5 Takeaways from Midyear Meetup
Insights from the first in-person gathering of our remote team.
Like many other companies, Sprout Social shifted from mostly co-located to remote-first over the course of the pandemic. The last time everyone gathered in person was in January of 2020. Since then, Sprout has more than doubled in size, and so has our product design org.
When Sprout leadership announced in January that we’d be gathering at our Chicago headquarters for a Midyear Meetup this Summer, the excitement was palpable. Most of us had never met any of our coworkers outside a computer screen, so as you can imagine, there were a lot of :blob-hype: and :llama-yay: reactions in Slack.
I had been fully remote for a few years before the pandemic and know how valuable in-person gatherings can be for building connection, camaraderie, and culture in distributed teams. There were quite a few differences between our Midyear Meetup and any other company onsite/offsite event I’ve attended in the past. As other remote organizations start to resume in-person gatherings, I thought I’d share some of those differences, as well as reflections from my product design colleagues.
1. Respectful of Social Comfort
We’ve all been at varying levels of social distancing for years now, but COVID is still an ever-present threat. All Midyear Meetup events were 100% optional and testing negative within 36 hours of traveling to Chicago was a requirement. Sprout’s Accessibility Community Resource Group even provided pins for all attendees to show their level of comfort with physical proximity.
“I loved the social distancing comfort pins, it made it super easy to know how I should say hello to folks!”
— Amber Stickel
2. Focused on Shared Experiences, Not Work
Every onsite I’ve attended in the past had some element of fun and team building, but there were always working meetings involved. We’re already planning future, in-person work gatherings, but Midyear Meetup was all about being present, together.
“I enjoyed meeting my team in person for the first time! It was a great opportunity to build personal connections outside of our daily work through fun shared experiences.”
— Jenny Zettinger
3. Mix of Company, Zone, and Team Activities
By having all of Sprout together for several days, there were opportunities for both company-wide and small group interaction. In addition to product design hang time, each cross-functional product zone planned its own activity, providing unique opportunities for us to bond with our awesome product and engineering team partners.
“My favorite part was the smaller gatherings with the team! The larger company-wide event felt overwhelming at times and it was cool to get to hang out in smaller groups.”
— Savy Lacombe
4. Space for Volunteer and Interest-Based Meetups
One of the most unique aspects of Midyear Meetup was having both an array of optional volunteer events as well as dedicated time for self-organized activities around shared hobbies and interests outside of work. Anyone could add an event to a shared spreadsheet of “Team Sprout Meetups”, which included a photography walk, rock climbing, plant swap, group run, slacklining, and many more.
“I appreciated the varied mix of optional activities! I was able to choose how I wanted to spend my week and was able to do it in a way that was most comfortable for me.”
— Mary Schwab
5. Time to Rest & Recover
Meetup-related activities ran from Monday through Thursday, and while it was the most exciting and inspirational work trip I’ve been on in years, it was also socially exhausting. One of my favorite benefits here at Sprout is our monthly, company-wide, rest & recharge days. I was so glad that Midyear Meetup week concluded with an R&R day to give us time to reflect on our experience as a collective.
“Remote work life is now real life for most of us. But it’s difficult to recreate the casual daily encounters that help to build relationships with ease in an office setting when you’re all sitting behind your screens, scattered across the country. Being able to meet my team in actual real life and connect as humans started to fill in that missing piece for me.
When I returned to work the next week, I noticed a slight shift in the dynamics within my 1:1s; there was a new sense of ease, care, curiosity, and understanding. In the end, we’re all just humans looking for more connection and Midyear Meetup helped to give us just that.”
— Brittany Skwierczynski
