My Conclusion about the ProjectWizards Workation
At the end of July, I reported here that we would be traveling to Leeuwarden in the Netherlands with the entire ProjectWizards team for a workation. Now that we've been back for a few days, it's time to summarize our time together.
Our boss, Frank Blome, sent a rough plan for the workation to everyone before they arrived:
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We meet every morning at 9:00 a.m. at breakfast and discuss, who is planning which activities for the day.
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A table has been reserved for dinner in the evening. Everyone is invited to join.
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Have fun and enjoy yourselves.
An important note was also that joint activities of the entire team are paid for by the company; individual activities are paid for by each one of their own.
Work
Work didn't fall short during the workation. E-mails were answered, support helped customers, the developers discussed the upcoming versions of Merlin Project and adoc Studio, and much more. We also talked as a team about marketing options, further development and strategy for our products.
And as our CEO suggested, we had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the time.
Vacation
Although the weather was not always kind to us, we all made the best out of it. Throughout the day, we got together in smaller or larger groups. Some went to the sea, others explored the city on foot or by bike. On Thursday, we enjoyed our canal cruise together in glorious sunshine. What's more, no one ever missed the group dinner.
Lessons Learned
Of course, it is important to take stock and evaluate the event after a company event like this. In project management, we call this Lessons Learned: What went well, what should we improve? Was the right location chosen, should we have done something differently at one point or another? The travel expenses of the individual employees, the hotel accommodation and the meals should also be considered.
My Conclusion
Personally, I am particularly proud of the location I discovered. It was ideal for us. The city center of Leeuwarden was within walking distance and the university NHL Stenden attached to the hotel offered us plenty of space and opportunities to work alone, in small groups, but also all together.
Yes, this workation was not cheap - which may also have been due to the selected restaurants - but in my opinion this trip did us a lot of good as a team. We all returned to our desks at home with renewed vigor.
And who knows, maybe our boss will invite us to another workation sometime. Maybe for the silver anniversary of Merlin Project in 5 years 😉
If you have any questions about this blog article or would like to discuss it, we look forward to your contribution in our forum.
