iglooWeek 2020: Virtual Meets

It is tradition at igloohome to organise a week of sharing sessions, get-togethers and activities every quarter. This week has been coined iglooWeek by us, and it's usually a big affair with igloohomies being flown in to Singapore to spend time together as a fam.

igloohomies in Bali

While we're all familiar with the COVID-19 situation, 2020's first iglooWeek was not put on pause. In the midst of a global pandemic, we saw an even bigger opportunity to have ALL our staff gather virtually. We weren't missing certain staff members due to incompatible flights, and attendance was great!

igloohomies in... virtual space? Well, what matters is we were together!

As much as we'd love to have everyone gathered in our HQ, we found a way to stay safe while remaining efficient.

Held from Mar 31 - 9 Apr 2020, our first iglooWeek of the year saw a slew of virtual meetings and they weren't just to talk shop. We also extended the week to ensure people had enough rest in between teleconferences, our eyes needed a break from the computer screens too!

igloohomies were encouraged to dress as they would during office hours and to have their cameras turned on so we wouldn't feel too distanced from each other. Getting into the right head space is vital in increasing productivity, we're proud to say that we fared pretty well in this regard.

Sharing sessions

We has the usual sharing sessions from the different departments and kicked off with Anthony, our CEO, sharing the business continuity plan with everyone.

Here's Anthony, probably sharing some good news.

Across the days, the different teams shared their wins in Q1 and lineups for Q2. It was all round a great experience despite the distancing.

It was full steam ahead for the team to take this time to focus on our research and development of current and new products. We want to bring bigger and better smart access solutions to the world when the economy opens up again.

Guest speakers

iglooWeek also sees us inviting speakers from the industry to share their experiences.

In this edition, we had Edwin Chow, Assistant CEO of Enterprise Singapore (ESG), and Tim Lee, experienced venture capitalist and entrepreneur in San Francisco's Bay Area; both shared how start-ups might leverage on opportunities presented in a pandemic. We also had Chris Kim, ex-CTO of August Home, who shared his experience in the hardware market.

Edwin Chow of ESG

Edwin shared many initiatives that the Singapore government has put in place to support businesses and start-ups in these unprecedented times. His perspective shed light on the hard work our ministers have put in to ensure our economy continues to run.

Tim Lee, Venture Capitalist & Entrepreneur

Tim, too, spoke of the pandemic and how it affected start-ups in the Bay Area. He shared many tips on how to identify opportunities in times of crisis - all of which were great food for thought for our management.

He also shared his experiences on both sides of being a successful VC and an entrepreneur.

Chris Kim, ex-CTO of August Home

The session with Chris Kim hit close to home. As ex-CTO of August Home, he understood where we were coming from and gave us many learning points to take away from his sharing.

Chris spoke of his experience while building and scaling the product and engineering team within August; the challenges and successes they went through; as well as what he learned from going through an exciting acquisition by one of the world's leading lock player, Assa Abloy.

These fruitful sessions were closed with Q&As from the igloohomies and we look forward to finally meeting them after this period!

Happy hour & iglooMove

It wasn't all work and no play for us during iglooWeek.

We held our first virtual happy hour at the end of it all and saw igloohomies from around the world (US, Europe, India, China, Philippines, Thailand) joining us for a drink!

Virtual cheers!

igloohome believes that work-life balance is of utmost importance. Working from home can sometimes result in us forgetting to take a break, so this happy hour was a much welcomed respite for all.

We managed to catch up with one another and even played games together. No doubt a great way to reward ourselves for all the hard work we've put in during the week!

All revitalised after the iglooMove yoga session!

Staying isolated can often demoralise people. The motivation to stay fit and active can start to go downhill, but we were determined to have everyone move!

Conducted by our very own yoga guru, Edgar, who's also the Chief Commercial Officer of igloohome, our first iglooMove yoga session was a success. Morale was boosted, we perspired (bucket loads), and felt much better after the class.

The session was so successful that we now conduct these classes weekly!

iglooWeek has finally come to a close, and the igloohomies are tighter than ever. I guess you can say there's always a silver lining to every rain cloud; there hasn't been a more opportune time for the family to stay more united than now.

We look forward to unveiling more products in time to come. In the meantime, stay connected, safe and healthy everyone!