Team building on the water strengthens the relationships at R&D after working from home and corona
Last week, R&D set aside a full day for 150 employees for team building to create better unity and results across the company.
At R&D, we greatly appreciate strengthening the unity across the company. Therefore, the management arranged a full day with teamwork and racing in focus. The whole day took place at Kaløvig Bådehavn with both racing in teams and a workshop on winning culture.
“The reason I gathered all of R&D's employees for this event is because I believe that you have to be part of a community and a culture when you work in a company. Working in a company can be compared to being part of a family with everyday routines and underlying agendas that form a cultural unity. That is why it is important to spend time together”, says Axel Manøe Jepsen, CEO at R&D A/S. The day formed the framework for a new and healthy break in R&D's everyday life. "With the great risk that the Covid-19 crisis has taken a heavy toll on our unity, this day was extra important for our professional family to get close and hear each other," says Axel Manøe Jepsen.
After a joint welcome and breakfast, all employees were ready for both the workshop and racing. Everyone was as usual engaged, energetic and showed great desire to win and give it an extra kick. “When you are together around an activity, you experience how to act when we have to work together. Working together, communicating, leading, planning and reaching goals are all things we use on a daily basis in our professional lives.
Experiencing success by achieving a common goal with those you work with on a daily basis triggers a sense of victory. Whether the ‘victory’ is to win or to reach the finish line is secondary. But to achieve the goal you have set yourself together and give it everything you have, it is extremely important to train ", explains Axel Manøe Jepsen.
Before the races started, all employees received training in sailing a racing boat optimally. Here the focus was on organizing and planning goals, problem-solving, decision making and responsibility. “As I have sailed myself since I was 10 years old, I know the similarities between sailing a boat and running a business. Both disciplines require that you allocate the roles beneficially so that you have the most optimal setup based on the team's competencies. Therefore, it was an important task for the employees to determine the positions and roles aboard the boat. Everyone must agree; what is the strategy, what do we do if something unpredictable happens, who controls, who has the overview and tactics during the race, who keeps an eye on competitors, who makes sure we keep pace and much more. If not everyone agrees with the plan or is not able to communicate clearly with clear statements and work together during the race, then you lag behind or get wet feet ", states Axel Manøe Jepsen.
Despite the fact that many of the employees had never sailed a racing boat before, all teams, to the great delight of R&D's own sailing enthusiastic CEO, managed to work together, communicate, plan, lead and achieve their goals. This experience has only contributed to increasing the unity of R&D - and the feeling of victory has been taken back to the offices, where the work continues to create value through world-class engineering.
The reason I gathered all of R&D's employees for this event is because I believe that you have to be part of a community and a culture when you work in a company.