company spirit than the bathhouse. The very place for intimate conversations and establishing contacts within your own company.

Afterwards, the classic scenario; local chefs cooked a huge vat of amazing pilaf and we enjoyed a wonderful feast, gathering in the summer house with a hookah, sunbathing on deckchairs, swimming in the lake. When it was closer to evening we fired-up the BBQs and made and grilled our own shish kebabs. All this in very pleasant company with familiar faces.

It was Thursday (for some reason many of our company parties happen on Thursday), somewhere around 10 pm we slowly began leaving, feeling rested, de-stressed and well prepared for new work and more achievements.”

Tomsk party post 1In the middle of the lake. Konstantin, Business Development Manager; Elena, Business Development Manager; Stanislav,  Research & Development.

Tomsk party post 2Riding a pedal boat. Victor, Tester (left); Alexandr, Java Developer (front); Grigory,  Android Developer (right).

Tomsk party post 3View from the lake. Bath house, house and summer house

Tomsk party post 4View from the roof of the house.

It’s so good to work at company, with a great culture, that really cares about you.

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