Omega 365 Lithuania hosts summer event
This past weekend, Omega 365 Lithuania organized a summer event that brought together colleagues from Norway, Australia, and the local team in Lithuania, along with their families.
Published: 17. July 2024![](/api/file/view/stbv_Content_ItemsFiles/D70B2054-DFFC-49EB-A490-3575CA9B56D0/ac184376-d6b0-4092-87d2-66c1e58bc46d.jpeg)
Despite the rainy weather, many people gathered to enjoy the summer event, which featured various activities and challenges aimed at fostering teamwork and collaboration.
“This year, we had seven visitors from Norway and two from Australia, who also brought family and friends,” says Vadim Narožnij, General Manager of Omega 365 Lithuania.
“Additionally, three former employees from Lithuania, who now work at HQ in Ølensvåg, Norway, joined the party. In total, 64 team members attended, and with families and friends included, there were around 120 people, making this the biggest event for us so far.”
Blending work and teambuilding
Among the travelers from Norway were Omega 365 Solutions employees: Solveig Godhavn Lunde, Department Manager in Bergen; Marius Skimmeland, Team Lead in Bergen; Eirik Guldbrandsen, Team Lead in Stavanger; Magne Njå, Team Lead in Stavanger; Øystein Kaldestad, Team Lead in Stavanger; Arild Røksund, Department Manager in Stavanger; and Trygve Ålbotsjord, Department Manager in Stavanger.
“The summer event in Lithuania is a wonderful opportunity to meet with the people we are working with in our daily efforts to make efficient applications for our broad range of customers. It is easier to reach out for help and/or participate in collaboration with our colleagues in Lithuania after we have met them and shared some good stories face-to-face. They are a central part of our developer efforts, and if we can share some of our stories from working on projects, they will have a better understanding when building products,” says Røksund.
When arriving at the office in Klaipeda, Omega 365 colleagues from Norway, Australia, and Lithuania had a chance to socialize and participate in some work sessions. This initial gathering set the stage for the weekend, blending professional development with personal connections.
“Getting the opportunity to meet our colleagues in Lithuania was great in itself, and being able to combine it with their summer event made it even more fun. We spent the days leading up to the event having a few work meetings where we arranged our regular Teams talks in person. We provided feedback from clients and project work, and they provided us with insights based on product views and ideas. There were healthy discussions and fun at the office. Building this relationship strengthens us as a company and helps us build better products and improve teamwork,” says Ålbotsjord.
“It was great to finish up the journey with the summer event, where we all got to relax and enjoy ourselves with activities, dinner, and happy people! It was an opportunity to meet everyone outside of the office and get to know each other better. Thank you to Vadim and all the girls and guys at the office in Lithuania for welcoming us and making us feel so much at home. We really enjoyed our trip,” he continues.
Creative team challenges
After the sessions at the office, the summer party lasted until the late evening, featuring various attractions and competitions where team members earned points (stickers) for their respective teams. Points were later tallied to determine the winners.
A separate activity, known as the "Domino Effect," involved building a Goldberg machine on stage, engaging many participants and providing an entertaining spectacle for the audience. The evening concluded with a lively jam session organized by the African Drums ensemble, where all participants joined in creating rhythms, featuring a Maori Haka and a dance performance.
“The format this year was more relaxed than before,” Narožnij explains.
“It was not imperative to participate in the activities, allowing more introverted colleagues to simply enjoy the party without feeling pressured to engage if they didn’t feel like it. This approach was intentional to accommodate as many diverse personalities as possible. While some extremely competitive team members might have missed the drive and adrenaline, we firmly believe that company-wide events should focus on inclusivity, allowing the competitive types to engage in activities at their own will.”
Accommodations were offered in traditional Lithuanian wooden houses, with a warm sauna and swimming in a nearby lake also available.
“Looking ahead, we plan to continue arranging these summer events, making them a great tradition and attracting guests from other Omega 365 offices to visit Klaipeda. This will help team members make direct connections between locations and further strengthen collaborative efforts,” says Narožnij.
Read the speech for the summer event from Vadim Narožnij, General Manager of Omega 365 Lithuania, here!
Dear colleagues, families, and friends. More and more of us each year!
This year, our office in Lithuania has been actively growing, adding 15 new permanent employees (27 including termed contracts) since the last party and still expanding due to continuous efforts from our HR team and great contributions from our Appframe Certification Program mentors.
Currently, Omega 365 Lithuania counts around 80 team members and is still growing (the yearly expansion plan is almost achieved). The next milestone is 100! Why? Well, for one, it is due to the results of your work. Can the guests confirm? The focus on quality in the daily work results in the stability and security of the solutions we create, thus being entrusted with even more products and services to be provided from Klaipeda. Omega 365 Lithuania already acts as a corporate competence center providing services like Products Management, Technology, Cloud Operations, Implementations, and recently added Cybersecurity functions.
For example, the Pims product is standing strong, accounting for a significant amount of annual SaaS revenue, so it is important to keep it stable and all R4 customers satisfied alongside implementing the new projects of Omega 365 and R5 product lines.
Pims R5 finally got some traction and the last two days we heard Arild telling us about all the ambitious plans in that area. Also, lots of exciting development is going on in the Omega 365 world following the successful implementations for major clients in Norway, the international sales are also starting to ramp up.
In this regard, as you know, the new Omega 365 Operations Center has been established in Klaipeda. This is a big new chapter in our history with high stakes from HQ, so it is really important we make this a success!
It will be challenging, and we will have to adapt, e.g., working in shifts, being on duty, potentially converting the whole company to a 24/7 global Omega 365 operations center. It will take small steps to grow into this and make the correct arrangements. Also, we will have to prove many times that we are capable of delivering up to the high expectations. However, it is very exciting to be a part of such a substantial transformation that would allow the Omega 365 group to achieve its strategic goal of becoming a global leader in projects and assets management. Every code line, every meeting, every workflow will contribute to this goal!
So, to celebrate our achievements and also to energize before the next level, let's have a good party today, relax, and enjoy the great company!