Reflections on the rideOS Offsite
My commute to work is anything but serene. Everyday, I navigate through the hundreds of people on Market Street in San Francisco, jackets bundled to block the wind, the sound of boots and sneakers hitting the pavement as cars, buses, bikes, and a number of different motorized vehicles zip past. I put my headphones in to listen to a podcast, distracting myself from the world around me as I rush to make it in for a 9:30 AM meeting. I usually arrive with a light sheen of sweat coating my forehead, my hands cold, my mind focused on the emails sitting in my inbox and just how wonderful a warm cup of coffee with a splash of hazelnut creamer would be right now. This is my daily life, and though I usually don’t mind it, every now and then the thought of something a little more tranquil, a little less stressful, doesn’t sound half bad.
So when the idea of doing a company offsite — an opportunity for the whole company to get together and escape the hustle of the big city — came up, I was over the moon and happy to help plan it. We value our people here at rideOS; it’s a cornerstone of our culture, and a value that is built into our DNA as a company. Moving into 2020, one of the biggest focuses for us as a People team has been centered around creating proactive strategies to keep our high retention rates. Oftentimes, companies focus so much on recruiting new team members, that they forget to invest in the amazing team they’ve worked so hard to grow. We learned last year that people truly appreciate opportunities to get to know each other, and teams that understand and communicate with each other well are more inclined to stick together through the difficult times. With the growth we’ve experienced in the past year (including expanding to four global offices), it’s become critical for us to build bonding into our People strategy, and it was from this need (as well as lots of feedback from the rest of the team) that the idea of an offsite was born.
Given that this was an optional offsite, and we wanted to make it feasible for folks commuting and joining remotely, we chose Sonoma as our destination. After lots of behind the scenes planning, which included flying out our distributed teams, we hopped on a charter bus and got ready to spend 3 working days getting to know each other better. We arrived at Broadway Farms in Sonoma — a beautiful venue, with livestock, a vineyard, and a fire pit — and took a cooking class the first evening. Afterwards, most of us hung out and played board games (we have some Codenames aficionados on the team), while others rested. Since most of the activities we organized were dog-friendly, several folks brought their pups along, which frankly, made everything better. The atmosphere was lively, casual, and relaxing. The next day, we did a yoga class and a sunset wine tasting, along with some important company workshops. We had a fantastic Q&A session with our board members from Sequoia Capital and Next47, giving us an opportunity to receive feedback, ideas, and perspectives from valued members of our organization who have a vested interest in our success as a team. Next on the agenda, the People team along with our CEO led a workshop on our company values, which gave us an opportunity to talk through the importance of culture, while providing everyone a voice and a chance to bring up important issues. I was blown away by the participation in the room — everyone truly cared, everyone felt like this important topic was their responsibility. More importantly, everyone had an opinion and felt empowered to speak about the change they wanted to see. As someone who was there when we created the first iteration of our company values, it was eye-opening to see how much we have developed in the past two years, and how much growth there is left for us to experience as a team.
We spent that evening and the last day of our offsite as one big family. We did several wine tastings, taking full advantage of the fact that we were in wine country. We were introduced to the world of improv by playing games and doing scenes. We wore comfy clothes, ate junk food, hung out with the dogs, and danced. For a little while, the objective was to not have an objective, the KPI was to just have fun. When we got back to San Francisco on the last day, several folks stayed longer and kept the party going, not wanting to leave each other just yet. It was refreshing to spend time with everyone outside of the context we normally do, when work is the number one priority. We were able to come together as a collective of people who simply enjoy each others’ company, who value each other as individuals and appreciate all the nuance that not only makes us unique, but makes us whole.
Coming back from the offsite, I feel invigorated by our team. Oftentimes, normal life is made enjoyable by escaping from it every once in a while; to be able to do that with the people you work with, and truly enjoy it, is a special privilege. I am constantly amazed by the people at rideOS, by the ways we’re similar and the multitude of ways we’re different. I am constantly grateful that I have the chance to work in a place where people are truly valued, and that our actions reflect that. The offsite gave us a chance to breathe, to step away from the day-to-day and take a welcome gulp of fresh air. My commute may not have changed after the offsite, but I can say that I am reinvigorated. I might still be rushing to that 9:30 AM meeting, but now I’m doing it with a little bounce in my step. And that makes all the difference.
