10 Questions: Petar

1. How did it all start at Sofico? 

Sorry, there is no big story behind my start at Sofico. I was contacted by Natascha (our country representative in Germany) and we had an enjoyable conversation. I liked the idea to start from scratch (in our German office) and work together with other colleagues in a growing team - as well as spreading the Sofico culture in Germany.  

2. What does a day at Sofico look like for you? 

Here is the most frequent answer: it depends (laughs). Some days I have time to concentrate on one thing, but there are the days I am jumping from one meeting into another. Sofico has an agile way of working, so on a daily/weekly basis, we have not only alignments in the project, but also alignments within our development team (Munich office).  

I also follow my to-do list: in the morning I check what is left from yesterday and then I add new topics to that list. A pleasant never-ending story ;) 

3. How is Sofico different from your previous job(s)?  

My two earlier jobs were at a consulting firm - without them having a product of their own - but working solely on its customer's projects. The people worked separated, based on their specific projects. I missed the contact between colleagues.  

At Sofico we are all working towards the same goal: to improve our products and quality of collaboration.  

Because we work with so many people and offices in different countries, the family feeling is tangible. A feeling I have been looking for a while since moving from Serbia. 

Here, I have gotten the opportunity to prove what I always believed in: taking initiative can make a stark difference. 

5. What may we serve you to please you?  

Sofico has already done quite a lot to make employees feel happy and well. In a normal situation, we had magnificent events, where we could meet each other and talk about non-business-related things.  

We had also our tech days (SOTECO), speaking and dreaming about technology-related topics. But there is one thing that would be nice. I heard that the colleagues from Australia need some support on-site, so I am volunteering to help for a couple of weeks ? (laughs) 

6. What do you love about your team? 

I am a part of many teams and each of them is a story in itself, but there is one thing which I like above all: humor. In all the MS Teams chats (nowadays no other way of communication) I can find funny messages daily.  

7. My superpowers are …  

People see me as a positive thinker, patient, calm, and generous with sharing my time and knowledge with everyone. I am a communicative person and ready to find common ground with everyone. Multi-tasking is my superpower. 

8. If I would be able to change one thing at Sofico it would be …  

I like the Sofico way and many things at Sofico, but a couple of months ago I had an improvement proposal regarding “decentralization” of the work and decision on the projects on innovative technologies. As you can see, I wrote it in the past tense, which means we already took some steps to improve that. 

9. What have I learned so far?  

I have learned a lot about the leasing business and especially now (while working on the promotions management module) about promotions and subventions. I have also learned that giving people feedback about their work can stimulate them and leads to better achievements and insights. 

10. Which colleagues would you like to have a drink with soon? And why?  

(this serves as a nomination for the next 10 questions too by the way) 

There are many people which I have not seen for a long time and would like to have some beer with ... so it is hard to decide. I also like my SSG team, but I can see them every week and we have some beer on Friday afternoons. 

I promised Stijn Depuydt and Wim Claeys to take them to the Allianz Arena (Bayern München, ed.) and Oktoberfest. So, let us hope we will get an opportunity soon to fulfill that promise ?