The Colour Works at Longleat
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Thursday the 11th December saw the Colour Works team get together at Longleat Safari Park for what would be a truly spectacular Christmas event, (we'd expect nothing less from Rob, our Fantastic Mr Ops, who designed the whole occasion!)
First up on the rather brisk morning's agenda was a 2 hour VIP Safari Experience. After a quick coffee and session of lively banter, we loaded ourselves into 3 camouflaged Jeeps, each supplied with our own human fountain of zoology knowledge who, unbeknownst to us, (the competitive types amongst us would attempt to challenge others later that evening), were feeding us all EXACTLY the same, albeit fascinating spiel! Did YOU know that flamingos living at Longleat, and we presume UK-wide, are only able to keep their beautiful pink colour due to a dye in their feed?
After immersing ourselves in our primitive past and the pleasure of watching the gatherings of beautiful animals at our own leisurely pace, we headed back to the simply stunning Longleat House and, after a delicious buffet lunch, got down to business for the remainder of the day. As you can probably appreciate, when we all get together the energy in the room is magnified. The session kicked off with a quick team S.W.O.T which swiftly sense-checked the balance of extraversion and introversion? I.e. the 'I' wasn't getting a word in edgeways (thanks for the perspective Julie). Once we had settled down, a quick post-it note activity pulled some juicy feedback from the team on what we've done well over the past year and what's on the list for the coming year, the sort of activity we task our clients with that will benefit us endlessly as it does them.
With the launch of TCW's rebrand coming up at the end of January, the team then went on to discuss what makes TCW what it is, who they are and where they came from - each having their own story to tell.
Next on the agenda, It was time to play. We headed over to our hotel and employed the best facilitator of all. That's right, it was drinks o'clock. We ate some great food, chatted, thrashed out some issues and enjoyed the wonderful connection we all share. Breakfast was lovely the following morning, but everyone was incredibly (read: unusually) quiet - strange, but quickly explained by the bar bill!
Building a team isn't easy, and it's a continual effort, it doesn't simply transform and remain that way forever. We haven?t got it perfect yet, but comparing this current version to those of the past reaffirms that we are practicing what we preach.
High-Performing teams grow together; they share experiences, they disagree and they have opinions. They come together for personal gain but meet on common ground, and that's the understanding that creates the platform for teams to flourish. Here's to a successful and collaborative 2015!
