15 different companies affiliated with Schibsted Media Group now have their own teams of developers in Schibsted Tech Polska (STP). This includes the major media houses in both Norway and Sweden, such as Aftonbladet, VG and Aftenposten.
In STP´s partner model the programmers in Krakow or Gdansk cooperate closely with colleagues in the partner companies, for instance through frequent use of video conferencing. Colleagues also often visit each other – in both directions.
Scandinavian partners
But how satisfied are the Scandinavian partners with their cooperation with STP?
85 respondents in 12 partner companies in Norway and Sweden participated in a recent survey.
Asked to prioritize the biggest benefits of working with STP the partner representatives ended up with the following list:
- High quality of work
- More qualified programmers
- Colleagues who challenge us
- Easier to recruit programmers
- Low costs
High competencies and skills
The employees in STP are praised for their high competencies and skills by Scandinavian partners. Photo: John Einar Sandvand
Both managers, developers, product owners, designers and other roles participated in the survey. Almost all of them are in contact with colleagues in STP weekly – in fact more than half every day. And only a quarter of the respondents had not yet visited STP in Krakow.
The survey demonstrated that they are very satisfied with their cooperation with STP. Especially the skills and competencies of the Polish programmers are praised.
On a scale from 1 (very poor) to 10 (excellent) both “quality of work” and “competencies and skills of the employees” are rated more than 8.
Very high professional level
Respondents were also asked to what extent they agreed to the following statement:
“The colleagues we work most often with in Schibsted Tech Polska have a very high professional level.”
Again on a scale from 1 to 10 (strongly agree) the respondents on average rated 8,5.
Cultural differences
Although cooperation seems smooth, partners sometimes observe some cultural differences.
Partners responded on average 6,2 when asked to what extent they agree with the statement “We never experience misunderstandings due to cultural differences”.
Maybe it is because there actually are some cultural differences between Poland and Scandinavia, after all?
Scandinavian partners on a fast boat ride together with colleagues from STP during Partner Days 2014 in Gdansk