Guten Tag!
This week has been just as great as last week! I was given more projects mainly involving accounting tasks, as I completed bookings and entered data. These were not the most exciting tasks, however my supervisor did explain how every company needs to track its numbers to continue its business operations. He also mentioned how I have allowed Sirius to allocate more time to more important issues, as the finance team is extremely busy right now.
During my time at my desk and through conversations with other employees, I have realized what makes Sirius a successful and growing company. Sirius places a lot of emphasis on the culture of the work place. The environment at Sirius is very interactive as each team (finance, tax, accounts receivable/payable, law, and asset management) has open office space. This allows employees to easily approach different parts of the office and most importantly express any concerns to team leaders. I think this design of the workplace has allowed Sirius employees to develop strong relationships with each other. These relationships even seem like friendships, which of course makes for a more enjoyable day at work and presumably better performance. For example, as a company, Sirius rents out a beach volleyball facility every Wednesday and anyone that is part of the company is welcome to play. I actually had the chance to join the beach volleyball group this week! They were all so kind and they revealed how beach volleyball was a way to get employees together that may not get the chance to see each other on a daily basis. I do not think most American companies stress enough on the importance of forming good relationships in and out of the workplace. I had a great time playing volleyball and showing the Germans how American’s properly spike the ball!
I think the success of a typical real estate company is based around good communication. So, the organizational culture in the real estate industry tends to be more collaborative, as the business is formed around people and relationships. This is why I was not overly surprised to find Sirius’ workplace to be very open and informal, while stressing the importance of always communicating new ideas and any conflicts. However, before coming to Germany I was always taught how work life was separate than personal life. As a result, I thought my company would be more formal and structured, which I still believe is how most German companies operate. I am really glad Sirius is informal, because it creates an environment that is more engaging and friendly, while still demanding a considerable amount of work from its employees!
Throughout the past two weeks, my supervisor also emphasized how I should explore as much of Europe as I can! So I decided to take advantage of this advice and take a trip to Prague this coming weekend. I am going with a group of 8 students from the program, and we are planning on seeing some of the most beautiful and famous sites in the world! I was also able to travel to Dortmund this past weekend to see a Borussia Dortmund soccer game. This was probably one of the most memorable days of my life as I got to experience an amazing game with crazy fans and hang out with one of the players, Christian Pulisic, for the entirety of the day!
I will make sure to keep you all informed about my journeys in Prague!
Tschau!
Logan
