In early 2015, Polarising established what it takes for itself as an unswerving rule from day one of its existence: absolute compliance with payment deadlines made to any and all persons or entities with which it collaborates.

So, when Compromisso Pagamento Pontual was established Polarising became members and proudly use the seal of the program on all communication channels, which we now renew as member of the Commitment to Prompt Payment to Suppliers and as an active part of this movement of social responsibility that promotes a culture of payment on time and enhances the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy.

We intend to counter the frightening figures and the unpredictable consequences that non-compliance with payment deadlines entail for the global economy. According to European Union data, 25% of bankruptcies are in European companies and recent data from Informa DB states that 84% of Portuguese companies do not meet their payment deadlines.

Also, the unemployment it causes and the unfair competition it creates, as companies that pay late penalize those that honor their commitments. This is becoming a serious threat to their survival and the culture of permissiveness and irresponsibility in the Portuguese economy seems to be deeply rooted as a cultural factor that has to be countered, or else many small and medium sized companies will succumb.

Join Compromisso Pagamento Pontual and be part of this movement.

Deciding to look for new job opportunities is always a serious decision. Nowadays, the need to find a job that balances your personal life with a more fulfilling career is what anyone desires, and it’s no different for IT professionals.

As a software developer, surely you must have many approaches and all types of enticing promises from different IT companies. But that can actually make things harder for candidates, as it’s time consuming to assess which opportunities actually interest you.

Recruitment processes can take many weeks, even months. They are expensive and can be delayed or put on hold for various reasons. Anything can happen and there are many factors that can cause great frustration on both ends, not to mention the market competitiveness for IT talent. 

This is how we recruit.

Between assessing all job applications, selecting your resumé, and meetings with different key people within the organization and position to which you are applying, there’s more to a recruitment process than meets the eye.

When Polarising approaches someone we strive to do it differently. First, because we aren’t an outsourcing company, although from time to time we do respond to a business partner specific need for specialized IT professionals.

Polarising is a technology IT Services company that hires long term professionals. Not just because we want to invest in technically excellent people, but foremost because it is their potential that makes our company the greater project of all.

“Recruiting in the IT sector has always been a challenge since it’s one of the most dynamic and increasingly competitive job markets. There is much more demand than supply, which requires that the sourcing for talent must be attractive and effective. Our goal is not to lose focus and to always keep in mind that Polarising is made of people, so we try to reach candidates not only because they have certain technical skills but also because we consider they combine perfectly with our dynamics and culture.” (Eliana Casaca, HR Specialist & Talent Accquisition).

Your talent, our unique process.

Polarising’s recruitment process is designed by experienced HR professionals to incorporate the market changes, recruitment trends and social contexts, like for example, the pandemic crisis we face in the last two years and from which organizations are still recovering.  

Our recruitment process starts by selecting the candidates thoroughly before we approach them. These candidates can come from different sources, like an internal recommendation, job fairs or other third-party initiatives, spontaneous applications from Polarising’s website, and social media pages, especially LinkedIn.

And of course, from the relentless sourcing work of the HR team which goal is to be agile and simplify the process itself, since we know that in this area people become unavailable very quickly. So, after establishing the first contact and the candidates interest to meet, the recruitment process begins, and the first of two meetings happen.

Polarising’s HR Team.
Top left to right: Inês Granja, Daniel Lambuça and Eliana Casaca.
Bottom left to right: Marisa Aleixo and Catarina Flaminio.

In the words of HR Specialist Catarina Flamínio, “Polarising’s recruitment process is designed to be fast and effective. We like to optimize time and that’s why our interview is so complete: we can assess both soft skills and cultural fit, as well as the technical skills that each PL requires to their team. In case we need a deeper technical validation, we do it, but typically the process flows very well and 90% of the candidates who do the interview agree to move on to the next phase.”

5 Practices of expertise in IT Services.

When you join Polarising, you will be integrated in a specialized team called “Practice”. We are internally organized this way so that we can match the candidates’ skills to the most challenging project, bringing added value with each one’s unique skills to grow within a team. Currently, Polarising has 6 Practices:

• Agile & Business
• Microsoft End-to-end solutions
• MuleSoft Integration
• WSO2 Integration
• TIBCO & Data Integration
• Open Source, Frontend & Mobile, Devops.

This also allows our clients and partners to trust that Polarising will provide the most qualified and tailored IT Services team to deliver the best software solutions to their businesses.

So, what really makes our IT Services team different?

What’s significant and differentiates Polarising’s recruitment process for talented IT professionals is the promise that we will create a strong relationship and work for a common purpose:

“At Polarising, soft skills are as or even more important than technical skills. We work with people and for people, so we put great value on this assessment in the recruitment process. Polarising’s culture is made of mutual help, proximity, love for learning and lots of parties! As such, it is essential for us to understand if the person we are recruiting identifies with our values so that we can maintain what defines us as a company. (Inês Granja, HR Specialist & Talent Acquisition)

In the first meeting, the HR Specialist and the Practice Lead or a designated consultant will interview the candidate. We’ll explore your experience, technical background, soft skills, expectations from both ends, and leave room for questions.

After this and if we both match, a second meeting is scheduled with Polarising’s CFO to make you a financial proposal. Well, the die is cast: from here on, the entire recruitment process at Polarising takes on average one to two weeks.

We have been stressing how important it is to resonate with Polarising’s culture: are you autonomous and proactive? Do you wish to elevate your skill set and boost your experience? Is your work life balance a top priority for you? If there is a sentence that best defines us is “Happier People, Stronger People”!

Throughout Polarising’s recruitment process, the one thing you can be sure of is that we’ll guarantee you total and honest feedback. Even if you didn’t get the job. But we are sure you will! Take your chances with Polarising and be part of an amazing IT Services team.

First, there was radio, then the Podcast! Before the internet (wow, was there such a time?… yes, there was.) you also had choices, but not as many subjects and platforms, and especially, available to you on-demand.

There are podcasts to all tastes and from different areas. You can either listen to them as entertainment, to learn about a new thing, or because you like to know people you consider relevant on subjects that matter to you.

But just by browsing on google and Spotify, we’ve realized that there is so much interesting stuff to choose from.

So, here’s a list of 6 Podcasts for IT professionals that are promising: let us know if you enjoyed!

Simple Programmer Podcast.

There’s nothing like a successful software developer sharing his tips on how you can become one! Listen to his guests and testimonials on technology topics, soft skills, and even some career advice. 

Um sobre Zero (a portuguese podcast).

It’s not just about science and technology, although these topics are the core of this podcast. Each episode has a guest or more, and there are many interesting interviews and reflections about topics like Cybersecurity, Mental health, Innovation, etc.

Your undivided attention.

Part of the amazing podcast collection TED Audio Collective, this podcast is about the power technology has and how it’s changing our present and future. The hosts invite us to reflect on current situations and defy us to think and take our own conclusions.

The big technology podcast.

As the name states, this is big! It invites all sorts of players in the tech industry, from founders and CEOs to IT programmers and developers, providing an inside view to important projects, businesses, and subjects.

Techmeme ride home.

If you want to have a quick overview about the tech world, just listen to this 15-minute news podcast from Silicon Valley, where all the (tech) action is.

Darknet Diaries.

This is heavy stuff, and you can actually learn how to crack a code or think about joining the cybercrime! Nah, just great storytelling in the first person

The thing about podcasts is they are available on apps and streaming platforms, and you can download them at your convenience. Better yet, they allow you to multitask, so maybe today is the day that you’ll iron that pile of clothing standing there for sooo long!

Tell us, do you listen to any of these? Leave your suggestions and comments.

Last year we’ve joined our first TIBCO Partner Certification Day and since then, it is proven that it isn’t an ordinary day at Polarising.

As the main provider of TIBCO services in Portugal and one of the most acknowledged in Europe, Polarising has already over 100 experienced TIBCO Systems Integrators with the capability to provide high-quality services to any company.

Within this team and since the 1^st TIBCO Partners Day on May 2021, Polarising has already certified around 52% more consultants in TIBCO technologies than the previous couple of years.

There is no other opportunity like this, and most of Polarising’s consultants keep investing in taking their TIBCO certifications as the only way to get the knowledge and IT skills to successfully contribute to our authority as an expert in integration services.

TIBCO Partner Certification Day

This event is a free 24-hour online event to which only the vendor partners have access. The challenge is that all TIBCO certifications must be completed within 24 hours! This puts a lot of pressure on every consultant, but at the same time it keeps us pushing ourselves to achieve the best results.

There are two levels of TIBCO certifications and one Administrator level, which focus on the skills needed to administer TIBCO products and can be done independently. The first one is the TIBCO Certified Associate level, and it needs to be completed before you move on to the next level, which is the TIBCO Certified Professional level.

What does this mean?

Polarising provides several IT Integration services, and TIBCO technology is one of our main strengths. It’s important that everyone on our team can achieve this level of certification in order to give the best possible service to our clients.

This also applies to other business areas but specially this one, since TIBCO is one of Polarising’s main partners and its technologies are where we have the major know-how and market recognition. This makes the TIBCO Partners Certification Day extremely important to us.

“This day is also crucial to internally challenge our consultants to get certified. Along with the fact that they are focused on projects at hands, often because there’s a cost associated to it (even if it’s covered by Polarising), can be a factor to put people off trying to take the certification exams.” — Hugo Pascoalinho, Polarising’s Head of Architecture & Technology.

So, taking advantage of these initiatives to obtain more and more certifications in the various products of the TIBCO stack is one of the ways Polarising positions itself in the TIBCO market as specialists able to provide the best integration with other IT systems.

As for the remainder of 2022, Polarising plans to consolidate our Integration area within the Connect pillar of TIBCO’s branding, and to expand/invest in the data areas, Unify and Predict pillars.

For more information about Polarising’s Integration solutions and teams specialized in TIBCO technology, please visit our services page and contact us to info@polarising.com.

A quick throwback to 2020

Just like David Bowie once sang, we’re all absolute beginners and this applies to post-pandemic onboarding. Well, it should be, on every IT companies’ mindset.

The pandemic brought new challenges to companies all over the world and Polarising is no exception. These challenges demanded new answers, like the Polarising Registration App that our consultants developed to register all entrances at the office, powered by Microsoft PowerApps.

Polarising has a long history of hybrid work since the days it wasn’t yet a trend. From early on, remote work is part of Polarising’s DNA and we always have been updating our internal policies to follow on our collaborators and client’s needs.

In June 2020, as the entire world had to, we were faced with a question: what will it be like to return to the office after a period of confinement with challenging health rules? The app responded to that challenge and proved itself to be a fundamental tool.

2021 and the “new normal” that didn’t come to the workplace

Many of us feel that 2021 was a sequel of 2020. But there were absolute beginners in 2021, like the Champions Academy graduates: only in 2021, Polarising’s investment in junior recruitment resulted in 19 junior IT consultants hired.  

But really, like Frank in this video, we all still felt like new kids on the block. Facing anxiety and excitement at the same time for returning to the “old” office routines.

In 2021 we were not all on the same page in what comes to learning to live through a pandemic that has no expiration date. Knowing that, Polarising implemented wellbeing policies, like psychological support consultations and gave continuity to our weekly workout sessions, that have known the online version and are now back to its outdoor as usual mode.

We have found a way to keep having happy hours and celebrating the fact of being together although not together, creating contact points as we could and adapting Polarising’s traditions to the pandemic scenario.

Hello, 2022

“There is no new normal. (…) Instead of setting hard rules for how the business will operate, organizations must now juggle a multitude of options, from employee locations to supply chain components to customer demands. (…) Overall, business should be focused on two key qualities. First is flexibility, building an architecture and a workflow that can adapt to any number of changes in the future. Second is resilience, being able to withstand disruptions from any angle.” (In Comptia research report, “Trends to Watch 2021”, November 2020)

It is clear to us that the onboarding process must be worked on and continuously revised. Therefore, Polarising is investing time and resources to (re)think and redesign the onboarding process.

Our framework is that we are all onboarding for the first time! The pandemic context showed us that returning to the office and its work routines is a little bit like a first time, even if you are already in the company for some time:

“Great onboarding helps individuals regain their confidence and cuts down the time it takes for them to get up and running. But new hires aren’t the only people who could benefit from this type of structured support. Right now, everyone at your company needs some form of onboarding.” (Liz Fosslien, in Harvard Business Review)

It begins with simple things, like how to greet people:

Going to the office is important but not just to work; it’s fundamental to get insights from your colleagues, to be inspired by them and brainstorm ideas, to have a cup of coffee with someone who’s not necessarily from your direct project team.

After two years of intermittent lockdowns and social restrictions, going back to the office in 2022 is a part of our process of learning how to socialize again.

The newcomers onboarding process

But why should companies continuously look at the onboarding process beyond the pandemic context?

Because having expanded the remote work policy, it becomes more challenging to think about the company culture and create moments where the spontaneity of a “hello” exchanged in the office hallways is not lost.

Polarising’s onboarding process itself is very clear but most of all, is designed to be simpler and minimize all the expected discomfort that naturally exists when you join a new company.

This year we have centralized our already automated Onboarding process. First, we concluded that there are many bureaucratic things that can be done individually and in advance before the actual first day, such as read the employment contract, insurance information, internal procedures, and schedule the mandatory medical exam.

Simplifying the process is also important to relieve the Human Resources of all the heavy paperwork, allowing them to concentrate their efforts on the demanding recruitment rhythm that an IT consultancy like Polarising has.

So, now we have the conditions to focus on creating a first great day experience. To encourage proximity and humanize the process, everyone meets at headquarters. These meetings are hosted by one of our HR Specialists that delivers a welcome kit with all the necessary working equipment and some other treats, a tour to our intranet and to their personal files.

Then it’s 1-to-1 time with their manager to present a brief overview on the project and team dynamics, discuss training opportunities and follow-up meetings, being available to answer questions and finally, a nice lunch to celebrate!

Image: HR Specialist Inês Granja giving a welcome kit at the office.

Taking a deeper look on hybrid work

For newcomers, onboarding must confirm the message that we constantly convey on social media and other channels. And what about for all of us that have been in the company for quite some time and are also being impacted by all the changes the pandemic brought?

To build shared knowledge, create early opportunities for team members to collaborate and discover each other’s unique talents. You can also start an email thread or channel where team members can post a problem for others who may have relevant experience to share their insights. (Liz Fosslien, in Harvard Business Review)

Liz Fosslien presents us with a set of questions that any company’s management team should do themselves. But it’s evident that remote work has become one of the main issues, especially to those who went to the office and worked at their clients’ sites with entire teams.

Hybrid working is not just about the workplace, whether you’re working at home or some paradisiac island. It has so much to do with all that involves people and their interactions, like mentoring, organizing teams and tasks, supporting applications, creating new resources for working, and feedback, lots of feedback.

For example, mentoring and training have become a greater challenge and it’s important to implement best practices that will allow our teams to focus on their career development, such as transparency, collaboration and appreciation, the ability to embrace failure and excel together, and find inclusion at all levels of leadership.

Yes, we are all onboarding for the first time

Polarising really believes that this is what makes us different from any other IT consultancy. Our churn rate has a low track record and we have recruited around 40 people last year. This means that we are learning something, and one thing is that everyone should feel that the company’s values are resonating, no matter for how long they’ve been with us.

Know more about Polarising and how you can join the team.

We are counting down to one of the largest technology events in Portugal, Building the Future 2022! Organized by Microsoft, it’s an exclusive forum to leverage your business through the networking with identified potential clients, partners, and peers.

From January 26^th to 28^th, this hybrid event will focus on digital transformation and cover some unique perspectives on how companies and people are contributing to this revolution.

How? Check out the Agenda.

Day 1, Beyond and Future: be prepared to go beyond imagination into a more distant technological future and explore the role of technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, Automation, Big Data, and more.

Day 2, People and Planet: discover how digital transformation is changing human life and exploring digital solutions to create a more sustainable future.

Day 3, Education: get to know the solutions that use technology to leverage the digital transformation by promoting learning at any time and in any place.

As sponsors for the second year, Polarising is even more eager to learn from the experts in technology, leadership and education that are coming together to share their vision and experience on how to empower people and organizations. 

Our Expert and Code Sessions.

But we also want to take an active role in contributing with our expertise to this unique event. So, Polarising is hosting one Expert Session and one Code Session during the event, both given by Nuno Cancelo, Polarising’s Microsoft Practice Lead:

26^th of January, 11:30 am
Expert Session: Towards high availability and beyond. (based on the article originaly published at Building the Future event website)

Abstract: Recently we were challenged by one of our clients to implement their new product. It should be cloud-based, scalable, with high availability, and it should be possible to deploy every new version of the application during office hours without losing service. Read the full article:

27th of January, 5pm
Code Session: Monoliths deprecated?! They need a facelift.

Abstract: In this session, we will start with a “monolithic” application and apply a set of strategies to decouple the application migrated and deploy it to the cloud.

More about the agenda here.

Job Pitch Challenge: talent is key.

It’s clear to us that in the center of this transformation are younger generations, so Polarising was also one of the many companies participating on the Job Pitch Challenge with the purpose of scouting the best talent.

Many candidates had the opportunity to know Polarising and some will join our Champions Academy, a program that will help to jumpstart an IT career by providing an outstanding and balanced work environment, exciting projects, and the required guidance to achieve personal and professional goals.

If you are interested to join our next class in February, just fill out the form and apply today!

Image from Microsoft.

Building The Future 2022: so… shall we do it together?

You still have time to attend this incredible event: get your ticket with Polarising’s code: and see you there!

Contact us to know more about Polarising’s services with Microsoft technology.

As part of the TIAS Management & Organization program, Polarising and the Dutch Portuguese Chamber of Commerce partnered to host a Workshop on the subject HR policies and the IT labor market challenges to this year’s TIAS finalist executive students of the Management and Organizations Master’s course in Business Systems.

The event took place on the 24^th of November at Polarising’s Lisbon headquarters and the day started with a welcome note from the TIAS management board, reiterating the importance of the initiative and presenting the results of a first assessement to Polarising.

After that, Polarising’s Netherlands Country Manager Yvonne Kubbinga gave a presentation on our business, portfolio and challenges, that was followed by a brief explanation of the workshop session that would next take place.

The workshop is the highlight of the TIAS Management Program, since it has the purpose of analyzing and discuss a specific organizational theme: this time it was focused on the current challenges Polarising’s HR face to attract and retain talent.

About TIAS and the Management & Organization Program.

TIAS School for Business & Society is a Netherlands international top-ranked business school focused on delivering executive education for professionals, managers, and organizations.

By cooperating with international partners, TIAS integrates specialist knowledge from other foreign business schools and promotes visits to organizations that can share their business perspectives on organizational management and best practices. About the session, Joke Bijhorst, Marieke Abbink, and Ruben Barten from TIAS agree that it was

“(…) a great experience; we had an interesting discussion with the Portuguese management of Polarising and our fellow Dutch students from TIAS. Together we came to new insights about working with the next generation!”

This is a statement of TIAS’s goal which is exposing executive students of the Management and Organizations Master’s course in Business Systems to an international context. Through their research they’ll be able to provide new insights and propose further actions that can be implemented by each of the organizations they meet with.

Polarising’s and CCPH partnership.

The relation between the Dutch Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Polarising has been building itself since we started our direct operation in the Netherlands in 2019.

The Chamber of Commerce has been organizing study trips for managers and finalist students of the Executive Master of Management and Organization of TIAS Business School for many years. According to Marjon van Dinther, Director of the Dutch Portuguese Chamber of Commerce:

“TIAS has been our client for over twenty years. Besides organizing study trips for Management and Organization we have also been working with Health and Public management, as well as Education. We think that Portugal offers a diversity in interesting case studies and sectors, varying from the start-up ecosystem, public and nonprofit institutions to large corporations.“

The purpose of these sessions includes several meetings between the group of Dutch participants and Portuguese organizations from various sectors in the Lisbon/Setúbal region, with the purpose of:

• get an independent reflection from foreign managers from different sectors.
• discuss topics that are of interest within different management areas of an organization.
• promote the interaction between a diverse and qualified group of people.
• inspire action and collaboration between the students and company’s employees.

Being a technology IT Services company, Polarising positions itself as a strategic partner for nearshore operations at low risk. Our clients are international and mainly from Europe, Middle East and South America. The core of our business are people: it’s their knowledge, human skills, ambitions and motivations that interest us, so that we can reach to their needs and be prepared to offer them the right opportunity to start, especially for younger generations.

As the host of this session, Yvonne Kubbinga adds

““(…) what a great pleasure it was to meet the TIAS group. During the workshops we had an interesting discussion on how to improve our HR policies. Also, I enjoyed the feedback that the Polarising company values are really hitting the right nerve. Next to this there were some interesting ideas on how to improve, such as sharing our values during the sales process more clearly.

The numbers for this year’s Web Summit are impressive, considering that we have just started to comeback to in person events: 42,751 attendees and other hundreds and thousands figures to go over.

With a 10-year history and the last 3 in Lisbon, the Web Summit continues to be the largest tech event in Europe, mainly due to its inspiring speakers and relevant content.

It is also the event that can create unforeseeable opportunities to network, showcase new businesses and ideas, and to discuss relevant and structural worldwide matters: this year’s agenda was focused on Climate and Cryptocurrency.

Polarising at the Web Summit.

Yvonne Kubbinga, Polarising’s Netherlands Country Manager, doesn’t miss the opportunity to attend a Web Summit since 2017.

Yvonne has been with Polarising precisely a year now. Taking on such a relevant role, she often travels to Lisbon to meet clients and colleagues at Lisbon’s headquarters, and combines it with spending some time in Alentejo where she has a family home.

After last’s year’s , Yvonne decided to get her sneakers out of the closet and gather a group of peers and business friends to join her at Altice Arena:

“Finally, we could go to the physical Web Summit again. It’s also the place to meet new and old business friends, to network and to get inspired. This year was all of that and more, since we had an interesting group, and with me was also Polarising’s Head of Sales, João Machado.”

The X Web Summit Factor.

Well, we could say that it was Daniela Melchior, the Portuguese actress that is rocking Suicide Squad, but in fact, one of the best things at Websummit, not just this year but all editions, is that you have a wide range of speakers and talks to choose from:

“During the day everybody selected their own program. There was a balance between interesting Start-ups and inspirational talks. For example, Kate Swanborg from DreamWorks Animation, she is so inspired by her job that her energy is still with me, even after some days.”

Kate Swanborg Keynote

The Web Summit is also considered the right place to see what’s out there in the world of tech. Check the Start-ups, follow the big corporations, and engage with other business associations that can bring interesting outcomes to level up your company’s strategy:

“One morning we had an insightful breakfast meeting with Boris Bend about how to attract, but more important, retain talents in our team. And Tuesday we were invited by the Dutch Ambassador via CCPH – Dutch Portuguese Chamber of Commerce for drinks with the Dutch attendees, which was a great moment to meet and have nice conversations.”

Until we meet again at Web Summit 2022.

One of the great things about Lisbon is that it is also a city that always has attracted many people from all parts of the world, and the Websummit became just one more good reason to visit it:

“At night we had fun and relaxing conversations over dinner. Superb combination. A few things stood out for me, like meeting business friends of business friends, as diverse as possible. Also having interesting and inspiring coffee meetings and dinners and listening to inspiring talks on stage. I’m looking forward to the Web Summit 2022!”

Following our strategy towards expansion, Polarising signed an exclusive reseller agreement with Enfo to provide TIBCO development and architecture IT services in the Nordic and Baltic region.

With a team of over 80 TIBCO experts, Polarising will be providing support and expertise on TIBCO solutions, reinforcing Enfo’s existing teams.

This collaboration strengthens Enfo’s capacity to deliver TIBCO solutions to its clients, using high-level software products like TIBCO BusinessWorks, TIBCO EBX, TIBCO Data Virtualization, and TIBCO Spotfire.

According to Martin Rydman, Business Excellence Lead at Enfo:

“We are happy to sign this partnership with Polarising. Their experience and know-how support Enfo in delivering business critical solutions with TIBCO technology to our customers.”

Enfo is a Nordic IT services company with more than 800 digital experts. With their knowledge in digital trust, data and analytics, applications, integration, and managed services, Enfo both builds and runs IT solutions on cloud for its customers.

“Enfo is focusing on high-level TIBCO products that are not widely used in this market, despite of their potential, such as TIBCO’s MDM tool EBX. This partnership is part of Polarising’s growth strategy to the Nordic countries, showcasing our expertise in integration services.” said João Pedro Machado, Polarising Head of Sales.

Know more about Polarising’s Integration Services and contact info@polarising.com

At Polarising we have two major meetings along the year: Kick-off and Checkpoint. The Kick-off happens every January and is intended to present the company’s goals for the new year. But it’s Checkpoint that has that cosy rentrée mood.

Not just because it happens after most of us return from summer holidays, in September. But mainly seeing as the time to look back and evaluate how the year’s going and what can we still do, personally and as a team, before it ends.

This meeting responds to some major organizational and management questions, like:

• How did the year context impact us?
• How’s the revenue numbers?
• What about our clients and main business areas?
• Was there any significant restructure and what changes has it brought?
• What’s our focus until December to reach or to consolidate our goals?

The history behind the Checkpoint meeting.

This review meeting was not always called this way. The first reunion dates to a dinner in 2012 with 24 people, an informal gathering just to mark the return to work after vacation. Then, in 2016 there was a Fall event early October where our CEO did a speech followed by a fun activity that ended with dinner. This time, Polarising had already around 90 collaborators.

It was in 2017 that we decided to call it Checkpoint: it goes back to Polarising origins as TIBCO experts. The name stands for a task that is placed in the middle of a flow to save the state of the process, allowing to start over without having to go back to the beginning or do the task all over again.

Marisa Aleixo, Polarising’s Head of HR recalls:

“Once a year (at kick-off) wasn’t enough. We started feeling the need to reunite everyone and provide relevant information about how we preview the year will end. Of course, without forgetting the fun side that is part of Polarising’s DNA.”

Checkpoint Meeting 2017

Checkpoint before the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the company growing so much in these past few years, Checkpoint has become an even more important event. Especially for those who join the company between February and September, as it is their first formal contact with the organization and a great opportunity to meet many colleagues.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic we used to get together at Polarising’s headquarters in Lisbon, also to enjoy a Happy Hour and celebrate the end of the summer. The CEO’s presentation was broadcasted live on Teams since many of our consultants were already working remotely or living in other countries and parts of Portugal.

Checkpoint after the pandemic.

In the face of such an unexpected context last year, Polarising had to reinvent the Checkpoint meeting according to the pandemic rules. Instead of having a party at the office, only the management team was at the office and everyone else joined through Microsoft Teams. Even to drink and dance and hang out!

“The pandemic brought many challenges to organizations. People needed to be reassured and have a real perspective on how the company was doing and how it would impact them, also individually.” (Marisa Aleixo, Head of HR).

And since we couldn’t have our usual Happy Hour in the terrace, Polarising sent a special kit to everyone’s homes with a clear message: “We celebrate together”. It was the first kit that Polarising sent in regular basis, and it wouldn’t be the last…

Checkpoint is also a celebration.

The Checkpoint meeting is an opportunity to see people that you don’t usually see. For many who were already living out of Lisbon or are from abroad nothing changed that much, since it was always broadcasted live.

But for others, Checkpoint is that special occasion that you take the opportunity to go to the office and be with colleagues from other project teams and areas. This was quite a change that made us reinvent our traditions having always in mind to create memorable moments.

One more year is ending, and Polarising is getting things done. And we had the chance to toast together, like we always do. And this time all of us got a nice gin & tonic kit at home:

“(…) This celebration kit helps to minimize the distance; not the same thing as being at the office celebrating, but it makes us feel unique and a part of something greater.” (Elisabete Silva, TIBCO and ETL Developer).

We are so ready to keep on giving our best until the end of the year. And we hope to be really together again really soon, in 2022’s kick-off!