Last month, the entire Advancing Analytics team were invited to our summer away day, in Lisbon. This was our first international away day, following the opening of our Lisbon office and the onboarding of our largest group of 8 new starters, including our colleagues from Portugal. It presented the perfect opportunity to get everyone together from our (rapidly expanding!) team, share our vision for the future and reinforce what makes Advancing Analytics such a special place to work.
We’re a remote-first company. With offices in London, Exeter, Manchester and now our Lisbon office, these smaller offices present the perfect opportunity to work together and meet in person. Starting at a new company before covid meant going into the office, shaking hands with most of the company and sitting next to people day-to-day. Remote working has shifted this, increasing the talent pool beyond people within commute of an office, and giving people freedom to work the best way for them. However, this is at the expense of the ‘water cooler moments’, the chats about your cats, your weekend, the weather, the lunch break chats, the moments that are often never scheduled on calls; the friendships.
As a business, we're aware that the benefits of remote working come with a trade-off, so we have multiple ways to counter this, from scheduled ‘strictly social’ calls, to Databricks meet ups and office space to work together. But a few times a year, we go one step further; we bring the entire company together for in-person away days.
The Lisbon office combines rich history with a thriving technology and innovation ecosystem and access to the fastest growing centre for data, engineering and AI talent.
Inspired by Portugal's heritage as a nation of explorers, our away day aligned closely with this history - with a maritime exploration and fleet theme - linking our expansion into Portugal with themes of discovery, ambition and new horizons perfectly.
It created an inspiring setting for collaboration and growth. Colleagues from different competencies, functions and locations were intentionally mixed into crews, assigned roles and encouraged to contribute to a collective journey throughout the day. In teams, we assigned our fleet pennant had dedicated crew roles and took part in collaborative team activities. It reinforced a simple but important message: regardless of where we work, we're all part of the same team and in no time at all wider conversations opened and new connections were made.
Our away days are designed with several objectives in mind, and Lisbon was no exception. To make the most of our time together, we focused on:
For me personally, I’ve not seen colleagues in person since I started at Advancing Analytics 8 months ago. Thanks to the away day, I met over 80 colleagues across 3 days.
I have so many great moments from the away day, most surprising was the number of times colleagues said they knew me from my blogs and podcast - making it all worthwhile. As I was standing in the queue for an Uber, I got chatting to someone I had seen earlier in the day but not spoken to. It turns out that they were also at my old consultancy but because we were all remote, we had never spoken. We had shared stories from that time and instantly bonded.
Data engineering can seem like a small world at times. You often end up working with old colleagues again. Away days like this give you the time to actually reconnect with them, especially in remote roles.
The activities, food and Portuguese sunshine certainly helped. But what people tend to remember most from events like these are the conversations.
Whether it was meeting someone for the first time, reconnecting with colleagues from previous projects, sharing experiences with new starters or simply spending time together away from day-to-day demands, the real value came from the relationships built and strengthened throughout the trip. This theme is echoed in our attendee feedback, where networking, social interaction and getting to know colleagues were consistently highlighted as the most valuable parts of the away day.
As Advancing Analytics continues to expand across borders, the concept of many ships travelling under a common banner provided a powerful symbol of one company, one culture and one destination.
Since coming back, I’ve felt more ‘Advancing’ than before. I feel part of the company, whilst still working from home. I have more laughs with people outside my project. Whilst I love being a remote-based engineer, I can work from home, the office, client site, or even the beach, wherever is most productive for me.
But I do miss the team bonding only an office can provide. That’s why I loved the away day, not only funded fun, but just a chance to meet people I only know through Teams. Would I fly to Lisbon every week? No way. But am I looking forward to the next away day? You bet!
As we continue to grow across locations, disciplines and markets, investing in those connections remains one of the most important things we can do. The setting may have been Lisbon, but the lasting impact was bringing our people closer together as one team.
We have many open roles on our careers site, if this sounds like a culture you want to work in! Check them out here.