We love our team. We surround ourselves with the best and brightest and want to see each all-star thrive. What does that look like in the events world where checking in on our mental health can feel like it needs to be built into the schedule? We’re figuring that out. One step we’ve had a great time with is our OneLove workshop. Each Valentine’s Day, we lean all the way into the sentiment of the occasion as we get together to kick off our year with fresh goals and re-invigorate our teammates. Heartfelt valentines included.
OneLove was initially born from a need to reconnect and decompress after two turbulent years of navigating the pandemic. Our goal was to dedicate a day to coming together as a group and celebrating the things that make us strong. Together, we built optimism that even though the pandemic was extremely tough, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The impact was so vital to our team’s transition into this new work and life balance that we knew we would be repeating the workshop year after year.
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This Valentine’s Day, we planned for a strong future. We focused on our personal leadership goals and thought about what we each want from OneWest HQ to make it a great place to be. We handed ourselves over to the expert hands of Certified Leadership and Personal Performance Coach Angela Braun to guide us through the day and get our creative juices flowing. The outcome was a session that left us with actionable goals for furthering ourselves, practical ideas for a better workplace, and the priceless memory of our teammates battling for the tallest spaghetti tower (what’s a workshop without a little friendly competition?).
Coming out of the day, we felt grateful for our team all over again and were able to come up with ideas to make #TeamOneWest a place each person feels valued and empowered to do their best work. We already can’t wait for next February.
Interested in running your own workshop? We have found a few things that go a long way in creating an impactful day.
1. Bring in a strong moderator.
We recommend two must-haves in your hunt for the perfect moderator: they are from outside of your organization, and they understand your industry. We feel so lucky to know Angela, a superstar coach with roots in the events world. Before you ask, yes! We wholeheartedly recommend her to care for your team. Her ability to make a data-driven action plan for your day and lead with empathy make her our go-to.
2. Shake up your scenery.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, a great meeting space – comfortable, flexible and tech-friendly – allows your best ideas to flourish. Part of feeling comfortable getting creative and speaking up in a group starts with feeling comfortable in your surroundings, so keep an eye out for micro-adjustments throughout the day. Refill the snacks, top up the coffee, and tweak the thermostat so everyone stays in their best headspace.
3. Ditch distractions.
There’s nothing like a ping to take you out of the moment. We chose to go tech-free, dropping our phones into a charging locker. Even laptops were left at the door, while we opted for old-fashioned pen and paper. It was a full digital detox, and the feedback was loud and clear; it was wonderful being screen-free for a day.
4. Decompress at the end of the day.
You may dive pretty deep throughout your workshop, and like a dip in the lake on a hot day, a post-session decompress hits the spot perfectly. Whether over cocktails, mocktails or coffee, we found some of the best conversations were sparked while unwinding together at the end of the day.
5. Do the follow-up.
Your session has wrapped, and you are sitting on a pile of fantastic insights into your team. Now what? It’s time for analysis and action. While it can seem daunting, we found that taking the things you can fix today and fixing them right away gets the ball rolling. We used our follow-up package from Angela – packed with specific and digestible information from our session together – to set goals and check back in as we went through the process of turning ideas into initiatives.
Curious about initiating your own team-building workshop, or have ideas we should hear?
Drop us a note! We’d love to chat.
