AtliQ Culture Archives

AtliQ Productivity Hackathon: Our Experience

AtliQ held a hackathon event on the 28th and 29th of January, and 1st of February. The event aimed to promote ideation, initiative and gave the Engineers in AtliQ to showcase their creativity and hone their skills. The Engineering team was divided into four groups, and the event was split into three stages. The first stage was the ideation process. The theme- ‘productivity’ was introduced, and some seed ideas were given to the teams. Specific metrics or parameters were defined based upon which the submitted entries would be judged. These parameters were- User Interface – Look and feel of the project that they build User Experience – How easy the project is to use for an intended audience Code/Algo Quality – the quality of the code, standard practices, time constraint, complexity, understandability The idea to Actual product Conversion – How much of the idea that was pitched was successfully implemented Usefulness – how can the idea be used to streamline workflow or save time – i.e. improve productivity Scalability – How scalable the application is Future Scope – How much can we improve it in future The first day consisted of an idea presentation and brainstorming session. Each team came up with the project ideas and discussed how these ideas could be implemented and the benefits of developing these projects. The second stage was the development stage. The teams were given an entire day to execute their ideas. The presentation stage followed this. Each team presented their ideas, how they executed these ideas, and the impact their projects have on workplace productivity. We were pleased to observe that the workplace ambience changed swiftly as soon as the hackathon started. Loud music was playing through the speakers, the A/C was working on full blast, and the lights were dim. All the participants were eager to build their projects and worked enthusiastically towards their goals. All of them seemed determined to make the most of their day. We also observed a positive impact on our employees’ attitude. They were pumped up and excited to work on their ideas. The teams were split strategically to increase interaction between employees that do not get a chance to interact often. This has increased team bonding and has positively impacted the workplace since. Many of the employees learned new technology or took up a different role than their designation. One of our skilled interns was able to learn a new technology during the hackathon. Another one of our employees, who is a QA Analyst, was able to work on DevOps and enjoyed the change from his regular responsibilities. The All Four Teams Came Up With the Following Ideas/Projects- The first team, 200:success, integrated our CRM software with Google drive. They recognized the reluctance of employees to create time logs in a separate application. By implementing their idea, they provided a way for the employees to create an excel sheet logging their work hours. This would directly be reflected in our CRM application- Kaizen. This project also made it possible to receive push notifications from the Kaizen application while working on the browser or google drive, making it easier for employees to receive messages, check announcements, etc., while working on the web browser. The second team, Rainmakers, created a SaaS API platform. The platform acts as a marketplace or APIs and facilitates selling the APIs that our organization has developed in the past. The third team, React-R, created a react native starter that could be integrated with the node package manager. The initial setup required for themes, login, etc., takes up 3-4 days and is redundant. Through this starter, this task is automated and hence saves a lot of time and effort. The fourth team, Git-hooks, created a source code manager which streamlines the commit and changelogs. It not only mandates that the commit is five characters long, but it also mandates a description that provides better clarity within the team. These commits and changes are automatically logged into a file named change for future reference. It also automates the process of linting that checks the code for testing standards. The implementation of these projects added a sense of accomplishment and helped invigorate the participants, and gave them a chance to try out technologies and processes in ways that they haven’t been able to do in a long while. Overall this competitive coding event has added a lot of energy, positivity, and vigour to the workplace.

March 4, 2021

HR Policies

Day Dream Coming True- NAP POLICY

“Early to bed & early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Benjamin Franklin In Poor Richard’s Almanack. But is this possible in today’s world, with so many distractions and a messed up work-life balance? Even though an adult is suggested to get a minimum of seven to nine hours of sleep, it becomes impossible for them to achieve it. A sleep-deprived individual’s graph goes downwards in terms of alertness and performance. Decreased alertness impairs the mind’s ability to think and process. Did you know in San Sebastian, Spain; the locals enjoy a siesta, during which the shops close down and employees enjoy a long lunch and a healthy nap. Sounds fascinating, right? We all have experienced this when we feel tired at work, during post-lunch hours, mostly having just eaten a lot. But unfortunately, not all of us are in Spain or work at Google. Nap Policy In Corporate With the employees opting for newer opportunities and jumping for more flexible jobs, employers are looking for novel ways to attract and retain top talents. Coffee & snacks, trips, maternity leaves, incentives, etc have been the tricks to win over the job candidates till now. And the most recent addition to the list is- NAP ROOMS. A nap is important as it sends a signal to the brain that it’s time to rest. And thus it is absolutely alright to give oneself a downtime in the middle of a working day. In today’s work world, employees are exposed to tech overload and have a high screen time. When an employee tries to focus on multiple things at the same time, they tend to start losing brainpower. And that’s when a short power nap brings the tiredness back to zero and allows them to get back to work refreshed and conquer the rest of their to-do list. Benefits of Naps at Work Sleep Foundation states that a nap of 30 minutes helps in restoring alertness, reduces mistakes, and enhances performance. Apart from this, the other benefits of napping between work are: It reverses the productivity destroying effects of a poor night’s sleep It boosts memory & information retention by five times. It improves cognitive function and creative thinking. It reduces stress and anxiety. It is better when compared to caffeine intake. Just as the saying goes- “Every coin has two sides”, there are few studies that don’t approve of napping at work. Those are based on the studies that showed that participants end up being more sleepy or tired after nap time. Irrespective of the benefits of napping, afternoon naps are definitely not for everyone. A few cases when napping can be a con are: Insomniac at night: When one knows they can have a nap at noon, their mind tries to alter the circadian rhythms and thus causing nighttime sleep trouble. For those who suffer from an unidentified sleep disorder: There are unidentified sleep disorders that take pretty long to be cured altogether. But once a reliable relief is found, the day’s sleepiness would disappear. Diabetic: Certain research shows that long afternoon naps are linked to Type II diabetics. The study held by the University of Tokyo stated that there is a 45% increase in the incidence of diabetics with long afternoon naps. Daytime fatigue: Other than sleep disorders, there are a lot of reasons that can cause daytime sleepiness. The best way to overcome it is by consulting a doctor and identifying the root cause. Once the root cause is known, one can reclaim the daytime energy better. Nap Policy @ ATLIQ TECHNOLOGIES While other HRs were busy zooming in on the people who were yawning, our HR was busy drafting the Nap Policy mail for us. Once upon a time, napping on a desk was grounds for firing, but now is actively encouraged. We believe that short naps actually increase productivity rather than limit it. Introduced on 21st February 2022, the policy has received a warm welcome. Even though the employees were reluctant initially, they are now more open to the idea. AtliQers now catch a little snooze and get back to doing the best possible job they can. For us, our company culture is one of the top priorities and we ensure to deliver it right. Our employees can nap during/post lunchtime, during tea breaks, or whenever they feel like they need a minute to recharge. By the way…..We are looking for nap pods! Lets us know :P (Just kidding… We are happily sleeping on our desks.)

January 2, 2017