2019 has been a big year here at Springtimesoft, and so for the first week of December we all got together in Kawakawa Bay to reflect, celebrate and recharge.
As a remote team, we have these get togethers a couple of times a year, most recently in Omaha, Gisborne and Wellington. This is a really important part of our ability to collaborate and work efficiently as a team, and a chance to discuss ways we can improve this.
However because this idea of going away together as a company isn’t necessarily run of the mill for everyone, we thought we’d share what goes on.
Wednesday
Perrin had the all important job of the grocery shop before picking everyone up from the airport late morning. We then headed straight out to the bach at Kawakawa Bay (about a 40 minute drive from Auckland Airport) where we checked out our digs for the next few days and had some lunch (what a view!).
The afternoon was all about catching up with each other, going for a swim and then a walk up and over, through some bush and around into another bay. Another (slightly chillier) swim and then back to the house.
BBQ for dinner, followed by Zane and Ralph sharing some of their latest technical side projects and discoveries and a few rounds of cards for the rest of us.
The team after a swim. Zane was harder to get out of the water than an angry shark... so we left him there. If anyone finds him then please mail him back to us.
The beautiful Kawakawa Bay.
Thursday
Ralph and I went for a walk first thing before breakfast which was followed by some team discussions around our company processes such as better planning, the pork cycle, and potential open source work.
Then we headed to Waitawa Regional Park for a sausage sizzle. The afternoon was spent in a few more process and project discussions, some around the table and some at the beach during an afternoon swim.
Thursday night’s dinner was followed by VR fun on the Oculus Quest and board games.
Our home for the week.
A "quick" walk through to the next bay along...
Barbeque time at Waitawa Regional Park.
Friday
Friday was an early morning walk and swim for Ralph, Zane and I, followed by a left-overs fry up for breakfast and some final discussions before heading back to the airport.
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The ability to work efficiently as a remote team, and enjoy working together, is an important philosophy of Springtimesoft. Therefore these chances to bond and connect as a team, together with discussing new tools/processes of working together, reflecting on obstacles and challenges we’ve encountered over the year and celebrating the wins are extremely important and we benefit from this collectively as a team, as well as individually.
Some of our get togethers will be more focussed on specific goals, such as a specific client work, or a focussed few days on automating some of our systems (as an example), other times such as this trip, at the end of the year and in the beautiful weather of Kawakawa bay, it’s all about balancing the perfect amount of work talk and relaxation.
Left to right: Ben, Zane, Laura, Ralph and Perrin.
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