Workation - a Different Form of Collaboration

Anyone who knows and follows us is aware that we work remotely here at ProjectWizards, letting everyone choose their favorite place to work from. We only gather once a quarter for 1- or 2-day team meetings somewhere in Germany.

For our 20th anniversary of Merlin Project this year, we decided to have a longer meeting, a Workation.

What is a Workation?

A workation is a combination of "work" and "vacation". As the word suggests, part of the stay is dedicated to completing professional tasks, while the rest of the time is used to explore the surroundings and relax. It is important to find a good balance between work and leisure in order to get the most out of both aspects.

Advantages of a Workation

The advantages are actually obvious:

• Increased productivity: changing the working environment can bring a breath of fresh air into the working day and increase productivity.

• Improved team spirit: Shared experiences and activities outside the office promote cohesion and trust within the team.

• Stress reduction: Completing daily tasks while enjoying the benefits of a vacation leads to a better work-life balance and reduced stress levels.

Are There any Disadvantages?

We are all used to working alone from home:

• Lack of concentration: The presence of other colleagues can mean that you can't concentrate on your task as well as in the home office.

• Personal stress: The personal environment is adjusted to us being at home. The care of children and pets has to be organized differently.

Planning the Workation for the ProjectWizards Team

Once we had decided on this together at a team meeting, the planning could begin. As with shorter meetings, the date, location, accommodation and supporting program had to be clarified.

Finding a Date

Some colleagues have to organize child or pet care for a longer trip away from home. So we first look for 2 or 3 possible dates, which are then clarified with the private environment. If everyone is able to find a solution, the date is set. But we've already practiced this for our team meetings - it's just longer in this case.

Find a Place with a Suitable Location

This is where it gets a little more difficult. We have colleagues who live in the big city, others in the countryside. A time out together should offer something for everyone, not be too remote, but not a big city either. The destination should also be relatively easy for everyone to reach from the many places in Germany. We need internet access for everyone and also want to be flexible and work in groups rather than all together in a large conference room. So we are actually looking for something more like a living room at home, just not at home ;-) Last but not least, we prefer to go out to eat in the evening, so we don't want to cook ourselves. There should therefore be enough restaurants nearby. Roughly speaking, we have had the North Sea or Baltic Sea in mind.

Various online portals such as Workation.de and Booking.com were a great help in my search. In addition to vacation homes, country estates, apartments, hotels, co-working spaces and even a castle in Germany and abroad, I was spoiled for choice.

Some destinations were ruled out due to their remoteness - I didn't feel comfortable among the sheep in the Lüneburg Heath and we have colleagues with allergies to grasses. Other locations were out of the question due to a lack of catering options - a barbecue evening is nice, but cooking for everyone every day is too much. There were other places that I decided against for cost reasons - like Sylt.

The choice finally fell on Leeuwarden in Holland. The selected hotel is adjacent to a university campus, which can also be used, with small corners and a park for working. If necessary, there is also a co-working space nearby. For me, this offered the best price-performance ratio. My colleagues can get there easily by train or car, but everyone takes care of that themselves.

Organizing the Supporting Programme

As a former European Capital of Culture (2018, together with Valetta), Leeuwarden offers us great cultural and leisure opportunities as well as restaurants that should sweeten our stay.

With a group the size of ours, it always makes sense to make restaurant reservations in advance so that everyone can sit together. I try to make as varied a selection of restaurants as possible and also consider options for my colleagues' dietary specialties (vegetarian, KETO diet, celiac disease).

As I don't usually know the restaurants in foreign cities, the reviews of other guests help me. In some cities, my colleagues have helpful tips, but I also like to use review portals such as Tripadvisor or ask the hotel to recommend restaurants.

In addition to the food, leisure time should not be neglected during a workation. Leeurwarden has a lot to offer. There is a climbing gym near the hotel, the numerous canals invite you to take a boat trip, the town center with its long history has a lot of interesting things to discover, but a bike tour with bicycles rented on site would also be appealing. As I don't want to take up all of my colleagues' free time and want to give everyone the opportunity to plan their own leisure activities, I will only book a canal trip for us as a group.

Soon we'll be off!

Now that everything is ready, the event can come. I'm already looking forward to it. In September, I'll report on how our first team workation went and how or whether my colleagues enjoyed it.

If you have any questions about this blog article or would like to discuss it, we look forward to your contribution in our forum.