BCN 40: Bringing Together Our Distributed Team After 18+ Months
While there has been a plethora of coverage about companies adapting to remote work and scrambling to move their operations out of the office as a reaction to the “new norm,” there’s a less talked about pandemic-related work topic.
For some organizations, it was less of a new norm and more of a different reality. These organizations were already distributed pre-pandemic, but it didn’t mean they didn’t have their own unique set of challenges.
This was the case for Kambr. For our distributed team, the impact of the pandemic was felt extra hard. It shook us to our cultural core. As avid travelers, self-proclaimed aviation geeks and digital nomads, our very way of life came to a screeching halt; our oxygen supply was cut off!
While an in-depth retrospective on how the pandemic fortified us certainly is in order for future content, for now, we want to zero in on one key foundational piece that was greatly disrupted. Although we are distributed, one of our cultural fibers is connectedness and physically coming together as a team.
Last week, for the first time in over 18 months, we were finally able to bring our team together in one location when we coalesced in Barcelona.
A Week of Togetherness
For many of us, we haven’t seen many of our colleagues in nearly two years and haven’t even met others in person. What a time it was last week! While we definitely used the time together to share important information, align on key strategies and make critical decisions, the biggest aspect was connecting with one another.
We dubbed the event “BCN 40” to signify the 40 of us coming together in Barcelona and the significance of there never being another event like it. Sure, we’ll meet again, but the company will never be as it was at that moment.
“Last week provided the platform for many of us to feel like a part of something again, while for others the occasion marked a first time for truly uniting.”
Even for the biggest introverts and most ardent work from home / work from anywhere workers, being remote can sometimes make you feel like you are on an island and disengaged from the company, especially depending on your department or spot within the organizational structure.
While the word is often hyperbolized and carelessly thrown around in business lingo, team really was a fitting word to describe BCN 40.
Last week provided the platform for many of us to feel like a part of something again, while for others the occasion marked a first time for truly uniting. We were no longer a pack of mercenaries, individual talents or bespoke departments, but were really, truly a connected team in every sense of the word.
We enjoyed the opportunity to break away from the day-to-day work and use the time to not just meet our colleagues, but actually connect with one another. We shared laughs, discussed common interests and shared our vision and perspectives on Kambr and life as a whole.
Breaking the Monotony
This last point was a very important one for many of us. Due to the circumstances of the pandemic, feelings of languishing, repetitiveness and stagnation set it in, as day-to-day life all felt the same and without progression.
This trip provided the opportunity for Kambrians to step outside of all of that, reset themselves and get into fresh headspace. For some of us, this was our first significant time away from home for an extended period of time and/or first international trip in over a year and a half.
“Our newly established connections and fortified bonds will improve our collaboration and ability to work with one another. It’s much easier to work with someone when they’re more than just an email address or a face on a screen. Having that connection and deeper understanding of one another increases our output of meaningful work.”
Having that time away will go a long way in helping us be more productive and more creative. It’s obviously hard to work with a clouded mind and uninspired soul. After all, your best ideas don’t typically come while sitting behind a desk!
Not to mention, our newly established connections and fortified bonds will improve our collaboration and ability to work with one another. It’s much easier to work with someone when they’re more than just an email address or a face on a screen. Having that connection and deeper understanding of one another increases our output of meaningful work.
As we continue to grow as a distributed team, we’ll continue to find ways to ensure Kambrians not only work effectively but do so happily and healthily. As a matter of fact, these company-wide offsites will become a quarterly event. For our next destination in Q1 2022, we’re thinking somewhere warm and sunny 😉
Want to join us? Do you love travel and aviation? Check out our open positions and see if you are a fit.
