10 things I love about Ascentic
Ascentic is a Swedish-Sri Lankan technology company dedicated in providing technology solutions built by talented professionals in Sri Lanka for businesses operating across the Nordic region.
I’ve heard nothing but good things prior to joining Ascentic and it became clear why there’s such a buzz about the company. I’d like to share a list of the things that I love about Ascentic through this article.
My recruitment, onboarding, and first few months at the company during the coronavirus pandemic restrictions and as a result it was challenging to say the least. Even so, somehow I could get started and overcome the obstacles thrown at me during a global crisis. It wouldn’t have been possible if not for the support of the rest of the fellow team members and how understanding Ascentic is.
Culture
The culture at Ascentic is very engaging and encourages me to produce my best work. It’s an open culture where everyone is respected. It is a bit challenging for anyone who is working (especially remotely) amidst a pandemic and I have no exception for that. I’m facing tough challenges and difficult situations on a regular basis while adjusting to the new-normal and it is refreshing when the company you’re working for understands that and supports you along the way.
Freedom
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
This rather long quote from Steve Jobs explains how working is going to be a big part of your life and how important it is to love your work in order for it to be of great value. At Ascentic, I believe that I am able to produce quality work because I have the required freedom to choose work that I love to do.
When you’re a BA you have to think about the usability and how you present a certain solution to a certain user. I am free to discuss my ideas with the team and along with their input, produce an output that is of high quality. In the same usability aspect, I get to think like a user experience designer all thanks to the freedom of being able to choose what you love to do. So, I get to suggest certain UX best practices that I have come across when researching. Like this I am able to pitch in to enhance security, conduct functional testing, and dig deep into a certain single aspect of the development process. Each Ascender who are involved at each of those areas of the development process, is kind enough to help you improve your skills and try out certain things which you otherwise may not get a chance to do.
Leadership
The leadership at Ascentic is available to listen to me and are open for suggestions. They care about the employees of the company and is focused on employee growth and well-being. I’m able to confidently share my concerns openly with the management and receive positive responses from them.
People
People at Ascentic are really friendly and open. You have a lot of fun working with them engaging in all kinds of activities and chit chats. Everyone is really talented in their respective areas of expertise and is willing to share knowledge.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of my article, I joined the company during the lockdown which means that I’ve had the opportunity to only have a few in-person interactions with my team and fellow Ascenders. But the limited time I’ve spent at office was great and I’m looking forward to it. Even though the physical interactions have to be kept to a minimum due to health and safety concerns, I get to spend a lot of quality time with my colleagues thanks to collaborative digital tools like Microsoft Teams and Skype. My onboarding process happened remotely and the team was super supportive throughout.
Technology
Ascentic is open to trying out and working with new technology which is in line with the best practices and standards available in the industry. The company supports and encourages innovation both in projects and in internal initiatives.
We use Microsoft Teams to manage company communications and also with the customer. The project documentation, software releases, test cases, and workable tasks are managed through Azure DevOps which is a really good all in one single package kind of a tool that makes managing the entire development process easily. If you ask around from Ascenders, they will agree that Azure DevOps is better than Jira. It’s not a solid solution however (at least for me). A good chunk of my day is spend on documenting and managing requirements. But DevOps’s Wiki tool doesn’t help me in doing that much due to the poor quality of the editor. The internal company documentation is managed on Confluence and documenting on that is a piece of cake.
Knowledge Sharing
As mentioned before, people working at Ascentic are eager to learn and try out new things. Whatever knowledge acquired is shared with the rest of the Ascenders in knowledge sharing sessions or informal chats. If you learn something new which you think might be useful for other Ascenders, that new information is shared across through internal sessions.
I’m having a really good experience with the type of work I get to do and the people I get to work with and that really adds to my career in a positive way.
Games
When you work, you work hard and when you play, you play hard and have a bit of fun. The office premises has its own share of video games, a ping pong table, and foosball. When the physical gatherings have to be kept to a minimum, Ascentic had figured out a great way to replace these activities with online events. There were regular virtual games organized by the company to relax and have fun with your colleagues (or compete against them).
Now that the pandemic restrictions are slowly relaxed, Ascentic hosts multiple events at office to encourage Ascenders to interact with each other and is a great platform for collaboration. These events are planned with proper coordination with proper health guidelines to ensure the safety of the participants.
Work Environment
We still manage to make working from home a bit fun with virtual team events or chit chats to keep the team spirits up. The previous office did have some cool working environments but the new office has got to be the most amazing workplace I have worked in, period. Office fridge comes packed with goodies to satisfy your snack-friendly tummy but leave something tasty without a note and you better be ready to never see it again. The new work place allows me to relax and work in an environment that encourages creative thoughts to flourish.
The work equipment provided are quality. Remember feeling hopeless when your electronics don’t work? (especially during these days UGHH!!). If you cannot relate, then lucky you! But I’ve had an issue with my headset and the company provided me with a replacement really quick and gathered feedback on how the new device is performing.
Flexibility
At Ascentic, you still have to put in 40 hours worth of work per week but you’re free to decide how you’re going to schedule that time around deliverables. You are also free to work from anywhere you’re comfortable in working at. The management is flexible and open for your suggestions and are keen on improving the workplace for the employees.
Transparency
The company doesn’t hide how it’s doing and Ascenders are constantly updated on what the latest developments are, whether it’s good or bad. If you want to know about a certain thing, you don’t have to hesitate and all you have to do is ask. The company provides and promotes a very open culture where you don’t have to feel afraid to share. You can send a message to even the founders of the company and you’re sure to receive a response within minutes. Your voice is always heard and your opinion is taken seriously.
So, these are 10 things that I love about Ascentic. All in all I’m glad that I made the decision to join Ascentic. Although it isn’t the perfect company out there, it takes the effort to be one by always exploring ways to improve the experience. The 10 reasons I explained above and more allows me to have a balance between my personal life goals while achieving career aspirations. Ascentic really is a great place to work.
