Neurodiversity and environment:
While visible diversity was strong, there was less focus on supporting neurodiverse ways of working. For example, navigating different preferences in an open-plan office (lighting, music, scents) was challenging.
Policies and flexibility:
Core hours and working day expectations sometimes caused confusion. The working day of 9am to 6pm was also treated as core hours, which reduced flexibility.
The office attendance requirement increased, becoming more rigid, which some employees felt limited the remote-work balance they had previously enjoyed.
Meeting culture:
Multiple ceremonies across teams could lead to several meetings a day, which sometimes felt repetitive.
Non-business-critical feedback raised in retrospectives or other forums did not always result in visible action, even when it could have boosted morale.
Processes and leadership style:
OKRs were in the early stages of adoption and occasionally felt more like a compliance exercise than a strategic driver.
In some customer initiatives, final decisions tended to align with leadership’s preferred approach, which resulted in less opportunity to trial alternative ideas.
As a small team with many overlapping responsibilities, shifting priorities made it harder to maintain consistent focus.