Code with a side of snow capped mountains, please.
Been wondering what Abletech’s Vancouver office looks like? Well good news; today I am going to give you a tour of my remote setup here on the other side of the world.
Close to a year ago I packed my bags in New Zealand and set out on a solo adventure in North America. After 3 months of travelling, I rejoined Abletech from Vancouver to help build our Canadian team, alongside Andrew Pett, who started working out of Calgary around the same time. This is the first time Abletech has had a distributed team and we have been collaborating carefully to help make remote working a success.
First step for me was finding a productive workspace. Working from home may seem like the dream…sure you don’t even have to put pants on, but for me it definitely decreases productivity. I also soon found myself craving human interaction from being alone for such long periods. I decided that perhaps the co-working craze had something behind it.
Welcome to the HiVE: Social impact focussed co-working. I investigated several co-working spaces in Vancouver but the HiVE felt like home almost immediately. The HiVE is a community driven working space, focussed around building a network of knowledge, connection and innovative action in order to take on society’s most complex challenges.
The HiVE has a huge diverse range of members, from every industry you can think of, from developers, to architects, to technical writers, but all with a shared vision of positive social impact. The space offers Taco Tuesdays, office puppies, book club, wine & paint nights and “fitness club” where we take breaks to go do squats in the kitchen. At lunchtimes, you can be almost guaranteed to sit down and strike up an interesting conversation with someone doing great things for the world. We also host meetups, workshops and social events. Sometimes, we even share cake.
Pumpkin carving, office doggos, cupcakes and code are all just a part of a day co-working at the HiVE
I have a hotdesk membership, which means I can come in 24/7 and pick a desk, pop down my laptop and delve into code straight away. The space provides coffee, meeting rooms, soundproof booths for skype calls and a hammock chair for when you need a nap.
Co-worker Jim, working hard in the soundproof phone booth and myself testing the hammock chair with a wine or two.
Each day I commute to the HiVE’s downtown office from North Vancouver on the Seabus. It’s a 12 minute ferry ride and without a doubt the nicest form of public transit I’ve ever experienced. If there is too much sunshine to work inside, a fellow workspace member and I have been known to take our laptops up the mountains behind my house and work from the café at the top. Because, where’s the fun in being a digital nomad if you can’t have a quick run down a ski slope while waiting for your test suite to run.
Hard day at work above the clouds of Vancouver
Remote work is a new challenge. It is still in it’s infancy at Abletech but together we are working to build up new mindsets and practices to make it work cohesively. Working 10,000 miles from my team can be tricky, however it also allows me the flexibility and freedom to work in this beautiful environment, surrounded by so many things I love. I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to do this, with the support of an adaptive team like Abletech. I will leave you with a collection of photos from my daily commute. For more pictures of my ongoing Canadian adventure you can follow my instagram: www.instagram.com/dawnerfr.
