Why we don’t exclusively work remotely

A remote team needs to develop itself and should set itself goals to become better, just like any other team. For this reason, and because some face-to-face time is vital in remote teams, I met Karin and Velthy in Berlin to discuss required‘s management topics.

Accommodation

Of course, we are always looking for suitable accommodation, preferably a large apartment that offers space for all those who participate in the trip. This is not always easy because we want everyone to have their own place of retreat, i.e., their private room. But since there were only three of us this weekend, we had no problems finding a suitable and classy apartment. NOMADS BERLIN – perfect location, spacious, cozy, and furnished according to our taste, with a large table ideal for work.

How are we running our strategy meetings?

Over the last few years, we had come to the realization that it has not always been easy to take a break of the daily business to focus on the company and its strategy. We met each year for a strategy meeting and were always interrupted by the day-to-day business. As today our team has grown to a notable size, it is now possible for the managing team to concentrate only on strategic work for two to three days at a time.

We met at the beginning of March 2018 for a long weekend away in Berlin. We used the travel days (Friday and Monday) to talk about everything under the sun and to have a fine meal together. Thus, we were able to focus on our business without disturbances on Saturday and Sunday.

Working efficiently to have some private time and make time for fun activities.

All of Friday afternoon, we had countless conversations wherever we were: in the car, eating, drinking coffee, going for a walk until we could move into our accommodation.

Saturday, Workshop I:
Ok, first we had breakfast in the restaurant KRONE – kitchen & coffee: super tasty and very cozy. I can absolutely recommend this restaurant. After that, we went on to work. Our topic was: Where is the company today, and how can we change in the short and medium-term to reach our goals? We only made a quick coffee break during the afternoon, and at the end of the day, we were pretty satisfied with the results.

Sunday, Workshop II:
Our course of action remained the same as the day before, except that we had a different focus: Where do we see ourselves in the medium to long-term and what do we have to do to get there? In the afternoon, we went out to savor the sun during a walk in the fresh, freezing air. We strolled through the flea market in Mauerpark, visited the Berlin Wall Memorial, and finally walked to Berlin Mitte. We had a burger in the restaurant Shiso Burger (delicious, no knick-knacks) and then enjoyed our evening entertainment, the latest Marvel movie (yes, we are fans).

Gallery of our freezing cold stroll around Berlin

On Monday, the lovely weekend came to an end. We had breakfast together, packed our things, and headed once again towards Kreuzberg to Karin’s favorite shop.

Some recommendations for Berlin:

Burger: Shiso Burger Berlin
Indochinese: Umami Restaurant Berlin | Homemade Indochinese kitchen
Italian: Mädchenitaliener
Coffee: KRONE – kitchen & coffee
Accomodation: NOMADS BERLIN

I highly enjoyed the weekend. Spending time together with my business partners or team is incredibly valuable to me. I appreciate it all the more because I live furthest away from everyone, and therefore, physical meetings are rare for me.