Team conferences – are they worth it?

I am sure we have all at some time thought, “I am way too busy to attend this year’s conference,” or “I don’t think we need one this year,” or “it is only an internal conference, we can change the dates or not put as much effort in.”

At GS we try to ensure our team engagements are thought of with as much, or more importance, as doing business daily. Why? Because otherwise, how can we look after you, our clients and your businesses if we aren’t looking after ourselves and our business? 

This means that we take the time out of the office, put in effort to organise, train and provide team building that helps us grow.

Our GS values are:

• The freedom to be real
• The courage to imagine
• The determination to excel together
• Growing each other

We want to live and breathe the above. These values came out of session held at our last conference two years ago and were continued as a strategic objective for us to complete. 

This year we all travelled to Lakes Lodge on Lake Okataina near Rotorua. To encourage team participation, we had a case study made up of several different entities and businesses with our ‘new client’ having problems and issues that we discussed within smaller teams to look for and recommend solutions.

We also had a quiz night with tax questions, general knowledge and great prizes (prizes mean a lot and we all love to win something special). Team building had us making our own pizzas, completing a top town challenge, building a raft and then rowing it out on the lake.

Were some of us still working?  Of course, with the internet connection, modern apps and smart phones we can work wherever we need to, and as dedicated professionals we understand that sometimes clients’ needs come before our own especially when there is time pressure. 

Was it worth it? Yes! It helps us grow closer together as a large team, it also helps us see one another as individuals within that team. It allows strengths and weaknesses along with empathy to emerge in a different environment and it gives us a mini break before the start of the new financial year.

If you can take your team away for a few days, we can recommend it!