Life of a Managing Director: The Importance Of Having A Company Day

As businesses grow, it can become exponentially more important to get the staff together and break down any barriers to communication. With new people joining and the turnover of employees varying due to market influences (Covid being a great example), the message and the vision can get lost in the shuffle.

Then you have teams all operating within their own bubbles. Sales and operations often work quite clthe staff together and break down any barriers to communication. With new people joining and the turnover of employees varying due to market influences (Covid being a great example), the message and the vision can get lost in the shuffle.

Then you have teams all operating within their own bubbles. Sales and operations often work quite closely, but they might only speak to the warehouse team when they need something. The project department might be so embedded in their systems that they can communicate almost entirely through Slack. Even when you pop over and ask if anyone wants a tea, they’ll send an emoji instead of just raising their head and nodding. Then, of course, no one wants to go near finance.

Whilst this may be a slight exaggeration, it gives a good indication of the problems businesses face, especially in the digital age, and that’s before you introduce remote working.

A couple of years ago, we started noticing these trends and decided it was high time we had a regular company day, so we could share our history with any new faces, get to know each other, celebrate our accomplishments, and lay out the vision for next year.

Here are some things we learned that might help you!osely, but they might only speak to the warehouse team when they need something. The project department might be so embedded in their systems that they can communicate almost entirely through Slack. Even when you pop over and ask if anyone wants a tea, they’ll send an emoji instead of just raising their head and nodding. Then, of course, no one wants to go near finance.

Whilst this may be a slight exaggeration, it gives a good indication of the problems businesses face, especially in the digital age, and that’s before you introduce remote working.

A couple of years ago, we started noticing these trends and decided it was high time we had a regular company day, so we could share our history with any new faces, get to know each other, celebrate our accomplishments, and lay out the vision for next year.

Here are some things we learned that might help you!

Setting the tone!

We wanted a private room somewhere to talk business but also somewhere interesting enough that it excited people about the day (and evening) ahead.

We hired the upstairs room at Manahatta , a New York City-themed bar in Sheffield, and it ticked all the boxes.

After a brief introduction about what to expect for the day, I ran through my presentation.

It needed to be informative, but I also wanted it to benefit and inspire the team outside of work. So, as I talked through the company values, I shared some inspiring videos and thought leadership from mentors of mine, like Inky Johnson. (If there are people who can motivate millions of people, I may as well let them speak for me).

Our values define everything we do, so we always make a point of diving into them when we’re all together. Here are a few examples:

Give MORE than what they pay for.

This is about doing the little things. If we’re hosting outdoor events, include some ponchos in case it rains. If you sold the event but are not there on the day, drop the client an email or a text and wish them a great day. You should always think of the little things that take almost no time to do but leave a huge impact. In and out of work.

Go heavy.

Inky Johnson had a great story about chasing after his kid who had just fallen off a quad bike. He wanted to get there before his wife, who he knew would pick up their child and comfort him. But in Inky’s mind, he thought that that embrace might have a negative effect.

“If I’d given him a hug, he’d have never wanted to go on it again.”

He won the race, and when he saw his son still deciding on how upset he was going to be, Inky told him, “go heavy.” Meaning if we have a problem, we go heavy. We don’t shy away from it. We don’t let things bother us. We. Push. Forward.

His son got straight back on that bike and never looked back.

Leave everything better than you found it.

There are many ways to interpret this, but I focused on processes for this presentation.

When the salesperson agrees on a deal, all the information should be correct in Hubspot and the various other project management tools we use. When the admin team run through it, they tidy up anything they need to before sending it to projects. By the time the warehouse team receives the information, they should know everything they need to do without even picking up the phone. We’re pushing for continual excellence and working together as a team to build on each other’s great work.

After my moving speech and the raucous applause I received (okay, I might be exaggerating), Paul, another director, did a presentation on operational excellence.

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Guest speaker

It’s always good to get perspectives outside the Wildfire sphere, so we brought in Chloe , who is not only a great well-being coach, she’s also my sister.?

I’ve talked at length about the natural highs of producing events and how the contrast in emotions can be stark when the action is over. Chloe did a presentation on stress in the workplace, knowing when your bucket is full and how to have compassion for others.

We talked openly about how to deal with these times and how to support each other through them.

We might have all worked 9 to 5 so far this week, but unknown to most of us, Tony drove the van back at 2 am this morning and was at work with the rest of us first thing. No wonder he’s less chatty today.

How can we be more conscious of shift patterns, of what people are going through emotionally? How can we show we care? Chloe’s interactive approach really fits in with our brand identity, keeping people interested and engaged.

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Last talk of the day

After a short break, Lauren stepped up with an excellent sales presentation.

She ran through a SWOT analysis with the team, so we could all talk about our current market position and give people a better understanding of our strengths and weaknesses.

We then had everyone break off into smaller groups, work on some solutions and give feedback on their ideas to the rest of the company.

Now for the fun bit

After lunch, it was time to do what we do best. Our two groups took to the streets of Sheffield for a treasure hunt. This gave some of our more office-based team a chance to experience one of our activities. There is no better way to understand the brand than to become a customer. After a highly competitive afternoon, we returned to the bar and showcased some of the best videos from the treasure hunt.

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And the winner is…

We then had an open forum so that people could fire their questions to the directors. We enjoyed a few drinks and some dinner, culminating in an Awards ceremony. This was more tongue-in-cheek than anything else, with people winning awards for not crashing a van for six months or perhaps not knowing how to use a microphone properly.?

In summary

The after-party ended with me, Aaron from the warehouse and Liam from finance. This a perfect example of three people who are unlikely to get together unless thrown into an environment where everyone is forced to mix. If Liam needs something from the warehouse now, he’s much more likely to get a warm response because he’s got a person he can call; someone he has shared a few stories, beers and laughs with.

Last year, we set a record revenue target at our meeting, and we knocked it out of the park. So, this year, we increased it again. We announced that should we exceed it this time, we’ll allocate a healthy percentage to an incentive trip for the whole company, somewhere like sandals in the Caribbean. Before Covid, we weren’t even discussing company figures with the team, but now we realise how invested they get, especially in supporting each other toward a common goal.

And who knows? Maybe next year, we’ll be doing all this on the beach.