We'd like to introduce the first in a series of Q&A sessions with the multifaceted people behind-the-scenes in our company. Although we love to highlight our work with Cloud Shift, IAM, Technology Team Rental (and more!), we know that the heart of the company is in our team. Here, we get to have a chat with longtime Workstater, Director of Central Services, Lynne Bieber.
Q: Can you give us a little history of your time with Workstate?
A: I officially started with Workstate in the early days as a Business Manager, when Workstate was a much smaller company. So I have helped it grow from being a handful of nerds in one of the partner’s basements to an established company, full of young folks with lots of snark and energy, who used to stay late to play video games and hang out with each other – back before we all had kids and other responsibilities. My job then, as we grew and evolved, was to support the team with things like travel arrangements (lots of trips to Jamaica for the Jamaican Tourist Board, for example,) proposal writing, and assisting the executive team with HR and organizational needs. That evolution later included taking on most of the company's bookkeeping, invoicing and financial reporting.
I took time off with the birth of my daughter in 2002, and then engaged in other work. But happily, two of the Workstate partners pulled me back into the fold in 2011. We had a tight-knit, solid group of folks then, and were poised to grow again. My role has kind of developed over the years as we've grown and formalized a lot of our processes. Now, I'm officially Director of Central Services, which I like to think of as basically everything that happens behind the scenes to allow our folks to do great work. I handle HR; payroll and benefits, new-hire onboarding processes, employee paperwork, you name it. And, financials; again, invoicing, expense wrangling, reporting, and working with our accountants and other vendors. And I cover everything in between – from the logistics behind renovating the Columbus office to moving our team here from the old office, to relocating an entire team of folks to LA for a year, to keeping the fridge stocked with Red Bull. I feel like my business cards should have a subtitle: Sweats the Small Stuff.
I also really enjoy helping out on client projects when I can. My sweet spot has been in data migrations, allowing me to nerd out on content details and spreadsheets. I’ve found I really love this, and hope I can do more. I enjoy seeing all the different ways I can help contribute to the larger whole, whether supporting our own people, or having a hand in the outward-facing work we do with our clients.
Q: What's the best part of your current role at the company?
A: It has always been, and continues to be, the people here. I've worked in dysfunctional office environments in the past, and know firsthand how discouraging and all-consuming that can be. Even just one bad apple can ruin things, but we don't have that here. To this day, I pinch myself sometimes at my luck that I've somehow fallen into this great place full of really committed, smart, interesting – and most importantly – nice people. Coming to work is like hanging out with your best friends all day. And as a direct result of that, I've had the opportunity to grow and learn personally, as these lovely folks have trusted and encouraged me to branch out of my own comfort zones and try new things. A more traditional company, for example, likely wouldn’t have incorporated me on a project requiring some of the development skills that I've learned on the job. But at Workstate, your abilities and your willingness to try new things are valued much more than your resume. That's how things should be everywhere.
Q: What's the most challenging part of your job?
A: Well, sometimes the sweating the small stuff adds up to big stuff! It can be overwhelming. And part of sincerely caring both about the people here, and the work that we do, means that it's not always easy to mentally clock out at the end of the day. That's a skill I'm still working on!
Q: What is something that happens in the office that no one would guess? Or if you tell us, would you have to kill us?
A: Ha! Um ... what happens at Workstate, stays at Workstate. :)
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