A few weeks ago, our fully remote team had a chance to meet up in person in Lincoln.
At HubGem, we have whole team meet ups twice per year. However this time, the team had expanded significantly since the last one and so it was a great experience for the whole team to get to meet each other!
Everyone travelled from all across the country for this event, from as far north as Glasgow and as far south as Kent which made it extra special. Over the two days we were there we learnt more about the company, planned for the months ahead and celebrated each others wins, whilst also having a lot of fun.
A lot of presentations:
On the first day we all met up and got to know each other a little bit more, as it was many people's first time meeting in real life and not over Zoom.
Throughout the two days many of our team gave presentations about the company. HubGems' CEO, Gemma Price presented all about the success of the company and how rapidly we are expanding. She also told us about all the exciting plans for the future of HubGem and our upcoming strategies.
Another presentation on culture and wellbeing was delivered by our HR & Culture manager where she explained the importance of creating a fun, safe and supportive culture for the team and went through all of our current and new wellbeing initiatives; my favourite being our Headspace subscription as it really helps to relax. This was really interesting as wellbeing has always been a crucial part of our company, so it was good to find out a little bit more about how (and why) we are cared for so well as a team.
We then had a presentation from our Director of Customer Experience and Senior Consultant around what it is we are currently doing and can be doing to provide the best experience for both our prospective and current clients when working with us.
Cristiana, one of our consultants then gave us a recap of the Top 10 new HubSpot features of 2022 - from her own opinion and for our education/ non-profit clients of course. This included how they are used, and the benefits of them for our clients. This was great for the whole team to learn about new Hubspot features that they may not have used yet, and see how they can then incorporate these when working with their clients.
Celebrated each other's wins:
The team also had chance to share with one another a couple of projects that they are proud of. There were many different and amazing wins to celebrate, including creating a whole new company website and going above and beyond for clients, in addition to many other projects that we work on daily.
It was a perfect chance to see what the team have achieved and gave everyone a chance to feel proud of all their accomplishments.
A fun team building activity:
As part of bringing the team together with activities, we all took part in a team building exercise. During this exercise we worked in pairs, with one person describing their house whilst the other person drew it. This was a lot of fun, and a great way to build communication skills and team relationships.
Although these days consisted of a lot of learning and discussing the future goals and strategy, they were also a chance to bring the team together and get to know each other more.
Team social/drinks:
After work on the first day we all met up to climb Lincoln's steep hill and explore a little more around the cathedral. We then carried this on with a pub stop for a few drinks and food, to be able to talk to each other and learn more about everyone outside of work. This really helped to take our teams' relationship from just being colleagues to genuine friendships which is great for the working environment too!
On the second day we ended our time together in Lincoln with a lovely meal at Prezzo, where we all talked and laughed for a couple of hours. By the end of the two days it was hard to remember that this was the first time many of us had met.
I only started at HubGem at the start of August so I was completely new to the team and all things Hubspot. These days really helped me to feel included and welcomed into the team, so I could connect with people not just through a screen. Although I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in person, the presentations and learning about the company was a really big part for me. It was really interesting to learn how much the company has grown in such a short time and how I can now make an impact to help it grow. I learnt a lot from everyone about their own roles and how the team works to be successful, which really showed me how I can do the same. It was a really good experience to be able to see what everyone has achieved at the company and gave me more motivation in my own work. I am already excited for the next team days very soon at Christmas.
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