Talking Design with Next Generation Entrepreneurs

Prior to being owned and renovated, the building Ablesoft resides in today was a dusty resale shop. Originally built in 1893, the weathered floors, relic-filled boxes, and eerie history of manufacturing caskets provoked similar responses when the prospect of purchasing it was brought up by the owner, Noel. "Really?". Six years later, Ablesoft employees proudly walk visitors through the office like kids showcasing their prized effort. Built just how they like it. And like most projects, the journey to the finish yielded many lessons. 

A Before Picture of the Office…See What I Mean?

Six Years Later, Current Day.

This week, the nostalgia of renovating the office was provoked when students from Oregon High School paid a visit to Ablesoft. Hearing through the Oregon grapevine that Noel was familiar with a variety of design tools, the students came looking for guidance on creating layouts for their new business. This ambitious project is one of many initiatives stemming from the OHS Entrepreneurial Club. The program creates an environment for students to launch ideas and get hands-on experience. Like Noel 6 years ago, the students have the opportunity to convert an empty building into a functioning business. The building is located in Mt.Morris, and currently is being designed as a Tea Shop featuring local artists, entrepreneurs, and an environment to learn. Stay tuned for more.

The visit was a success with Noel and the OHS crew sharing ideas on how to get started after a quick demonstration of Homestyler, Noel’s design tool of choice. Noel was impressed by the student’s engagement and ability to focus on the task at hand.

Despite the daunting nature of the coming renovations, we are excited for them, and look forward to the day we can enjoy their results.

Noel reviewing the old photos of the building with the OHS entrepreneurial members. Doug was trying to get in on the action too.

The Brainstorming session.

Fostering a Culture of Internal Theft at Ablesoft

In the office environment, there are a lot of unspoken resentments that tend to fester over the year. Being a family-run company only exacerbates this. Stolen parking spots, watching the last cup of coffee get drunk, and loud typing are few among many slights we experience and inflict every day on each other. At Ablesoft, we believe in relieving these stresses in the most passive aggressive ways possible. That is why this past holiday party we decided to partake in the tradition of white elephant.

Many would agree, the most important part of white elephant is laying down the rules. Many families and companies operate along different guidelines, so we appointed our head developer Alan as the head of rules and regulations. Doug, the dog, provided quality control.

After the rules were set, and the Ablesoft employees were disarmed with an afternoon lunch, the white elephant battle ground commenced. Some of the highlights included:

Our head designer Lisa proudly showing off her favorite coffee. It was promptly stolen from her.

Noel excited by his gift, only to be stolen by Noah.

Our intern Noah, contemplating what he’s willing to lose for his internship under his boss’s watchful eye.

Michelle opening Eric’s gift, which are notoriously undesirable.

After six excruciating rounds of gift opening and theft, civil discourse won out. The Ablesoft team was still able to band together with the holiday spirit, aside from Doug who received no gifts (and refused to acknowledge the camera).

Until next year, Ablesoft…

Three Unanticipated Benefits in Hiring an Intern

This past Summer, there was much debate at Ablesoft on how to move forward with adding a new employee. Being a small company, we were sensitive to the impact both financially and culturally when introducing an outsider. But, we knew a move needed to be made to satisfy our growth goals. In August, the verdict was found in the hiring of an intern from Northern Illinois University. He is a Computer Science major who was looking for a company to give him a chance. We were looking for someone we could gradually ramp up with our changing processes while avoiding financial risk. Enter Noah.

Not only does Noah serve up a mean cup of coffee, but he has also offered up an array of unforeseen benefits in kicking off our internship program.

Alan teaching Noah the fundamentals of collaboration.

An opportunity for employees to manage

With a small company, the opportunity for a worker to get management experience is quite limited. As our employees mentor and supervise Noah, they are gaining valuable management skills.  The internship becomes a symbiotic relationship.  Noah benefits from real world, hands-on development, while senior developers get practice in breaking down tasks into delegated chunks and training. This has brought confidence in both the mentee in learning and the mentor in managing.

Noah taking on responsibilities and learning the importance of attention to detail.

Taking on the necessary tasks

Noah provides an extra set of hands to alleviate our developers’ workload.  Short-term tasks and research can be transferred to him, giving him the opportunity to learn something new, while minimizing workflow interruption for other employees.  Specifically, he has researched new development technologies, initiated his understanding of C#, and has a role in testing applications prior to release to the customer. All of which has freed up time for our full-time developers to pursue more impact-ful work, and for Noah to learn.

Noah sharing his input on how to further innovate our software development practices.

Challenge to habits

On-boarding a new employee creates a compelling reason to question current processes. With a fresh outsider’s view, long-running practices that have become sterile are more easily identifiable. As a result of bringing Noah on, we have included modern practices in our training program such as co-development meetings with senior programmers.

In addition to these benefits, Noah brings a new personality and dynamic that is greatly appreciated in our tight-knit work environment. From that, we have realized great short-term benefits despite our mutual long-term investment in each other.