#iDeacompany is a volunteer based community, that creates bridges that didn’t existed before, in Siemens. The results and achievements are quite impressive and you can check them on our internal usual sources… but what amazes me even more, and you can’t check it anywhere, is the growth that happens when you are part of this unique team of Siemens.

What I’ve tried to do to keep up with the changing world:

We are in 2018 – the year when everyone already knows the drill about the changes in the world and how we need to keep up with those.
Oh, the changes in the world!
There are the new skills for the future,
there are the new technologies available,
there are the new formats of getting things done…
Even the definition of getting things done is changing!

More or less by this time, the question “How can I keep up with this” started popping in my head so… I went on to research on our intranet about new tools and solutions.

I found several:

– the standard new Office 365 functionalities (how in love I am with planner! Wow!);

– the learning campus articles about agile, scrum, virtual collaboration;

– the new tools for virtual collaboration like Aula….

I got in touch with pretty cool new stuff… and, somewhere in between, I got in touch with taskmarket. Now, taskmarket is a little different from the other things mentioned here: the current platform is not mind-blowing but the concept… that’s disruptive. Trying to summarise, it aims for a company where people can simply log in to a platform, find the tasks/ projects they want to do / be included in, and develop their skills and careers based on what they want to do. Like everyone in Siemens is a freelancer.

Of course, it is not yet fully developed in that direction but… this sounded to me to be more aligned with the new future everybody was talking about. So, where did this come from?

It was from a “start-up company” inside Siemens, #iDeacompany

Ok, by this time I realized this is the same guys that are behind another thing I was already using a lot – instagauge, the internal survey tool for anonymous surveys. That’s where I recognized the name but… a start-up company inside Siemens… say what?? Cause I’m in Siemens for almost 10 years now, I’ve never heard something similar to this!

I went to find out, it seems that it is a group of people that collaborate on a voluntary basis, on top of their usual responsibilities, cross location and cross areas. Now, I have to confess I wasn’t that excited anymore. I’m lucky, in Global Business Services organization (GBS) we have several of these teams, locally and internationally. I’ve been part of some, I like them very much, but is not that rocket science. Bear in mind, I still liked very much the taskmarket concept, so I decided to give it a try. It was not totally unknown ground anymore, right?

Wrong.

#iDeacompany is… different from every other cross / virtual team I’ve been included in. In GBS we have a lot of diversity, I say again, I’m a lucky one because I’m already used to this kind of cross-collaboration with different countries and business lines… but in #iDeacompany, this network goes to the extreme level! The first meeting with all the community had people in from more than 20 countries! And from almost all “Siemens”, and, surprise surprise, the differences between us are bigger than I was expecting.

There where it value comes from. In #iDeacompany we are collaborating with sharpest and open minds from all areas and units in Siemens. Each one with their own cultural understanding, their business environment knowledge and their specific way to work.

It’s not the easiest thing to try to show the intangible benefits of it. The tangibles are easy and everyone can check all the apps and platform #iDeacompany has – you definitely should. So people collaborating in these have the proud feeling of having done something that is available for ALL Siemens worldwide. But we have even more, the intangible part of it. We use different methodologies each time and each type of collaboration – depending on how it works for the people involved. We use different channels and structures, we even collaborate with different skills each time… it is so enriching and fresh every time!

#iDeacompany is for me like a special lab or a special gym to test, learn and develop some skills and perspectives. With the advantage that is a very positive one – people are supportive and helpful to each other. Everybody is here because they want to, remember?

Of course that, like in any other area in our lives, you will receive as much as you give. People collaborating more and being able to contribute more have a more active perception of the winnings.

But one thing is common to anyone that is part of this community. Being here and attending to the regular #iDeacompany broadcasts is the most efficient way to be on top of every new cool app or initiative.
And that’s why I will not give up from #iDeacompany, even if I have some times I can’t be that active.

Finally and of course, thank you #iDeacompany team and #iDeacompany community. We are creating something very special in Siemens that is preparing me for all future challenges that the new ways of work can bring on.