Here’s a look at how we’re defining the transition, how we arrived at today, and our direction of travel, which was shared today internally as well.

Remote working is a once-in-a-lifetime reinvention of the workplace, the largest since the industrial revolution, and we want to embrace it. That is why so many team members in Vista and Cimpress central teams are moving to remote-first working. “Remote-first” means that, even after team members can safely return to working together in person following the pandemic, their primary place of work will be somewhere other than a traditional office.

We see enormous opportunity in the shift to remote-first. For team members, it’s the opportunity to work more flexibly and collaborate in ways we never have before. In terms of acquiring new diverse talent, it enables us to recruit and hire from a much broader set of geographies. In terms of investing for the future, reductions to our real estate footprint will enable us to invest more in other areas that support our team members and our growth.

Remote-first is a big shift from where we were at the start of 2020, but fortunately it directly supports pre-existing priorities such as our Vista-wide objective of becoming a high-performing organization and our foundational basic of being magnetic to talent.

Our office locations will become collaboration centers with a mix of spaces where team members can meet to work in person with others when needed. Policies, practices, tools and technology are being reviewed and, where needed, re-designed to optimize each for the most productive and engaging remote working experience.

Our Founder & CEO Robert Keane’s challenge to us: Make how and where we work a towering strength of our culture and a competitive advantage.

Remote working is no longer a novel concept to Vista, Cimpress or the world, but our experience so far pales in comparison to remote-first’s potential. Imagine the world after pandemic, when it’s safe again for us to gather in person: that is the world when we will take advantage of all the benefits remote-first can offer us, and that is the world we are building for.

Our remote-first model will raise the bar in many ways. From workplace flexibility to overall team cohesion, this evolution of the way we work will empower each of us to be more productive in places that are individually meaningful, and to contribute collectively and individually to Vista’s success. Work is about what we do, not where we do it, and we want to be an employer of choice because of how we organize to work together. Below are the fundamental elements of our vision.

Extensive input from existing team members

The decisions we are making are based on team member input and feedback and are grounded in our mandate to create a team member experience that makes remote-first a towering strength of our culture.

Hiring new team members

We are actively recruiting, and we already have found that our commitment to remote-first gives us access to a much wider talent pool and thus greatly increases ability to recruit top talent. No longer constrained by geography, we have a larger pool of people with the specific skills, qualities and diversity we want to attract.

Collaboration

In a remote-first environment, virtual communication, project management and knowledge sharing tools give team members the ability to work together and to move work forward asynchronously, across locations and time zones. Physical collaboration spaces will be available for times when needed for face-to-face interactions and in-person collaboration will remain an important part of how we work (and have fun) together.

Asynchronous working

The global nature of our team is already part of our culture but collaborating across locations and time zones hasn’t always been efficient. In an asynchronous way of working, your location is no longer an advantage or disadvantage. Team members can respond to messages and consume information as they are available, with gaps of communication in between to accommodate a non-linear workday and periods of deep work and focus. This is enabled by moving to a “document everything” culture that makes time zone irrelevant to the ability to collaborate, make decisions, share knowledge and learn.

Better business outcomes

Our remote-first strategy creates an environment and culture in which team members can thrive and be more involved, productive and engaged. This translates to becoming the high-performing organization we need to deliver better business results.

Joining the Remote-First community

Throughout the transformation, we’ve leaned on other firms. Organizations like GitLab, Dropbox, Mural, Zaiper, HelpScout, Buffer, Firstbase, Facebook, Remote, Doist, Automattic, Basecamp, Distribute Consulting, Remote Work Association, and Remote-how have created a community of voices which are collectively pioneering the way forward.

Operators like Darren Murph, Chris Herd, Laurel Farrer, Brian Elliott, Shane Mac, Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Annie Dean, Nellie Hayat, Samantha Fisher, and Ryan Anderson have contributed in person and through their published wisdom, much that we are able to build from, and hopefully at some point, add to.

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In our second year participating in the CEI survey, Cimpress USA is proud to have earned a score of 100% and the designation of being one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

Over the past year, Cimpress and Vista have introduced a number of new programs in our continued support of equality in the workplace. We rolled out a series of LinkedIn Learning Module trainings on diversity and inclusion and published internal gender transition in the workplace guidelines. Our PRIDE employee resource group also held virtual PRIDE speaker events, including those with celebrities like Bobby Burke of Netflix’s Queer Eye, produced PRIDE marketing products, and sponsored a job fair for the New England Trans community at First Event Boston.

The results of the 2021 CEI showcase how 1,142 US-based companies are promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies in the US. Additionally, 57% of CEI-rated US companies have global operations which help to advance the cause of LGBTQ inclusion in workplaces abroad.

The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:

• Non-discrimination policies across business entities
• Equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families
• Supporting an inclusive culture
• Corporate social responsibility

“From the previously unimaginable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to a long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Yet, many businesses across the nation stepped up and continued to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President. “This year has shown us that tools like the CEI are crucial in the work to increase equity and inclusion in the workplace, but also that companies must breathe life into these policies and practices in real and tangible ways. Thank you to the companies that understand protecting their LGBTQ employees and consumers from discrimination is not just the right thing to do—but the best business decision.”

See the full report here.

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Not familiar with CEI? CEI is a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality in the workplace. Participating companies are rated on detailed criteria falling under five broad categories:

• Non-discrimination policies
• Employment benefits
• Demonstrated organizational competency and accountability around LGBTQ diversity and inclusion
• Public commitment to LGBTQ equality
• Responsible citizenship

The average score for participating companies in 2020 was 71/100 with Cimpress earning an above average rating of 90/100. We believe our score is an accurate reflection of our benefits, policies and business practices being well aligned with the needs of the LGBTQ community.

In 2019, we made several strides toward creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace. A few of those highlights include:

• The Cimpress USA Benefits Team collaborated with Blue Cross Blue Shield to ensure our medical coverage for gender affirming services was both comprehensive and aligned with HRC’s vision for inclusive coverage. In September, as a direct result of this review, we’ve added voice therapy for transitioning members as an enhancement to our medical plan.
• Vistaprint proudly sponsored Technica 2019, the world’s largest all-women and nonbinary hackathon hosted by the University of Maryland, College Park in proximity to our Vistaprint Silver Spring office.
• BuildASign added gender neutral restrooms at all their offices and manufacturing facilities. They also created a new employee resource group, Empower, and brought in a speaker for a lunch and learn about “Making Spaces Safer for Trans and Gender Nonbinary People.”

We’re so proud of our team for their achievements, yet know there is still room to improve. We thank the Human Rights Campaign for the opportunity to learn new ways to make Cimpress a great place to work for everyone.

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Cimpress was awarded ‘Best Tech Work Culture’ first runner up at the 4^th Annual Boston Timmy Awards, held on October 24^th.

At Cimpress, team members are given the opportunity to make an impact on real business problems and encouraged to push the status quo. Our culture revolves around listening and collaborating, experimenting, being flexible, and sharing ideas. While we get to experience it firsthand every day, we were thrilled to be recognized by the larger tech community.

Other finalists in our category included: Curriculum Associates, LevelUp, Tamr, AppNeta, Pegasystems, Carbon Black, Talla, LogicManager and Mendix.

From the group of finalists, fifty percent of the final score came from voting, and the other fifty from a score given by a panel of judges (who were chosen for their own impact and connection to the Boston tech scene). The two finalists with the highest score took home awards in this category.

The Timmy Awards are organized by Tech in Motion, a national event series started with the goal of bringing local tech communities together to meet, learn and innovate, and today has over 100K members, 10k of which are in the Boston area alone.

Aside from basking in the glory of our award, the team had a great night learning about and connecting with many other great tech companies in the Boston area.

Thanks to everyone for the support!

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At Cimpress, we’ve created an edge in the market through a best-in-class tech culture that collaborates to solve real business problems and encourages team members to push the status quo. Our culture revolves around listening and collaborating, experimenting, being flexible, and sharing ideas.

Let’s go all the way

We are thrilled to be considered among the many great tech companies in Boston. Fifty percent of the final score comes from community voting. To take away the top honor, we need your help! Please take two minutes and vote for Cimpress in just four easy steps:

1. Visit our finalist page
2. Log in or create an account (upper left)
3. Click on the ‘thumbs up’ vote icon (upper left)
4. You can vote daily until October 3rd

The Boston Timmy Award for Best Tech Work Culture will be announced at Laugh Boston on October 24th. Thank you for the support!

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Meet Josef Pacula, a Software Engineer at our Prague office in Czech Republic.

Josef graduated from the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, with a degree in Computer Science. Before coming to work at Cimpress, Josef worked for Prizeo, a company that runs lottery campaigns with celebrities to raise money for charity. He believed it was a valuable startup experience with a lot of responsibility. It gave him the opportunity to be one of two employees in the tech team responsible for the whole product’s technical side, starting from design, implementation, testing and operations.

Currently, Josef works in Cimpress Technology as part of the Logistics team which is building a service called SortMan (Sortation Manager), that should allow manufacturing plants to configure all their shipment sorting needs!

As a fairly new employee (he has been at Cimpress Tech for only a few months) his experience at the company is still limited, but his favorite event thus far has been the VIEW, an event held in many of our offices around the world where team members have the chance to mingle and get to know their colleagues over food, beverages and games.

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We believe Agile has real applications beyond creating software. At the end of the day, it is just a set of values and principles – it can apply to our lives as any other value, principle or belief.

Can Agile create better ways of living?

Agile is about creating better ways of living – which sounds great but where to start? Organizations like Vistaprint have entire teams dedicated to Agility, so what can I do as an individual?

Woody Zuill, an Agile expert and key proponent of Mob Programming and #NoEstimates, says, “If you only adopt one practice, let it be Retrospectives. Any other practices you need will follow along shortly.”

So, if we are to assume he’s right and that Retrospectives are the starting point, what exactly are they? And how do we go about applying them? Retrospectives are all about reflecting on past and current behaviors and then seeking opportunities to improve.

There’s nothing mystical about it and you don’t need a special facilitator (or Post-it notes) to do it. All you need is a few minutes to reflect and a commitment to improve.

Retrospectives at the dinner table

Interested in understanding more about how Agile can be applied to our daily lives, we spoke to Daryl Paraguya, Senior Technology Manager, Vistaprint. Interestingly, his family runs weekly Retrospectives over Sunday dinner. “Each family member says something they are grateful for about another family member. Then we talk about what we liked about the last week and what we didn’t.”

Once they reflect on the week, Daryl’s family decides on an action they’ll take to improve. “Sometimes they’re fun and sometimes they’re serious. We’ve made some big changes to bedtime routines, how we allocate chores, and other very tactical things that affect our day to day lives. We probably wouldn’t work the same without these. I’m happy that we do it. It’s changed how we live and how we treat each other.”

Retrospective actions become even more powerful when they’ve been visualized. And, in Daryl’s family, they write down their action each week and put it on a magnet board in the kitchen to remind them all of their commitment.

You might be surprised by what you learn

For Daryl, Retrospectives gave him a new perspective and an opportunity to learn more about his family. “Oftentimes my kids are really thoughtful about their gratitude. They take it very seriously and I love that. Without Retrospectives, I might never have appreciated that my kids have this really mature level of introspection and empathy because we don’t normally talk like that.”

Using retrospectives at home is just one way you can bring Agile into your everyday life. Remember, Agile is about creating better ways of living. Make a commitment to yourself and give retrospectives a try!

Contributed by David Reichert & Melissa Rockman, Agile Coaches in Vistaprint 

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A Waltham event sponsored by our Women in Technology Group

Our Women in Technology group recently organized a round of lightning talks, which any team member could voluntarily sign up for to present on a topic of their choice. Irrespective of the group’s focus, the topics didn’t need to be related to technology, women, or Cimpress – and most weren’t! Over the course of 40 minutes, audience members were treated to seven unique and original presentations, all of which not only shed light on individual personalities, but also their surprisingly diverse skills and interests. Here’s a breakdown of what we heard:

RUST

Marcus Griep, Lead Software Engineer, introduced us to Rust programming language, giving an overview of its features and benefits (like its strong sense of ownership and guaranteed memory safety) and – in an unexpected and humorous twist – walked us through an example using radioactive bananas.

App development: estimating blood alcohol content  

Christina Aiello, Software Engineer, told us about a phone application she developed for her Master’s thesis that predicts a user’s blood alcohol content with 89% accuracy based on her/his walk. The application detects certain walking traits via the smartphone’s sensors, some of which are: the number and length of a person’s steps taken over time versus the total distance covered, and how much the user sways back and forth on three different axes. Who knew that alcohol levels could be read in this way? Warning: This is not a game (although it kind of sounded like one to us!)

Girls and women can and do play sports

Tim Bonci, Lead Operations Engineer, walked us through statistics of female participation in high school, college and Olympic sports. Fact is, girls and woman play sport at all levels on parity with men. But, as Tim went on to explain with a number of surprising stats, it’s all down to the way the media portrays and covers female sports.

Cracking a master lock

Angela Lu, Operational Support Engineer, made us all think twice about the security of our gym lockers as she walked us through the steps to crack a master lock, narrowing 64,000 possible combinations to only 20 through a combination (pun intended) of tinkering and math. Not bad!

Coffee

Enas Alnajjar, Senior Auditor, shared the origin, history and lifecycle of coffee. Coffee aficionados and caffeine-holics rejoiced as she cited a plethora of studies whose findings support the numerous benefits of coffee. So, as if we needed more reasons, we will be continuing to drink our antioxidant-rich, disease-fighting, super beverage, thank-you-very-much.

The Virtual Workplace

Tim Kirchner, Principal Software Engineer, talked about the variety of work environments and their associated pros and cons. A fan of the virtual workplace, he challenged us to give it a try, providing tips and tricks for overcoming key challenges.

Let Me Tell You a Story

Colleen McCretton, UX Manager, told us a story about the history of storytelling, explaining that it is a specific art, which is backed by science. Apparently, it’s all about the way human memory works: effective storytelling communicates with our brains through multiple channels.

So there you go: I think it’s safe to say we all learned something new and it’s fantastic to know we have so many bright and interesting team members! Lightning talks are such a fun way to learn a broad variety of topics quickly, and to start a conversation or peak other’s interest on a topic. They are a fun way to bring people together. Not only to do they provide insight into individual skills and passions, they also promote creativity, collaboration and information sharing.

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Step 1: The job description

Our Global Email Creative team felt it was critical to hire someone very good at collaborating and open to Agile values and principles. So, although we wrote the usual required skills in the job description (in this case, design expertise) we also outlined desired attitudes like, “You believe in collaboration and are comfortable with healthy debate” and “You have a growth mindset open to modern Agile values and principles and working in self-organizing teams.”

Step 2: The phone screenings

Would-be designers participated in two phone calls or video chats with our team. They were asked questions like, “Have you ever had to work outside your expertise to move a project along?” and “What was your greatest failure?” The goal was to see whether candidates take responsibility for their actions and mistakes, and what they ultimately gained from the experience. We were looking for a readiness to learn and share credit and it worked: we quickly and efficiently filtered out three candidates.

Step 3: The Co-Creation Exercise

In the past, we invited final candidates to two rounds of interviews, each lasting half a day and involving five or six people. This time, we developed a program built around a one-hour hands-on exercise: the candidate worked with a cross-functional team – a designer, copywriter, project manager, and marketing partner – on a realistic brief requiring creativity and collaboration, but didn’t require a knowledge of our products.

One brief requested an advertisement for an ink supplier to generate more demand among print designers for a specific shade of green (PANTONE® 382 C). Another requested a billboard to cheer up the residents of a city expecting to receive 200 consecutive days of rain. The group worked together for 50 minutes, allowing the team to observe the candidate’s problem-solving skills, ability to collaborate, take feedback, and respond constructively. Then, for ten minutes, the candidate presented the team’s solution, demonstrating their ability to explain creative ideas and design decisions.

And what happened?

We immediately decided on the successful candidate with a very high degree of confidence. Rather than relying on a resume and artificial interviews, our team had observed her artistic flair and eye for design, as well as her aptitude for collaboration.

But how did the candidates feel?

Well, one of them emailed us to tell us exactly how they felt and here’s what they said:

“When I was there at the office, everybody was so nice and friendly that it really felt like a welcoming atmosphere that I’d be crazy to not want to be a part of. So, if you were still having any doubts about this new type of interviewing process, then just know that I personally thought it was awesome and I wish more companies would carry themselves the same way Vistaprint does.”

So what did we learn?

We learned that the co-creation evaluation technique can be used for any job position where collaboration and relationships are important. In fact, co-creation should be universally applicable in any Agile company. It signals to candidates that collaboration and an Agile mindset are at least as critical to us as any specific skill. It’s also the best way to make sure we are getting the right person on board so I would encourage anyone to try it.

Contributed by Jon Friedman, Vistaprint Agile Analyst

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Andres March is a lead software engineer that works at our Waltham office in Massachusetts, USA.

Andres graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park.  His first job introduced him to data warehousing fundamentals that he still uses to this day.

During this first job experience he was also introduced to a group of founders that would move him to San Francisco as the first employee of a new startup.  It was there, he believes, where he became a well-rounded engineer.  He would later on work at Sony and after at Qualcomm, where he developed his interest in web application architecture and scalability.

Nowadays he works on the B2B Core group as part of the Commerce Team within Cimpress Technology.  They are responsible for many of the services that are at the center of order intake and processing.

Some of the interesting challenges Andres and his team have worked on include delivering notifications to merchants in a reliable, scalable manner, implementing CQRS to enable asynchronous search indexing, and adding authentication and authorization into our services in a transparent way.

When asked for one of his favorite memories from his time in Cimpress Technology, Andres talked about the time when he and other co-workers got together and played beach volleyball at a Cimpress Technology summer party last year, an event we held at Kimball Farms to unwind and spend time together outside of the office.

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