Developing a tech business remotely. Meet Lars Peterstrand!

Hi Lars, what do you do at Learnifier?

- I help companies and other organizations to amplify their learning activities. More specifically, I work as a Senior Business Developer. 

Exciting. What does it mean and what do you do on a daily basis?

- I help customers and new target groups such as the public sector to see how Learnifier can be a solution to solve their challenges regarding training, educating and onboarding. I also lead and participate in projects around our market offering. I have a dialogue with partners and act as the market voice in the development work of Learnifier. This means internal and external meetings, a lot of emails and phone calls, putting together bids,  and sometimes putting on my thinking cap and trying to analyze how we can develop our offer to the market and make our customers even more successful.

“Here I am part of building something together with a great team of people. Being able to participate and give my contribution to the journey we have made has been my greatest experience in my professional career.”

How do your days look like now and where do you work?

- My days are busy and many times too unstructured. There's always something going on that overturns my planning. I usually work from home in my apartment in Blackeberg in Bromma, 30 minutes from downtown Stockholm. Here I have space and wonderful nature around the corner. Sometimes I go into the city for meetings with colleagues and clients at cafés.

How did you end up doing what you do and working here at Learnifier?

- After working in the education industry for many years, I thought through what I really wanted to do and in what type of organization I wanted to work in. I was tired of companies where profit was the only goal. 

I must have done something right in my analysis, because I could not have ended up in a better place and role. This is my dream job. Here I am part of building something together with a great team of people. Being able to participate and give my contribution to the journey we have made has been my greatest experience in my professional career. I am proud of Learnifier, not only as a product but also as a company. We have a strong culture and work as a team where we help each other. 

What is your main super power and how has it helped you now during Covid?

- I am solution-focused and optimistic. Everything can be solved with a little innovation and my fantastic colleagues. This attitude has helped me become even more digital, not only technically but above all mentally. Covid is a good example where new conditions lead to new perspectives and solutions.

“ A tip is to think through what you want to use the
time you gain from working from home for.”

Which are some of the big work challenges you have faced during Corona and have you overcome them, how?

- I am spontaneous and often want answers to my questions at once. Not being able to go over and talk to someone on the developer team has been a challenge for me
(and probably a blessing for the developers). I think I have become better at searching for the information myself and formulating my questions in text in emails and chats.

I also miss seeing and talking to my colleagues about about work and beyond- those coffee machine or lunch conversations that are hard to replicate digitally. Also working from home has meant cooking my own lunches and since this is my "Achilles heel" I have started making and drinking a lot of smoothies.

What good aspects have you found working remotely?

- I save time and have used it to get started with my physical training. The flexibility to be able to work out before or after work instead of sitting on the subway, or to work out during lunchtime ( I only have 35 meters to my local gym and can start my running outside my front door). Physical exercise also gives me a little more social contacts but is also important as I do not get the everyday exercise that it means to get to and from the office every day.

What have you learned? Advice for others?

- For me, it has been important to build routines, take breaks and take part in our virtual social events such as digital breakfasts and coffee breaks. One tip is to really take advantage of the flexibility that is available. This summer I will work in different places around the country and this autumn when I will participate in the veteran World Championship in fencing in Florida I will be able to work from there instead of just going back and forth.

Another tip is to think through what you want to use the time you gain from working from home for. When you do not get as much social interaction with colleagues, it is important to get it in other ways. But since a lot has been closed during Corona, it's nice that my fencing club has started and that I can finally start my stand-up comedy again.

When Learnifier has an office again - what would your ideal work situation be?

- Flexible and mixed. I would like to continue to work from home 3-4 days a week, but I also want to meet my colleagues and our customers. I have really missed them. I want our future office to be more of a social meeting place that breathes Learnifier and where I can get and give energy and communicate with colleagues, customers and partners. Making phone calls and writing emails can be done at my home office.

I also want to be able to borrow my brother's apartment in Italy and work from there for a few weeks every year (so I will not allow him to sell the place). I have also started thinking about settling somewhere in the countryside in Mälardalen. (Editor's note: Large area surrounding Swedish Lake Mälaren near Stockholm).

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About Learnifier

We are the leading Learning Platform in the Nordics. 
Since 2012 companies and organizations of all sizes use our platform to quickly and easily create and share courses for onboarding and training of employees, customers, partners, members and other groups they want to reach with their knowledge.
Read more at www.learnifier.com

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