Blog

(UPDATE: MAY 2018)

I had previously written about the wonders of working remotely (see here). It has been almost 2 years since I took on this approach, so I thought I should provide an update on this experience.

I know there are several companies out there with very flexible approaches, but to date, I do not know another organization that is as flexible as energypedia consult, in terms of providing their employees with tailor made work contracts. Perhaps this flexibility is what makes our tools great! Not only do we provide our customers with tools that tailor to their...

In March 2017, I attended the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) conference in Kampala, Uganda. I got the chance to present our web-based M&E software WebMo and our consultancy and training services. The conference was a great opportunity to meet M&E practitioners and listen to their experiences and needs when it comes to software. These are my personal takeaways:

We at energypedia consult consider ourselves a responsible company, treating clients, partners and team members with respect, honesty and fairness. Being a subsidiary of energypedia non-profit we also are conscious of our corporate responsibility. Thus, we try to minimize our consumption of resources as far as possible. This means running our wikis on CO2 neutral servers as well as buying only eco-friendly or second hand office materials. Also with regard to our suppliers sustainability is of importance. Within Germany we travel by train only and for international flights we compensate...

In little sectors the clash between work reality and expectations of staff is as wide as in the development cooperation or aid sector. The idea that a job in this area will provide a sense of existential meaning and fulfillment is widespread. However, daily routine often looks quite different: Instead of working with beneficiaries or partner organizations towards a better world and future many end up with lots of administrative work, institutional coordination and endless approval cycles. Hundreds of emails that need to be read, deleted or answered, combined with general work overload...