After a few failed attempts due to technical mishaps (the little joy of remote work at times), we finally caught up with Sven after he and his 59 teammates from Puma's global design leadership team spent a few days at The Workation Village this spring, working on future design strategy.
Brave, confident, determined, and joyful are the main values of the mountain lion cat sporting company, founded in Germany in 1948.
After speaking with Sven about his first Design retreat, it became clear that it took all of these values to bring the team to us.
1. Determination to get the work done
Sven tells us that this time around, they had a lot of work to accomplish in a particularly short amount of time. They were then looking for a space where they could all be together and focus on deep work.
The goal was to find a nice spot where we can all be together as a group and work on the things we have to work on and push it through. And that is what we achieved and everybody was super happy with the outcome of our workshop.
2. Confidence that they will be taken care of
Bringing 60 people from Europe, the US, and Japan together is no easy task. It felt great to be "taken care of" meanwhile, work could be the primary focus.
From the kitchen staff to the team on site, everything was handled so logistics would not get in the way of productivity.
"Our retreat Manager, Eliza.... She was the key to a successful retreat, she took care of everything! It was the all inclusive package we did not know we needed".
3. Brave to try something new
Sven says it as it is, the team members are more used to established hotel brands in urban settings with a lovely city to explore at night than a 1000 year old italian village perched on a hill.
But they gave it a go and were positively surprised with the outcome.
4. Joy of being together in nature
"That is something we did not know we needed '' says Sven, "but seeing my colleagues chatting around the campfire after a full day of workshop really made a difference in the way we connected as a team".
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Nothing makes us happier than working with teams ready to break patterns and try new ways of thinking outside the box. Thank you,
Sven and Puma for trusting us!
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