Spoiler: the main reason is that KunciLab is filled with serious people, I mean seriously funny.
“Let’s meet in Bogor Botanical Gardens on Thursday and have some fun time together!” said our chief product officer suddenly, on that Monday afternoon.
How can this not be sudden?
Imagine, an invitation to do a company retreat that was made without any prior plans, announced in mid-July, not at the beginning or end of the month, not even during the quiet time of our product development process, and not also held on weekends.
In the next 2 days, all KunciLab members will hold a company retreat.
So, since it’s been decided, then we have to do it.
Of course with pleasure, no one hates vacation 😊
In this article, we share with you our experience about how we plan it, how we make it, and why we do it. Enjoy…
How do we plan it?
For doing something good or fun, sometimes preparation feels like a sacrifice or punishment that must be done at the beginning.
There are so many things to pay close attention to, accommodate all needs, and think about what to plan can be overwhelming.
So we come back to our roots, at KunciLab, we are used to using “Agile” in the way we work. If for serious things we’re used to agile, why not for the fun stuff?
We believe we can plan it quickly and substantially, without involving tedious complex things.
Then our plan process goes like this:
Place — Where is our fun meeting point?
When we went about choosing a place, we only thought about “A completely different atmosphere”. Vibes that are able to provide a total distraction from our daily office routine.
However, considering that this event is a “sudden company retreat”, we have to highlight our logistical problems. One of them is a place that should be very accessible to everyone on their own. And to be honest there aren’t many options left.
Various places were proposed, starting from the beach vibes in Ancol, the green scenery in the Bogor Botanical Gardens, to the Sunter lake that is right in front of our office (which of course, was immediately rejected, duh😒)
Of all the options, the most interesting and suitable for us is the Bogor Botanical Gardens. Easy to reach by public transportation, away enough from our office, and could get green vibes that do not exist in Jakarta.
All right, we gather there.
Time — what makes we agree to gather?
Working day.
Yup, we agree to gather because our company retreat is held on our working day. What else do we do besides work right? So we can ensure that we don’t have any other agenda.
However, deciding on 1 day off in the midst of a tight schedule of development is not easy.
We still need to discuss it with the whole team to make some adjustments, either by shifting the work timeline a bit, changing the meeting schedule, or whatever is needed to be able to find free days together.
and we got it. Thursday.
Food — what do we eat?
Just like with everything, food also has to be organized well in advance, and again, it should not bother us at all. So we’ve come up with a great, simple solution: Bring your own lunch and please, bring more so we can share.
Sounds good right?
When we tell this plan to the team, some of our good people even loyally brought a lot of food voluntarily for each of us. Thank god, long live good people 💪
In a short time, it turned out that the food was not a problem at all.
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After we have fulfilled the 3 crucial planning needs, it’s time for execution.
How We Do it?
Finally, the short-awaited day arrived. It’s time for all KunciLab members to gather at the Bogor Botanical Gardens.
We decided to get together right before lunch. Our team is dispersed throughout the city, therefore. They will have more time to travel while those who frequently come late won’t. Additionally, we must make sure that eating meals together is a priority.
Keep in mind, that this “sudden company retreat” carries no other mission than to have fun. So we focus everything on that goal. During this relatively short period, there was absolutely no heavy conversation about the ongoing project, update, or anything work-related.
After lunch, we played some outbound games that had been prepared by our Game Master, Mr. Undermoon. He picks several outbound games that emphasize team building or just create funny moments to laugh together.
Like we said in the spoiler, the main secret to making this company retreat so fun and successful is that the people at KunciLab are hilarious. The games that we play have a very competitive spirit that causes humor.
Until the afternoon, time to say goodbye. After exchanging gifts and taking some pictures together, everyone leaves for home with smiles on their faces, and fatigued…
And for the last question, why is this necessary?
Why do we do it?
Since KunciLab was built, we have done a lot of product and service development for the KunciCoin universe at an incredible speed. As the challenges continue to grow, our team also grows.
Without realizing it, KunciLab finally can be as big as now and always getting bigger. But with the speed of the development process that, may still be balanced, it doesn’t feel too good if the team’s journey is always in high tension.
Sometimes, you need to slow down to get back faster and stronger.
A company retreat for us is like an artist’s journey. Like a musician goes to Europe to write a new Album or a writer goes to Bali to write a new novel.
Take breaks to be more productive.
Our directors see this as a need for the team. With the addition of team members, the length of the development schedule, and the many product targets, making 1 day for a moment to play around and have fun will bring benefits.
There are at least 4 objective advantages that can be seen immediately:
1. We get to know each other better beyond work.
2. People who don’t work together as often get to spend more time together.
3. Change of scenery refreshes mindset and thinking.
4. Makes time to reflect on why we’re doing what we’re doing and what next.
And this is how we get our company retreat done!
We understand that each company has a different culture and specific challenge to holding a company retreat even a simple one like us. But hey, it’s well worth it. And there is no rocket science to making it fun.
Hope you enjoyed our takeaways from organizing a company retreat and consider some of these things when getting your team ready for a retreat, reunion, or another fun event.
— — — — —
Introducing KunciLab. Where KunciCoin Troopers makes and delivers marvelous and bohemian products through a flawless process, thus meeting the user’s needs.
We build things that be the pioneer in this industry. We go beyond the imagination. It is all about when revolutionary ideas meet a passionate team.
Ready to beat this great challenge together as a Super Team?
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