I’ve worked as a project manager for nearly 20 years, and during that time I’ve had the pleasure of working with several firms and agencies in the Northwest. For the past year, I have been working here at Blink UX.
Blink UX is a user experience research and design firm specializing in digital products. What really differentiates Blink UX is our research: All of our client and project recommendations are based on actual end-user observational data.
As a consulting firm, Blink is unique in many ways; I’d like to share some of the ones that make Blink such a great place to work.
1. Work hard. Live well
In some traditional firms, the environments are often chaotic due to a lack of in-house resources and the expectation that you will work yourself into your grave. Getting deliverables out the door can be a struggle as people are being pulled in multiple directions. Priorities are often unclear. However, at Blink, we are committed to running the company in a way to ensure project and client success every time. We do whatever it takes to deliver excellence to our clients on every single project. Our delivery people focus on one project at a time and are completely committed to that client and the project’s success. And while we work hard during the day, our employee culture is one that embraces a good work / life balance that fosters constant improvement and personal wellbeing.
2. Employees for life
Blink wants lifetime employees. For a small, organically grown company, it was a challenge to create an environment that would stimulate people throughout their entire careers. We’ve recently undergone a change in structure where our focus is on functional roles as opposed to titles. This fosters an environment where employees can constantly learn, grow, and innovate. I was skeptical at first, but what I found is that while many people see growth via a change in title or management responsibilities, growth is more about challenging yourself to do the things that you think you can’t do. Our environment is one that is incredibly supportive and I’m learning new things everyday.
Blink invests in excellence by providing our employees with training that promotes positivity along with personal and professional growth. This allows people to challenge and change any beliefs that may hold them back from achieving their full potential.
3. An even playing field
Project Managers here are not in competition with one another, like I have felt in my past positions. We aren’t trying to poach another manager’s resources because we think our project should take priority. If a conflict arises, we work collaboratively to identify solutions that will work for everyone, and most importantly, for our clients.
4. If it’s not working, we fix it
While we have standard processes for our varied projects, we do believe in flexibility and continuous improvement. We have the autonomy to modify the process to match each individual project. We have the attitude that if something isn’t working well, we refine it or fix it. We are always looking for ways to make things better. Blink truly promotes freethinking, where all ideas are good ideas worth considering.
