With all the buzz, my first step into Perficient was on March 27, 2023. Where am I? Is this an office? How come people are so comfortable? Can a workplace still feel like being at home? I could see that satisfaction on everybody’s faces. People here have forgotten the term colleagues and have become a family.
As a newcomer, I feared being accepted into their team, but Perficient embraced me happily. Every day from then on was a new learning experience. While I was taking baby steps, my team always provided support. Days passed with growing excitement to learn, and I could witness the growth in me. I learned that “Development is not all about learning but also about unlearning.”
While getting accustomed to my new team and role, we had a visitor from one of Perficient’s offices in the U.S. – Doug Powell, Key Account Manager at a large financial services firm. Learning of his professional background, I was prepared to formally meet him but to my surprise, he was so friendly and so cheerful. I was totally awestruck by his attitude. Soon after meeting him, Gayathri Hariharan surprised me with a bizarre box. I was completely clueless, and the box seemed strange except for the one title printed over it “SPIKE BALL.”
With just a little knowledge of sports, this game was completely foreign to me. I may be a non-sports person but was eager to unbox the mystery crate.
THE UNCRATING BEGINS
After a small Google search, the crate was unlatched. Everybody’s inquisitive eyes were on the box. There was a piece of dismantled trampoline and three balls. Whoopee!!!! I was so excited to jump on the trampoline but wait, that’s not how it works. If people weren’t around, I would have unleashed the kid in me and tried jumping on it. With the help of my friends, I started putting together the trampoline. We had a new sport to learn. It’s a mash-up of handball and volleyball. Doug happily explained spike ball and that spiked our enthusiasm. Then the real game began with a few of our colleagues.
Work it! Slap it! Spike it! Hurrahhhh!!!
Who won?
Perficient won.
As I said in the beginning, we are a family. Whoever wins, it’s a Perficient victory.
Thanks to Doug Powell for introducing us to a new sport.