Meet our Team Members - Today: Leonardo from Agile Project Management

Ever wonder what it’s like to move from one continent to another to come work at GameDuell in Berlin? Then this “Meet our Team Members” post might be of some assistance. Hear from Leonardo, who came all the way from Brazil to come work with us here at GameDuell. “How was it moving? What help did you get?”: these are just some of the questions you might want to ask him, and to which he answers in this short interview.

"Hey Leonardo! Could you briefly introduce yourself? Where do you come from?"

Hi, I was born in São Paulo, where I have lived most of my life, and where I graduated in law. During the first few years in college though, I got addicted to a game called StarCraft. I wanted to create my own clan, so I figured I had to build a website for it. I started studying technology related topics on my own, which in turn became more addictive than playing StarCraft itself. I used to read technology books during my law classes in college! So, I guess the code I enjoyed was not the Civil code ;-)During my professional career of now 17 years, I’ve been mostly working as a developer and for the last 7 years or so as an Agile Project Manager. By the way, I'm happily married, and I am a proud father of a lovely seven-year-old boy. "How do you like Germany so far? How was the process of moving for you?"

The process of moving abroad is intense. Luckily GameDuell offered a lot of support! Apart from financial support, they also helped me with getting my work permission from the German Labor Authority as well as with applications for residency and health insurance. I also got some support during the whole visa process and with finding an apartment, as well as translations and appointments with the bank etc. After the visa process was completed, there was still a lot to do, like selecting what to take with you and what to sell. Another challenge was to say goodbye to family and friends, we knew it would be hard, but it was much harder than expected. Arriving here, it felt like a different planet, everything was so new and also the sensation of being illiterate is not pleasant.What is great about Berlin though is the big variety of things to do. Parks and lakes are great and normally "kostenlos". You can also choose from a variety of cultural events; there are a huge amount of meet-ups which match a wide variety of tastes. The choices are endless."What is your role here at GameDuell?"At GameDuell, I play the role of Agile Project Manager (APM), this means I help the teams through facilitation and process improvement techniques, in order to have an even better workflow. If I do my job well, it means ideas are being turned into solutions faster and with more consistency. Here at GD, the role of APMs is not restricted to the teams, we also work on an organizational level to align and remove constraints, help to develop competencies, grow structure wherever it seems fit, empower teams by balancing the authority distribution within the company, energize our people, and finally we always work to, well, improve everything ;-) "When you’re not at GameDuell, what do you do in your spare time?"Mostly I like to spend time with my family and close friends, which means going to parks, lakes, barbecuing, going to restaurants and so on. Of course, I still like to spend some time on my own, to study whatever topic interests me at a given time, and to play some online games and watch TV. "Why is GameDuell a great place to work?"It is great to work in a multicultural environment where you can find people from all around the world. This means there are plenty of opportunities to learn. I also like the fact that GameDuell gives me a great deal of autonomy and plenty of opportunities to sharpen my skills.

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Read next: A Trip Around the World – Our GameDuell Summer Party 2017

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