Frequently asked questions

How will my progress be evaluated? Is there a “points” system? Will we be counting dots?

Your progress - mindset and behavioural change will be evaluated during the "Navigators compass" session, where the lead would evaluate your past 3 months' progress and your problem solver skills growth based on the Islands Ranks available in the handbook page or home page of this website (see menu at the top navigating to it). Lead evaluation will be challenged by choosing a relevant outside team operating lead (for example QA lead), who has the biggest understanding of the team members' skills.

There is no "points" system.

Dots will be counted (praise will be noticed and admitted in the monthly nomination for dotting separately).

How does the progress tracking work? When does the tracking start? Who is reviewing my progress? How often will my progress be reviewed?

Progress tracking is happening all the time during your daily work. Your lead and colleagues are witnesses of your behaviours and will give feedback on how skilled you are and if you are growing.

Tracking has already started - initial evaluation is being done late February, early March. You all are assigned to a particular island representing your problem solver skills.

Progress reviews will happen every 3 months: beginning March, then May, August, and November.

How long will this gamification last?

We will continue gamification till we achieve the desired state and believe it will last without. We expect it to last about 9 months.

What is it for me to seek the upper level?

First and foremost - you, as a person and employee, work on your soft skillset, which is as important as your technical skillset for being senior experienced and mastering your field all in. As your skills grow, you become an even more valuable member of our company by delivering solutions to our customer problems. Your authority grows between colleagues, and you even might become a Go-To person for certain areas of expertise. Your value in the IT market also grows and you will be able to influence your career instead of being influenced by others or situations. You also may get more nice challenges by receiving more complex and interesting tasks/initiatives in your daily life.

What additional activities are planned due to this Quest?

One or two cozy pizza parties with live storytelling of solutions for our client problems, our engineers' daily experience improvements.

Celebration of skills growth - movement to the upper islands with prepared Problem Solvers Quest merch.

Nominations at the end of the quest.

Dotting activity announcements with the monthly highlight - the winners in coaching and problem solver attitude showcasing.

You can propose ideas on how to make this initiative even more engaging - now we all are a part of it as players as well as creators.

If I am a manager, what’s the additional load for me?

Problem solvers are a great tool to help your employees grow on the soft skills side. Use it for meaningful conversations during 1 on 1s, as a starting point during crucial conversations, detailing for an employee what is expected from them in the short and long run (and you acting as coach or sponsor).

From the practical side, it should require up to 30 minutes (depending on how many direct reports you have) every 3 months to evaluate your team members.

Are there team-based components to the initiative, or is it purely focused on individual progress?

It is mainly individual progress, because only if a person is willing to grow, they can do this.

But there will be one award for the team and a coach who would make the biggest improvement as a team - the biggest percentage of upskilling would be tracked. So if a team has someone skilled more than others, then this person can become a mentor, or simply by being a role model, impact team members' attitude shift and growth. For such cases, a dot for "coach" would be a nice catch.

Will there be prizes?

Yes! Check out this page.