Big Fun…and not the 80’s/90’s boy band

Though I did love them…had their first album on cassette…but I digress…

I’m a big supporter on fun in work. Supporter and creator. In previous roles I’ve dressed as inflatable Christmas tree for a children’s bounce and rhyme, running round a library dressed as an inflatable t-rex, and attempting to herd cats (I mean colleagues) to record a happy birthday video. I’m loving finding the fun in Connected by Data - and I don’t have to look hard.

This week we had our first ever whole Team Retreat. I loved having the whole team together and we all got to meet Helena properly who has just joined the team. It was particularly wonderful as it included - in real life 3D - Maria who lives in Brazil. It was Maria’s first visit to Britain and I felt it important as a friend to expose her to an important cultural experience…and took her for a full English breakfast! It’s a slightly bizarre concept to Latin America but I’m happy to report she enjoyed it (and I did explain that most Brits only have them on holiday / in hotels).

The rest of the Team Retreat was structured around us having discussions about strategic plans but with a practical lens too. We scoped out some timelines, flagged some potential issues on the horizon and grappled with some working practices too. Earlier this week I’d introduced the new programme management process to help us keep oversight of what’s going on / when / how and with who. I really enjoyed live noting and updating that system as team chums were chatting through their thoughts.

We also wanted to maximise the impact of our being together in a physical space and nurturing relationships. So we got ourselves locked in a room where only collaborative problem solving (or I guess complete abdication to a dictator) would get us out (an ‘escape room’, not just some random room). Luckily we demonstrated our high functioning team strengths, escaped with time to spare, and everyone’s still talking to each other!