A day in the life of Technical Lead/Social Secretary!
Where it all began
Hello — I am Gerry, I joined Street Group over three years ago and have been fortunate enough to watch the company grow from strength to strength.
I am originally from Tanzania and came to the UK to study Computer Science at Hull University. The aim was to study and return to Tanzania, however when I graduated, I joined the graduate scheme at SkySports in Leeds. I worked there for 7 years before relocating to Manchester to begin my Masters degree in Management of Information Systems at Manchester University.
After completing my MSc I took a 6-month post for the Tanzania Red Cross implementing disaster management systems in a semi-rural environment in Northern Tanzania. Following completion of the project, I returned to Manchester developing further skills before joining Street Group
The Day-to-Day
Spectre team is responsible for managing Spectre Sales and Lettings, Hello Again and micro-services. A typical day at Spectre varies with daily standups, catch-ups, meetings and project kick-off collaborations.
Covid has presented great challenges but we have modified our working practices to reflect this. We have a daily Stand-Up at 09:15 to energise the team and set out our goals for the day.
We have weekly Task Force and Product Planning with the commercial team where we discuss bugs, features and set priorities on pending work. We use agile methodology, Scrum framework, and normally we have 2-week sprints. At the end of each sprint, we have Sprint Retrospective to evaluate the sprint and plan ways to increase the quality and effectiveness of the team. These meetings are held alongside the commercial team which provides them an opportunity to discuss outcomes and decide on what it is we wish to achieve in the next sprint.
The day ends with ‘EOD Catchup’ where we will discuss how the day went. This is an opportunity to share with the team any queries or challenges you might have faced during the day. My personal day ends with a dog walk; these two below are always eager for a run out which helps me wind down from work.
Proudest Achievement
My biggest achievement at Spectre has been developing the Spectre Lettings, this was such a challenging but enjoyable project. The schedule was tight and at first, seemed impossible, but with some great group collaboration and planning, the application was launched on time. This project gave me the realization that working at Street Group allows me to architect a scalable system unburden by previous technology — and professionally that is very satisfying.
Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge we have faced at Street, like most businesses, has been Covid-19 and lockdown — which has prevented our ability to interact face-to-face, share ideas and enjoy social time together. However, we have overcome this with a new schedule of meetings and we’re just beginning to enjoy embryonic social activities in the new post-lockdown world.
Technically, my biggest challenge has been building an application to consume SOAP web services. I have never worked with SOAP web services before, meaning a huge personal learning curve — however, with great input of the knowledge of other members of the team, the goals were achieved and personal growth occurred.
Socially as part of the Social Committee for Events and Wellbeing, it has been difficult to invent ideas to include the whole team while each of us works from home. We have frequent informal meetings to discuss and plan creative, inclusive, fun events.
What makes Street Group standout
It’s the culture and people that make working at Street Group. There is no Top-Down culture but a people-centred culture, everyone is encouraged to pitch in, share ideas and take risks. That understanding that things can and do go wrong but this is never down to the individual, but the team. We dive into the problem, get the answers and see what we can learn from it. This type of culture, warmth and difference helps to make this a brilliant place to work.
Street Group cares about staff and cares about culture; during lockdown there was a constant array of events to keep spirits and cheer high — Fancy Dress, Art Challenges, Wine Tasting, Gin Tasting, Eid, Pride History Month — and that’s just to name the few!
The people are the key to Street Group, when I joined the company there were less than 10 employees and the people were open, warm, funny, positive, and friendly. Now we are 60+ and that culture remains — I am proud to be part of a down-to-earth free-thinking organization such as this.
To find out more about life at Street Group, visit streetgroup.co.uk, our Glassdoor page, or visit our careers site.
