When Working Remotely Fails in Practice

Working remotely has been lauded as a great opportunity–and in some cases, considered better than working in an office. I submit that this isn’t always the case, depending on the work being done and the people involved.

Teaching and Learning with Atomic Roundtables

Recently, Atomic Object Grand Rapids created a new lunchtime practice that we call Roundtables. The concept is (intentionally) simple. Roundtables happen on the first and third Thursday of each month in our café space. We keep a sign-up sheet on the side of our refrigerator. Anybody is welcome to sign up to host on a topic of […]

Onboarding at Atomic: A New Atom’s Perspective

If you’re a frequent reader of Spin, you may have read Jesse’s post about our onboarding guidelines here at Atomic Object. At the end of the post, the importance of gathering feedback from new Atoms is discussed. I’m here to provide that feedback.

Should I Speak Up?

Regular readers of Atomic Spin probably already know that Crucial Conversations is required reading for all new Atoms. The authors—Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, and Switzler—didn’t stop there, however. They’ve written several books, including the one I’ve been reading lately, Crucial Accountability. While reading one of the earlier chapters, I was struck by four simple questions […]

Introducing ENIAC Six: Atomic’s Room Named for the Women who Programmed the ENIAC

The various meeting spaces in Atomic’s new building will be named after designers and developers we value for their contributions to their fields, and to our history as a company. As renovation on our building continued, we realized we had an additional room to name. Atomic’s last meeting room is named after the little-known group of […]

The Grad’s Dilemma: How I Found a Software Job that Fits

As a student about to graduate from a large, highly competitive Computer Science program, I felt a great deal of pressure from the university and from my peers to follow one of two career paths: Join a start-up and become one of its heroic, high-risk/high-reward founders; or snag one of those coveted, high-paying positions at […]

Atomic Onboarding – What Works in 9 Guidelines

We care deeply about our onboarding process at Atomic. We recognize that work relationships are human relationships and that it’s crucial to demonstrate respect for our new employees, show that we really value them, and that we’re excited to have them joining us. We want to do everything we can to set them up for success.

Improving on the Open Office Environment with Slack

At Atomic Object, we’ve always been big fans of the open office floor plan. Our offices consist of wide-open rooms with table groups where team members can easily work together. This environment allows spontaneous brainstorming sessions and problem-solving discussions to occur naturally throughout the day. One thing that I really love about the open office setup […]

Better Environment, Better Team – 5 Ways Changing Conditions Can Solve Problems

Fish discover water last. — Anonymous When Atomic Object was searching for a new office space, it made me think about what makes a good work environment and if there were any research studies that supported my personal experiences. I did some research, and what I found changed the way I view how people work […]

Balancing Openness and Privacy in Your Workspace

Since 2001, Atomic has enjoyed and promoted the benefits of working in an open office environment. But over the past few years, many of us at Atomic have concluded that a purely open plan can be frustrating and stressful at times.

Atomic Spin

Atomic Object’s blog on everything we find fascinating.

Workplace