Business and Pleasure: The 2024 wetransform Offsite
Sunday, January 28th 2024. Strikes across Germany make it impossible to travel by train. Undeterred, all fifteen members of the wetransform team use planes and automobiles to make their way into the Black Forest, all the way to… sunny Saig?
Yes, indeed! This third year at the Saiger Lounge is unlike previous years, with a distinct lack of snow. Green grass greets us in places where just last year and the year before we were sinking into the snow! Even Mellie, the Lounge's beloved resident pooch, seemed a bit puzzled by these changes in her domain.
Ever adventurous, the wetransform team sought out the nearby slopes and forest to hunt down and enjoy what remained of the usually so wintery wonderland before we got to work.
Work to be Done
All work and no play may make for a rather miserable offsite, but of course there was still work to be done. Our objectives were:
- Exchanging of open feedback
- Reviewing 2023
- Presenting the 2024 company objectives
- Reviewing the outcomes of the previous offsite
- Discussing strategy surrounding Data Spaces and Artificial Intelligence
- Leveraging the knowledge of the whole group for improvements on team-level
This year, we tackled those objectives with a far less packed schedule than previously. A generous amount of buffer time for work-related subjects and extra time for socialising made the entire offsite lower in stress and higher in productivity than previous years.
Fun to be Had
As wetransform usually operates remotely, it is rare for the entire team to meet in one place.
Now that the opportunity was there, we spent a good amount of time chatting, playing games, and enjoying runs and walks together.
But not only that!
You see, every wetransform offsite there is one very distinct highlight. On one night, we cook!
Behold the majestic mascarpone, gently chilling outside during a meeting in anticipation of becoming tiramisu…
Soon, the Saiger Lounge’s spacious kitchen is filled with wetransform team members pitching in for a feast!
The international wetransform team flexes their culinary muscles and once it’s time for dinner, that effort is rewarded! From charcuterie arrangements, to Albanian stuffed peppers, to Sri Lankan string hoppers, and Italian desserts, we have it all!
Enough to eat for two days, in fact, and still have leftovers!
Conclusion
The 2024 wetransform offsite was a great success! Not only did we get to enjoy the rare delight of having everyone in one place, we also moved forward on strategic and operational matters, such as:
- how to leverage AI tools to improve internal processes and product offerings, e.g. to make informaiton hidden in scanned development plans accessible
- how to support the establishment and success of the Green Deal Data Space and of the Forest Data Space, e.g. through promoting data interoperability
- how to optimise our internal resource and budget usage, e.g. through optimising our products for low-effort maintenance
Every team got the opportunity to leverage the wide range of expertise present in order to get new, fresh perspectives on their respective challenges. There was even time deliberately left to spare so ad hoc issues could be resolved within good time.
The mood was good and spirits are high for a new year, may it be even more successful than the last!