Meet Florian – Agile Coach
What’s your Tipico story?
My journey with Tipico started in January 2015. This was also the beginning of my first experience working abroad. I decided to leave my home country, Romania, and settle in Germany. Initially I moved to Karlsruhe but, just after a couple of months, I took the challenge to support the creation of Tipico’s technology hub in Munich.
Today I can be found in the Munich office, helping teams and individuals in the organisation adopt Agile practices and methods in their work. As a Scrum Master my goal is to help our teams become more efficient, transparent and cohesive, and to enable better outcomes and products to our customers.
As a coach, I am interested in helping the people I am working with in getting better at what they are doing. I like to help them succeed. Even in tricky moments, when they might be down or might be in the resistance phase of a change, I’ll make sure to be present, to be their partner in crime and guide them through the process with a clear goal in mind. This innate passion of always moving forward and never losing hope defines me as an agile coach.
What was your first impression of Tipico?
When I joined the company, Tipico’s technology division was in its early stages. It was a typical start-up feeling, sometimes chaotic, the environment was a fast-paced one and in order to get things done I’ve learned how to balance the wearing of multiple hats. This allowed me to learn a lot and get involved, the new challenges kept me engaged and I felt like I’m making a meaningful impact.
Mention your best moments working here.
There are a lot of them. Here are some that had a big impact on my development:
First, having the opportunity of taking part in building the Munich office from scratch was an amazing learning journey for which I am grateful. It took me many times out of my comfort zone, but the experience gathered definitely made me a better agile coach.
Getting to know the Bookmakers in Croatia, the actual users of the software we are building, was another great moment. It was a great opportunity for me to learn about our business but also to see how the bookmakers are experiencing our software, how their needs are being met and what are their wishes for future releases. Another important aspect to mention is the relationships that I have built, which allowed us to work closely and make the collaboration between business and technology happen.
What is special about Tipico?
It’s the beautiful mix between passionate people, the love for sports and the desire to win. We work in a very fast paced environment and we are aware that we can reach our goals only by constantly challenging ourselves to improve and never stop learning. Me and my Scrum Master colleagues are also contributing to this by stimulating a mindset of continuous improvement in our teams.
What’s your daily pitch like?
I am a morning person therefore my day starts quite early. I have a daily morning routine which I am very proud of! It gives me structure, helps me establish priorities, keep track of the goals and allows me to have a good start into the day. I encourage everybody to find their own routine in the morning that contributes to a successful day. I’ve tried out many activities until I’ve learned what fits me and although I have adapted it due to the pandemic and the birth of my daughter, I am very happy that I still stick to it. Also, one year ago, I developed a habit of doing a personal retrospective every Sunday evening. It allows me to reflect on the past week, the upcoming week and my progress as a whole.
When we were in the office, I started my working day by greeting my colleagues, talking to them while having a coffee, learn something new about them every day. Obviously with the remote setup this became more difficult to do and I have to admit that I miss it a lot.
After quickly checking the emails and the calendar, I would then attend the dailies, address some follow-up actions or impediments, dedicate time for preparation of different workshops or meetings I do with the team, facilitate different discussions, spend time with people outside of the team like the Scrum Master Chapter or reflect on the day-to-day actions of the sprint in order to plan my next interventions with the team. Every day is like no other and this is something that excites me!
What do you look forward to when you walk into our offices?
I really look forward to being back in the office. Although we’ve handled so well the switch to a remote setup, I miss the daily interactions with my colleagues, talking face to face, our team lunches etc.
And I am looking forward to the Euro Cup. Those weeks bring a festive feeling in all our offices, we use to watch games together, bet on our favourites, have fun together- it’s a really nice atmosphere!
As you know we love sports.. which is your favourite?
After a long and busy day, you will find me at the swimming pool. Swimming helps me not only to work out my entire body and cardiovascular system but also shake off the pressure and reset my mind and mood. Worth to mention is that it helps me get away from all the screens: I take a break from the stimulation of calls, e-mails, social media notifications or any other type of alerts. And it feels really good!
What is your one piece of advice for anyone interested in being part of our game?
Be authentic! Show interest during the interview about the position but be yourself and answer the questions honestly and with integrity. I love to work with people who are passionate about what they are doing, therefore the candidate should be prepared to back up their passion with evidence.