Augury is committed to a hybrid work model. But we also recognize the magic that happens when the people we are working with come together to work in a shared space. Hence, according to the designer, Augury’s Creative Manager Adi Shaul, we organized our newly consolidated Israel office to maximize this magic.

New Realities

There’s been a lot of back-pedaling lately regarding companies getting their employees back to working in a physical office – the most ironic example being Zoom. And it’s certainly inspired some great phrases like “office peacocking” where employers desperately try to lure back their workers with outlandish perks such as food trucks or golf simulators.  

At Augury, we are following more of a middle path. We still recognize the advantages of remote work – in terms of its potential to improve workflow, adapt to the global nature of our company, and benefit the life/work balance. During the pandemic, we certainly adapted more quickly to this remote working – and partying – than most companies. However, we also recognize the advantages of shared workspace in terms of inspiring team camaraderie and innovation. 

We now believe our sweet spot for our Israel office, where much of our R&D team is based, is that we try to share physical space at least two days a week. 

Naturally, all employees are welcome to come as often as they want. Certainly our location in old downtown Haifa – near the ports, public transport and many clubs, cafes and restaurants – acts as an additional magnet for many.

– Teamwork – Collaboration – Creativity – Transparency – Building – Human Interaction –

What Makes The Optimum Office For Augury?

With this sweet spot in mind, we began our quest for the perfect office space with some core ideas about what we need to achieve. This was based on listening to the team and mapping out their needs. It came down to this:

·       It should be the beating heart of the company, where collaboration, creativity, innovation, and productivity converge to drive the company’s success.

·       It should be a physical representation of Augury – confidently saying: “This is us and this is our home.”

·       It should mirror Augury’s identity and create a unique and immersive experience for employees and visitors. It should be a comfortable place to not only work but also socialize. Welcome to Auguryville!

·       It should project and enhance Augury’s identity, vision, mission, culture, values, and conduct. 

·       It should allow for all of Augury’s employees to congregate simultaneously (Celebrations!). 

Built For Flexibility and Face-To-Face Interaction

Practically, the new office came down to creating productive workspaces while still providing an open public space. This comes down to providing space for at least half of the employees to conduct a full day of work, while still being able to host the whole team once a month for larger interactions. 

Clearly, we needed to facilitate all the necessary functions for both individual and group work. A specific quiet zone was established for deep work, which features double screens and doubly comfortable office chairs. For various modes of teamwork, we created highly flexible meeting rooms of various shapes, sizes, and potential configurations that anyone can book. 

We embraced an open concept for the second floor, which acts as the main space for meetups and community gatherings to promote social interaction. It includes a kitchen, all-around event hosting capabilities, and – my favorite area – a coffee bar. It’s still easy to work here – as long as you are open to the occasional pleasant interruption. However, this area was really designed as an on-site space that can be reconfigured to feel as if it’s an off-site experience – as we enjoyed recently during a recent 3-day strategic workshop for our leadership team.

A Work In Progress

The office has been open for a few months now. The feedback has been positive, but we will continue to adapt and change according to any shifting needs and desires. Currently, we have our eyes set on our scenic rooftop that seems begging for a terrace. After all, as a company, we also aim to go upward and onward. And who knows? Maybe there’s even room on the roof for a small peacock farm.

The post Optimizing Teamwork: Crafting An Office For Augury’s Hybrid Work Model appeared first on Augury.

You are enjoying your job in a company that fits you in terms of culture, impact, purpose and vision. Yet, you still want to grow and make a change – to write a new story for yourself. Go for it! I did. And while it was far from being a first-class voyage, I couldn’t be happier.

It All Starts Here…

We often assume that if you play by the rules and excel at your job, then one day the leadership team will offer you a shiny new role with a growth path and an amazing salary. It would then just be a matter of signing on the dotted line and choosing what over-priced champagne you want to pour for your well-earned celebration.. 

As it turns out, the mastery journey is usually more about proactiveness, patience and self-belief. It was for me anyway. It wasn’t easy but I love the fact that I did it. 

While I love where I’m at now, I also loved my previous role at Augury as Employee Experience Manager. As part of the People Team, I helped define the pillars around how the company worked – and which we used to support our hyper-growth of the last year. I also always tried to find new ways to bring the company closer together.

At one point however, I wanted to have a bigger impact by building things that were not just internal. As part of the People team, I was focused on the culture: the internal ‘users’ known as employees. Today as Creative Manager for the marketing team, I’m out to externalize Augury’s culture. I want to cut through all the noise and share with the world the story of what I love about this company. I want people – customers, partners, colleagues and future colleagues – to really connect with who we are and become part of bringing our mission to life. 

And I think a lot of people are in a similar position as I was: loving where they work but also wanting to do something new. This article is for them.

1) Be A High-Performing Team Member

To be ready for  another job, you should first be good at the job at hand. You are accountable for your own success. You must stay on track at all times – and if you aren’t, you communicate this and build out your work plan to recover. Always be transparent. Always be agile when faced with change. Always align yourself with company cadence, budget and needs. Always ask ‘Where do I stand and how can I improve?’ Always use the power of feedback to grow. As my previous manager once said: “It’s not just about success, it’s about growth.”

2) Be Proactive – Create Your Own Kickoff Role 

As an individual you must contribute to the larger culture. Build those relationships. It’s all about people – and this is especially true at Augury where the core value is ‘people first’. And your network will only help you as you fulfill a new role. I know a lot of people at my company – along with their partners, children, dogs and whether they are having a rough time or not. I’m there for them when they need me. So, they are there for me when I am facing a challenge, have a question, want to build something, or am just curious about how their role works within the company. 

You should also be proactive about building relationships with your manager and other leaders. Don’t be shy. Learn. Question it. Figure it out. Write it down. Wait for the right time to share it further.

3) Will | Skill | Company Needs

This is something I learned from the People team: “will, skill and company needs” as a way of measuring success and excellence at work. It’s about having the will to be working at a particular job – that you want to be there. It’s about having the skills, experience and personality to do the job well. At the same time, the job needs to fit with what the company needs at that particular time. But what happens when these three don’t align? Well, that’s where patience comes in…

4) Be Patient 

Patience and timing are very much part of this growth journey. Even if everyone’s on board with the plan there may be external circumstances that may be slowing down the process – say a merger, new leaders or an impending recession. It’s not always a clear path. It can all happen very fast – or very slow. Keep communicating your desires. Stay transparent. Remind the right people that you can learn on your feet. 

But if you are kept waiting for too long, you might consider asking your manager to do a pilot with another team for a certain project. As my current manager taught me, you need to be resilient in tough times: “Embrace the pressure and don’t surrender to stress.”

5) A Growth Mindset Will Help You Enjoy The Ride 

A growth mindset gives freedom. It means you can find inspiration in the success of others, learn from feedback, and grow your desire to learn and build abilities. It takes effort to learn new skills – and this is the path to mastery. One of Augury’s values is ‘Embrace it’, which means to embrace challenges – along with uncertainty, change, failure, and the unknown.

Sure, it won’t always be fun. And please excuse the cliche: but you need to see the journey as being at least as important as the destination. A growth mindset will help you to enjoy the ride – and steer your story forward whenever you can. As Terry Pratchett formulated it: “People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it’s the other way around.”

So get out there and make your happy ending – or new beginning – happen. 

Read more about Augury’s work culture and how our Machine Health Solutions help manufacturers transform their own work culture.

The post 5 Ways To Grow Your Career At Your Workplace  appeared first on Augury.

Many companies, and particularly start-ups, try to convince people to come work for them with intangible benefits like a ‘work hard, play hard culture’ or a magical ‘work-life balance’ that somehow, only they have solved… but we won’t bother with that here. Because if you join Augury under false pretenses, it probably won’t go well for either of us.

This article was originally published on August 17, 2020

Put plainly, we don’t want to sell you on working for us. We want you to know what it’s really going to be like, and buy-in.

So here are five reasons why you shouldn’t want to work for Augury:

1. You hate when companies talk about their values/vision

Augury’s vision is a world where people can always rely on the machines that matter. Our mission is to give our customers superior insights into the health and performance of the machines they use to make products, deliver services and improve lives. We also have some core values that will be referred to consistently:

• People first – relationships count
• Embrace it – no plan survives the test of time
• Question it – data, not opinions
• Own it – we get things done
• Grow with it – prepare for tomorrow’s challenges
• Enjoy it – we love creating stuff

Our vision, mission, and values are core principles that we use to prioritize and justify the projects we work on and they guide the way we work together.

We start every all-hands with our vision/mission and then move to a people first slide where employees can give ‘People first’ shout-outs to each other for exemplifying our values. This might sound painful for an outsider, but it’s a pillar of our culture and we’re always happy to give recognition and share with the company when somebody has gone above and beyond.

2. We don’t believe in the “work-life” balance

Seriously. There is only life and Augury is a part of it. If you’re looking for a place that’s going to force you, or reward you, for being online and available 24/7, that’s not us — but we don’t close the doors every day at exactly 6 pm either. That’s because we trust our people to be autonomous and get their work done properly and on time.

Sometimes that might mean staying later or coming in early for a meeting with the team in Israel. Our team members in Israel often stay later or join calls from home to meet with the US based team, too. It can also mean having an occasional call over the weekend… It happens. And of course these days it can mean starting or pausing the zoom call to say a joyous hi to the kids and pets who may have joined the discussion,

‘There is only life and Augury is a part of it.’

It’s a pillar of our culture to ‘Own it’ and do what we need to do to get the job done — but sometimes you need time away from work to be your very best. This is why Augury has an unlimited vacation policy and summer Fridays to help our team disconnect and spend their time as they wish.

3. You’re looking for something “Steady”

We aren’t a global titan of industry that’s endured world wars and depressions, but we’ve done a heck of a job-crushing our goals during one global pandemic. If you’re looking to join a company with dozens of people who have the same title and responsibilities as you, you simply won’t find that here.

‘Many Augury employees have transitioned into entirely new positions.’

We’re a growing company, but we work with a wild range of Fortune 500 companies that would totally impress your in-laws. With just over 100 employees spanning Israel and The United States, our company is constantly hiring, growing and adapting. Many Augury employees have transitioned into entirely new positions as they’ve become available and necessary for the company. That’s part of how we ‘Grow with it’.

4. You’re a huge fan of routine work

We’re Machine Health pioneers, heading into uncharted territory, and making our own map as we go. Our team is committed to ‘building a world where people can always rely on the machines that matter’ (see #1 above).

This means we’re agile, continuously improving and may redirect your efforts when necessary. So we’re looking for people that aren’t afraid to speak their mind, and back it up with data, when they think we’re heading in the wrong direction. That’s how our core value of ‘Question it’ comes into play.

‘Question it’

We’re always looking for experienced professionals who’ve ‘been there before’ but we’re not in the business of recreating something that’s already been done before. We need people who want to dig deep and be creative — curious individuals who have a passion for solving problems are perfect Augury candidates.

5. You’re comfortable being a cog in a machine

We’re a tight-knit team and we depend on each other to deliver quality individual work while helping others excel too — and It’s not uncommon for people to pitch in and help with things that aren’t in their job description.

‘Embrace it’

When any of us needs help we can always send up the ‘bat signal’ and know that the team will have our back. This might mean attending a conference on short notice or joining a meeting to help brainstorm new strategies with an entirely different department. That being said, it’s entirely possible that your open Thursday afternoon may fill up with meetings by Tuesday because we’re all in this together.

But it’s a pillar of our culture to be ready and willing to bring your very best to every meeting and meet unexpected challenges head-on. This is how we ‘Embrace it’.

Bonus Reason: You aren’t interested in having fun at work

We love creating things and if you join us, hopefully you will too. ‘Enjoy it’ means so much to Augury because we are constantly building new offerings, new content, and new relationships with our customers. A positive attitude and the ability to find something to laugh about go a long way when working on challenging projects.

‘Enjoy it’

Over time, so much new work can be exhausting, or exhilarating… but this is where we shine. We’re here to build something entirely new for the industrial manufacturing market and we’re having a great time doing it.

Are you ready to buy-in?

All in all, if you’ve gotten this far and you’re still interested in working for Augury please apply! We’d love to get you on the team so you can help us build a world where people can always rely on the machines that matter.

The post Five Reasons not to Work at Augury appeared first on Augury.

If you’re in charge of planning the office party this year, or if you’ve received an invite to a digital-celebration, you probably have some questions and serious hesitations. We certainly did as we were planning our biggest celebration of the year, Augury’s 9th Birthday Party.

This popular article was originally published on 8 December 2020. It looked back on how Augury celebrated our 9th birthday party. Now, we’re planning our 10th. Reach out if you have any fresh ideas on how we should celebrate

We didn’t know if our party would work out or if it would fall flat — and we weren’t even sure if people would even want to celebrate remotely… Besides, how can you throw a party with no venue, no in-person interactions, no dancing, and no food to share — all in a world full of Zoom fatigue?

We did it and it was a great success! So here are some of the lessons we learned and some creative ideas you can use to throw your own remote office party:

1. Create a Digital Meeting Space

When you announce your digital party it’s important to show that you’ve put some thought into planning — and that it won’t be just another all-hands call. Make sure to create and share an agenda that is enticing and easy to follow or build a digital meeting space to shake things up.

We had an entire day dedicated to celebrating to work with. So we built a collaborative Miro Board for the day and a grid with nine themed rooms to simulate the experiences people might miss from ‘normal’ celebration. Here are the rooms we set up for our party:

• The Town Square – This was the main hall where we gathered and rallied for the founder’s words and the opening/closing ceremonies.
• The Karaoke Hall – This room was Hosted by our VP, Alliances and it was a huge hit! It was amazing to see how much joy it gave to people to sing together. We had a dedicated host and even more dedicated singers!
• Augury Cribs – This space allowed us to travel “to visit” our team members’ houses all over the world (of course we checked out everyone’s fridge!).
• Dance Moves Room – This was hosted by our VP Strategy and it was fun to see him teach people the dance move he created.
• Chill Out Room – This room was for people who wanted to take a break outside the activities and simply chat with each other from the comfort of their home.
• Bday Wish Room – This “room” was a Miro board for people to make a wish for the company on our birthday. It’s a great souvenir to share with the team when it’s finished.
• Cocktail Classroom – Hosted by our Office Manager in NYC and our Front-end Team Leader who both have bartending experience. They taught some signature cocktails recipes and helped people make mixed drinks with what they had in their home.
• Jam Session – Our lead Web Developer is an amazing saxophone player. He hosted this space where people could jam with him using whatever instruments they can play. You’ll be surprised to see who your secret musicians are on the team!
• Party Room – Leading up to the party we put together a collaborative playlist where people shared their favorite party songs. We kept this room open and allowed the team to hang like they might at a normal party.

2. Bring the Party to the People

It’s hard to think of a party without using your five senses. A digital party can simulate the sound and maybe the sights of a party but what about touch, smell, and feeling? We tackled this by bringing the party to the team and sending each employee a themed care package one day before the celebration. Here’s what we sent our team:

Alcohol (A nice whiskey or ingredients for an Aperol Spritz)
Augury’s 9th Birthday Shirt (with team member’s names on it)
Augury branded mask (just in case)
Augury blue paint (for an activity during the day)
Sweet Treats (cookies/candy)

3. Lean on Your Culture Leaders

In order for a digital party to be a success, you really need people to buy-in and participate. We leaned on our team culture leaders (the people who are most outgoing and well-liked) to moderate the event and run each breakout session. We also took the time to make sure company leaders were available to help host and participate so team members could get to know them better.

These culture leaders are key to making sure everyone has a great experience. Don’t be afraid to lean into their interests either. Our VP Alliances is a Karaoke-lover and her breakout room was an incredible success because of it!

4. Provide Team Activities – and Prizes!

We were hosting an all-day party, so we came up with some amazing activities to bring out peoples’ competitive spirits. Our people have always responded well to competition and teamwork, so we created some fun activities throughout the day and awarded prizes at the closing ceremony. Here are some of the activities we set up for groups to work together:

• Team Movie Challenge – Teams selected a movie genre (horror, comedy, reality etc) and a random Augury theme (how the founders met, creating the Augury logo, the first AR installation) to create a two minute movie. Each team had two hours to storyboard, film, and edit their movies. We then hosted a viewing session and sent a survey so the team could vote like it was the Oscars.
• Something Blue Painting Challenge – The challenge was to paint any item you have at home using the Augury blue paint we sent in the care package. After finishing, participants uploaded their “work of art” to the “Something Blue” slack channel and we voted for the Best Augury Masterpiece.
• Funny Team Survey Results
  Send out a fun survey before the party and have some of your culture leaders reveal the results to add some flair. It can be a 2020 version of the superlatives or you can make people do polls for the best places to eat around the office. Let the team vote on best home set up or take a poll for their dream office relocation.
• Zoom Background Challenge
  We took screenshots of people throughout the weeks leading up to the party and edited out people showing only their silhouette. It was incredible to see how people could identify their coworkers by only seeing their silhouette and their home background after being on so many zoom calls for months.

5. Celebrate Together (Don’t Focus on Work)

Put some effort into helping people relax and simply enjoy being together without working. The party should feel separate and different from the day-to-day business operations. If you’re a party organizer or culture leader think of a fun lighting strategy or an outfit that can help communicate that too. Provide some fun topics, polls and conversation starters for your culture leaders just in case things slow down, or if things start to feel like just another meeting. Just remember to be creative and use your insider knowledge of your team to find the best way to celebrate together.

This new digital world presents an opportunity for teams to become more global and connected than ever before. In the past, a holiday party would be a time for teams to become closer and celebrate the wins that they’ve had throughout the year. 2020 has been exceptional in many ways, and while none of us would have chosen it, we’ve embraced the many challenges that have come our way. Take some time to acknowledge that and appreciate the people who’ve been with you throughout one of the toughest years in recent history.

Meanwhile… We’re hiring!

The post Five Creative Ideas for Throwing a Remote Office Party appeared first on Augury.