TechTalks are becoming the norm in many companies, and Auriga is no exception. We started our first TechTalks sessions about five years ago and this has slowly but surely turned into a good corporate tradition. Today, most engineers at Auriga Baltics, Auriga’s European branch, have a yearly goal of participating in TechTalks and presenting at least two or three technological topics of their choice. How have we come to this situation and why do we need them?
Interestingly, the engineers themselves gave us the idea of organizing internal TechTalks at Auriga Baltics. Back in 2013, some of our developers contributed code to open-source projects in their spare time and wanted to share their experience; their enthusiasm was hard to miss and happily contagious. Their presentations were such a success that other developers willingly supported the initiative and our tech meetups became a regular event.
We will usually gather each month in a relaxed and informal setting and discuss tools, technologies, and the latest software development trends. Engineers can discuss the interesting tasks they are performing in their current projects (while steering clear of any non-disclosure information) but not necessarily—they are free to investigate any tech area that really excites them. To name a few recent topics, our team members have briefly dived into software design patterns, discussed the Rust language, explored hash functions, and learned more about machine learning together.
Soon after, we noted that TechTalks offered a plethora of benefits to our people, our business, and our clients.
Knowledge Exchange
First, TechTalks are an effective form of systematic knowledge and experience exchange inside the company as they add huge value to Auriga as a whole. It is a space in which developers can introduce themselves to new ideas and explore technological innovations. Meanwhile, it is a monthly chance to discuss what they are doing and what they have learned and share their progress with others. We all have something to say and if knowledge is power then why not share it with others?
Professional Development
Every next TechTalks session is a stimulus for engineers to grow professionally, motivating them to be open-minded, broaden their horizons, ask (both themselves and others) more questions, and participate in discussions. Thus, our clients cooperate with ingenious, versatile, and thoughtful professionals whose competencies are not limited to a specific technology or a few tools.
Team Building
Apart from being educative and insightful, our TechTalks are also relaxing and enjoyable times spent with your team, eating yummy pizza, drinking soda, and chatting together for a few hours.
Self-Reliant Engineers
We have never had to dedicate a person to plan TechTalks; the engineers themselves always choose the topics and prepare short presentations in their free time. Thus, we have built a team of responsible, active, and self-reliant developers.
Communication Skills
At Auriga Baltics, participating in TechTalks is the best way to discover your inner extrovert. Even shy and quiet employees can make presentations, and it is no big deal if they are not good enough! The main idea of the meetup is not to speak or listen silently but to communicate together; communication is the key to successful client engagement.
Essentially, TechTalks are one of the forces that constantly make us strive for self-development, build out both hard and soft skills, and become a team of true professionals with whom every customer is pleased to work. The next Auriga Baltics’ TechTalks session is coming in August. New speakers, new topics, more pizza, and best of all, fruitful discussion; I am really looking forward to it!
