Giuliana Bueno
Marketing Manager
Updates & Culture
Know more about what we've been doing here at Untile with our teams, customers, and partners
It's been a while without showing up here, huh? However, this must end now! Many things have happened since our last article here and, for that very reason, we decided to make a compilation with the latest updates and news here from Untile.
Also, let's take the opportunity to share our expectations for the last months of 2023, now that we are already in the final stretch. The summer is coming to an end, which means that the year is also coming to an end, therefore, the expectations and plans for the end of the year are high, as well as the head is already starting to think about 2024 and what we want to achieve in the future.
Come with us in this new article where you will stay on top of everything that has happened in recent months and learn more about our plans for this future that is no longer so far away.
What's New in the New Blog: Prepare for a Transformative Experience
In June, we shared with you about our new blog - and you can find out more details about this launch and new moment in the article over here - and that was a unique moment here at Untile: for a long time, we made our content available only on Substack and, consequently, we lost many potential visitors to our website by directing people to learn more about us, our content and projects elsewhere.
Now, this is no longer an issue and we are going to start using this tool to our advantage! When we decided that we would bring the blog into the website, we were thinking about the short-term and the long-term. We wanted to bring people into the website, direct that flow here, improve SEO issues, but also be able to share in a simpler and faster way - like now - updates and news about Untile with those who follow us and like to accompany us here.
You already know that the European summer starts at the end of May. With that in mind, why not relax in the sun and heat of northern Portugal as a team?
That's what we did in the middle of June! On the 16th of June, we gathered at Quinta do Rego in the afternoon so that we could meet and enjoy the heat and pool together, in a moment of connection and exchange between our teams.
In recent years, every mid-year when summer begins, we have chosen a place to be able to meet face-to-face with all the team. This is a moment that goes far beyond fraternization, but also strengthening ties, getting to know each other better, and interacting face to face, things that when you work most of your time online, end up being lost.
Therefore, every meeting we hold is essential and special for us! In this year's summer meeting, we opted for a more remote farm, to make the most of it. And of course, we left the schedule free for our team to choose what they wanted to do during the day.
We started the day by meeting on-site and going straight to enjoy the pool, of course! The sun was at its best and we spent the day enjoying the heat, chatting, and playing in the pool. Towards the end of the day, we got together at the house to cook dinner together - a first-class hamburger served by our dear André Lopes, our Digital Product Designer - and we fraternized at the piano, played by Joel Enes, our Digital Product Designer, while we played and sang together, while others enjoyed the beautiful luau that did it outside.
This Summer Retreat certainly left an impression on all of us and we are already looking forward to our next meeting that will take place at the end of the year, thinking about the end-of-the-year festivities and a moment of gratitude for everything that we are, and will conquer, during this year we are living. Take a look at how was everything here.
Taking advantage of this Summer Retreat memory, we want to thank everyone involved from the organization to those who only participated, because, without you, nothing would have been as unique as it was! Summer is ending now, but we are certainly looking forward and counting the days until the next Retreat in 2024.
Festas d’Agonia: From Paper to Digital with Success
From the 14th of August until the 22nd, the Festas d’Agonia was taking place, traditional festivities here in Viana do Castelo. During these days, the city stops to celebrate The Pilgrimage in honor of Nossa Senhora da Agonia. This celebration has taken place since 1772 and since 1783 it has taken place in August.
The city comes to a complete stop for this celebration, but here at Untile, we keep going full steam ahead. And even better: we are more than present at the event, supporting our community in the best possible way, through technological solutions.
In the last editions of Festas d’Agonia, we actively participated in the enrollment and accreditation process for the Cortejo and the Mordomia Parade, bringing a solution that would streamline and facilitate the lives of all those involved.
In the beginning, registrations were manual, on paper, not very centralized, and without any participation control, which ended up affecting the final experience of those who wanted to live that experience.
Thus, analyzing the situation presented at the time, we created an initial solution that allowed us to transfer the registrations to a digital format and validate the entry of all those registered to access the parade, simply and easily.
The solution involves activating the registration platform during the defined period, allowing the validation of registrations through the platform itself, sending notifications via email and SMS to candidates with validation, pending or refusal, and final issuance of the certificate that allows access on the day of the parade for those approved.
Also, on the day of the parade, our team monitors entries using the application that reads the QR code available on the certificate issued and has two stations for cases where it is necessary to resort to the database. In addition, our follow-up on the day allows us to know in real-time how many butlers are registered, how many have already entered the parade, and how many have yet to access.
This allowed for a more complete and agile experience for the organization of the event and all registered stewards. Of course, every year the improvements are reviewed so that the process is improved, updated, and has better results for the Viana Festas team during registration, validation, and subsequent parade training. These improvements are made through feedback received after the end of the holidays.
Far beyond doing projects for customers and partners, Untile is always more than willing and ready to support its local community. Therefore, we are happy with the results we delivered this year at the Festas d’Agonia and we are already looking forward to the next edition and the improvements that we will bring.
Home Office Spotlight: Every Month's Inspirational Setup
You already know that we give total time and geographic flexibility to our teams. Therefore, everyone uses this freedom to work at a time that makes the most sense to them and from the place they feel most comfortable, which could be their own home, in our office in Viana do Castelo, or even in a cafe or other places different to be able to change the environment a little.
We always encourage our employees to enjoy this benefit as they see fit. After all, we want them to feel as comfortable as possible so they can deliver the best of their work.
In this sense, something came to mind: we know what it's like to work in our offices, from the routine to the structure we offer, but what is the Home Office like for those who prefer to work from home?
From that point on, we decided to start a new internal movement and publicize it externally: our Home Office of the Month! We asked all of our team to share a photo of their place of work from home, showing their individualities and differentials of their place. With the photos, we choose the monthly home office of the month and share it on our networks to show a little of our flexibility offered here and enjoyed by many.
It has been a unique and special moment of sharing between all of the team, where we end up getting to know a little more about each one's personality, their special corner, and where we talk every day when we see each other in meetings and calls.
We will continue with the Home Office of the month with everyone that was shared - and you can check out the first ones on our networks - and take a sneak peek of the next one to come. Stay tuned to our networks to always check out the home office of the month!
Final Friday Afternoon Break of the Month: Enjoying Free Time
A new movement in the world has been noticeable since last year when companies started to implement the 4-day week, consequently increasing the weekend for the teams. This initiative has been tested in several countries and different companies to test studies that have already been done and that have proven the benefit of this movement. Going against the studies the productivity and performance of the teams increased, consequently, the results of the companies also improved.
With that in mind, and aiming to start testing this movement as well after analyzing the current market scenario and the context we are inserted in, in February this year, we implemented a new benefit internally for our team: every last Friday of the month, we close the Untile and we give this afternoon free for people, for them to enjoy as they wish.
In order not to start radically and have a high impact on the delivery of our customers, and even on the work of our team, we started with this initiative to test and evolve, which today is already having an impact on our people and their work.
We know this after an internal analysis was done. In addition to this benefit, we offer several others to those who work with us, and even so, this new initiative is already among the most valued and enjoyed by all. Through an internal questionnaire, we realized that the majority of the team considers this new benefit very important, classifying it as one of the top 4.
With these results, we see that we are on the right path to building a solid organizational culture, where the benefits actually make a difference to those who are with us and that, step by step, we will evolve further and deliver the best to our employees.
This week, we have another free Friday afternoon and we're all excited and happy to be able to enjoy this moment that Untile offers.
Mapping Out the Road Ahead: Plans Until the End of the Year
We have reached the end of another article on our blog. But now, what are the expectations by the end of the year after any of these updates?
We are in the final stretch of the summer vacation, and many of our team are now returning to our routine and at full speed to deliver the best results for our customers and partners.
New projects in sight, nominations for new awards, moments of integration among our team, events to organize and attend... these are just some of the expectations until the end of 2023 and you will stay on top of everything while following our blog.
Therefore, stay connected to our networks to always stay on top of the news on our blog! We look forward to being able to share more and more of our news with you soon :D
Until next time!
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