Hello, I’m Shuhei Mizuki, a.k.a. Zuki, and a member of the product development promotion division of MoneyForward’s Human Resource Solution department (hereafter, HRS Dept.).I spend my days constantly asking myself questions such as “How can we raise morale in an organization?” and “What is true efficiency?” and putting them into practice.
This July, engineers from the HRS Dept. went on a two-day and one-night tech camp. It was a big event with so many participants, including those who attended remotely via Zoom. This article is a report on the event. I hope you will enjoy the fun atmosphere!
Purpose of Tech Camp
The purpose of the camp was team building and organizational alignment. Unlike typical development camps, the event was more focused on workshops than coding.
HRS Dept. was one of the first organizations in Money Forward to start globalization, and 60% of the participants in this camp are global members. Because we employs a microservices architecture and are made up of relatively small teams, language and team barriers limited cross-sectional interaction.
The language barrier sometimes meant that communication between Japanese and global members was limited to meetings, and the team barrier caused information that should have been shared across the entire HRS dept. to be confined to a specific team.
In order to improve this situation, this camp was planned with the aim of promoting team building and making members aware of the direction of the organization.
Camp content
- Day 1
- Value/Culture session
- AI session
- Get-together
- Day 2
- Lead time for changes session
- Guild system kickoff
- QA session
- BBQ
There were many fun events throughout the two days.
This article is a report of camp content by the following three members.
- Kushal(Engineering Manager, India)：Value/Culture session
- Suga(QA engineer, Japan)：QA session
- Zuki(development promotion, Japan)：Fun atmosphere at the camp
Let’s start by looking at Kushal’s report on the Value/Culture session from Day 1.
My Impressions on HRS Engineering Value/Culture session by Kushal
Hello, I’m Kushal Gowda, an Engineering Manager in HRIS Group. Recently, I participated in a 2-day engineering camp that focused on various aspects of HRS Engineering’s culture and practices. One of the most engaging sessions during this camp was a workshop designed to explore and discuss the core values and culture of HRS Engineering. This wasn’t just a sit-down lecture, it was an interactive and collaborative session that brought teams together to reflect, discuss, and present their perspectives on what they believe truly represents the company’s values. Here’s a recap of this insightful workshop, with a particular focus on the team activity that allowed us to express our interpretations of these values.
Team Activity: Defining Our Perspective of HRS Engineering’s Values
The workshop included an interactive segment where we were divided into 14 teams. Each team was tasked with selecting three keywords that best represented their understanding of HRS Engineering’s values and culture. The idea was to take a step back from the official values and present how we, as employees or participants, internalize and perceive them.
Our Team’s Perspective
For our team, the brainstorming session was a great opportunity to reflect on the core aspects of HRS Engineering’s culture that stood out to us. After a lot of discussion, we chose the keywords “Innovation”, “Grow Together”, and “Automation”. Here’s why:
Innovation：
We believe that constant innovation is at the heart of what HRS Engineering does. Whether it’s developing new features or improving existing systems, there is a relentless push towards creating better solutions. Innovation drives our ability to stay competitive and relevant in a rapidly evolving industry.
Grow Together：
This keyword reflects our emphasis on teamwork and collective growth. We believe that a culture where people support each other and grow together leads to a more motivated and unified workforce. By learning from one another and sharing our knowledge and experiences, we can achieve our goals more effectively.
Automation：
In our view, automation is key to improving efficiency and minimizing errors. By automating repetitive and mundane tasks, we free up time for more creative and strategic work. Automation not only boosts productivity but also ensures consistency and quality in our outputs.
Winning Team’s Perspective
The winning team in the workshop activity impressed everyone with their creative and impactful selection of keywords. After a deep discussion, they selected “FUN-damental”, “Belongingness”, and “Danketsunity”. Their choices resonated with the audience and highlighted key areas they believed were fundamental to HRS Engineering’s culture:
FUN-damental：
This clever play on the word “fundamental” emphasized that at the core of HRS Engineering’s culture is the balance between work and enjoyment. They advocated for an environment where fun is not seen as separate from fundamental principles but rather integrated into everyday work life, promoting a positive and engaging workplace.
Belongingness：
This keyword was chosen to reflect the importance of creating a sense of inclusion and belonging within the organization. The team emphasized that when employees feel they belong, they are more likely to contribute positively, collaborate effectively, and commit to the company’s goals.
DANKETSU-UNITY：
This unique term combined “danketsu” (unity in Japanese) with “unity” to convey a strong sense of solidarity and collective strength. They highlighted that HRS Engineering thrives on united direction, common interest, and mutual respect, which is vital for moving forward as a cohesive unit and achieving great things together.
Their thoughtful approach to the keywords and how they tied them back to real-world applications within the company won them the top spot in the activity. Their presentation also stood out for its creativity and depth in understanding the nuances of workplace culture.
Key Takeaways from the Activity: A Broader Understanding of Values
What made the activity truly insightful was listening to the presentations from the other 12 teams. Each team had its unique take on HRS Engineering’s values, which led to a rich and varied discussion.
The team presentations were a powerful reminder that while we may all work under the same core values, each of us can have a unique interpretation of what those values mean in practice. This exercise was not only about reinforcing the company’s culture but also about understanding how these values manifest in different teams and roles.
The diversity of perspectives shared by each team underscored the richness of HRS Engineering’s culture. It allowed us to see how various aspects of the company’s values resonate differently with different people, depending on their experiences and roles within the company.
Conclusion: Reflecting on the Workshop Experience
※ the rightmost one is the author, Kushal
The workshop was a great example of how engaging and collaborative activities can bring out varied interpretations of shared values. It provided an open platform for everyone to express their thoughts and contribute to a collective understanding of HRS Engineering’s culture. Through this activity, we were able to see the breadth and depth of our organization’s values from different angles, which ultimately strengthens our commitment to these principles.
That was an enthusiastic report from Kushal. Next, let’s have QA engineer Suga report on the QA session on the second day.
Report on QA Session by Suga
Hello, my name is Suga, QA Engineer, HRS Dept., and I attended the in-house training Tech Camp held in Tochigi, Japan in July 2024! This is the first time for the entire HRS Dept. to hold an engineering camp, so I hope to introduce this activity to you all.
The Tech Camp was held over two days, and the training was a great opportunity to deepen mutual understanding through staying in one place. In this report, I’ll focus on the QA session hosted by the QA team which I’m a part of.
QA session
The QA session was held on the second day and was attended by so many people, including online participation via Zoom. The session consisted of several exercises focusing on equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis, with teams of several people per group, and QA members, including myself, evenly assigned to each team.
After an explanation of the equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis moderated by Iwamoto, Director of QA Department, HRS Dept., the participants worked on the exercises individually and in teams.
↓ After individual work, go to team session
During the team sessions, many perspectives were shared by the engineers on the team, and we were able to learn from each other which perspectives we usually pay special attention to. It was also a good learning opportunity for me to hear technical perspectives on basic security measures and error handling in code, such as the following
- Security
- whether or not files can be compromised by malicious acts from outside
- Performance
- upload processing speed
- Error handling
- error handling, including resuming processing if the upload process stops partway through
As a QA, I usually tend to consider error handling and message display when operating from the user’s perspective. I felt that approaching the same functionality from different points of view could lead to comprehensive quality assurance.
※ Sample answer is as follows
In the identification of boundary values, all members of the team, both QA and engineers, were able to quickly identify values. I was able to sense once again that we work every day while being aware of basic aspects such as boundary values.
It was unfortunate that we were not able to listen to the opinions of each team member in depth because we had only 3 to 5 minutes to work on each of the problems, but it was very fruitful that we were able to share many opinions even in the limited time we had.
Here are the other QA engineers’ impressions.
- A (Japan)
- It was very useful to have the opportunity to think about testing with the development members.
- The development members were very proactive in expressing their opinions, and most of the discussions were so heated that they did not fit within the time allotted.
- I felt that this was an opportunity for all members to think about quality in the future, without being bound by the idea that “it is QA’s job to think about quality.”
- I (Japan)
- In addition to being a meaningful opportunity to learn about testing, it was good to be able to share the perspective of testing with development.
- I think this is a part of unit testing as well, so I would be happy if we could hold more workshops like this in the future to raise awareness of quality.
- K (Vietnam)
- It was a really informative workshop that helped the development team get acquainted with the testing techniques of equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis and apply them as shift-left tests.
- It reminded me of the importance of clarifying requirements sufficiently by careful consideration before entering the development phase.
- M (Vietnam)
- Very helpful to visualize the mindset during testing.
Summary
※ the leftmost one is the author, Suga
It was a very exciting first time for me to participate in the HRS Dept. Tech Camp, and through the two days, including the QA session, I was able once again to see the high level of skill and passion for the product that everyone on the team has, which further motivated me. I would like to continue working on quality improvement while aiming for further growth by having each team member fulfill his or her role and cooperate.
This was a report from Suga, a QA engineer. I was a facilitator, but I was able to enjoy the session while being overwhelmed by the depth and breadth of the engineers’ knowledge and interests.
Finally, I would like to introduce a little more about the atmosphere of the Tech Camp.
Fun atmosphere at the camp
We headed to the training facility on a bus with a lot of excitement.
Service areas are fun, aren’t they?
At times we were serious..,
At other times, we had fun discussing.
The BBQ took place in incredibly hot weather, so we took a break in the shade.
We enjoyed the optional get-together with moderation.
How was it?
MoneyForward’s engineers will continue to push forward to become a true one-team organization. I also plan to actively implement measures to ensure everyone can work with high morale.
Thank you for reading this far.
※ the rightmost one is me(Zuki)
MoneyForward is looking for people to work with. I would be happy if we could create an exciting workplace together!! For more information, CLICK HERE