Welcome to Tellwell’s weekly Plog (photo-blog)!
This week, we had our Spring Retreat! So strap in for a lovely retreat recap!
This week’s writer
Why do we have Team Retreat?
At Tellwell, we feel it’s important for us to spend time as a team away from the office, allowing us to connect with each other, grow as an organization, and dive deeper into the kind of team we want to be. And we spent two whole days doing just that, so let’s dive into the details!
Retreat: Day One 🎉
For day one of retreat, we spent the day at Craft Event Space (thanks Craftwell) in downtown Fargo. We believe in “Connection Before Content”, so we started the day with pastries and coffee, some down time, and a fun question game: roll the die and answer the corresponding question! With questions like “share a recent photo in your phone”, “share a favorite memory from your time with Tellwell”, and “what is something you want your teammates to know about your role”, we spent time sparking conversation and definitely having some laughs. We also had a fun Retreat BINGO to keep track of throughout the day.
We then did a deep dive into our Business on a Mission thinking–finding ways to celebrate what we have done well, reflect on some changes to make, and learning what we can do more of within ourselves, our roles, and our organization.
For our mid-day learning, we had Show & Tellwell! Each teammate chose a project that they’ve worked on within the past six months to share and show off to the whole team. This allows us to get a deeper understanding into the every day work our teammates do! Everyone prepared a five-minute presentation (slideshow included). What a fun way to learn and listen!
Nearing the end of the day, we figured it was time for a craft: bracelet/keychain making! We were each instructed to find a word that shares our growth story. This word could be anything–the only thing that matters is that it means something to you. We then went around the room sharing this word and giving a short, once sentence explainer into why we chose it.
To wrap day one, we ended at Harold’s for Toast A Teammate. We were each assigned a teammate to write a toast to! This gave us a chance to shout out our team members and allowed us to practice receiving compliments (which we know can be hard for us Midwesterners). And with that, day one was complete! 👏🏼
Retreat: Day Two ✨
And just like that, we were back at it! For day two, we spent our time at the Brewhalla Craftatorium. We once again began the day with coffee and connection, then got right to business!
We started our day with a deep dive into strategy thanks to our Chief Storyteller Max. We spent time learning more about our process, absorbing new information, and asking meaningful questions that gave us all a deeper understanding into what we do.
Following the strategy deep dive, we once again put our arts & crafts hats on. Each of us was given a toy car and a flag to decorate for The Great Race (coming later in the day)! Each teammate had a unique and creative theme, it was so fun to see how each teammate’s designs. Next, we hit up the Brewhalla restaurants for lunch!
After some delicious lunch, we gathered again for more learning. Each member of the senior team shared their main takeaways from last week’s senior retreat and Workhuman conference. From impactful quotes to strategic processes, we were so happy to be able to share in their experience. We also learned about organizational updates and our partnership with Casa Davka. Overall, we learned and absorbed so much useful information over these two days.
Now for some excitement: The Great Race! There were three heats of four Tellwellians, racing our newly designed cars down a beautiful cardboard ramp, crafted and provided by our Chief of Staff Annie. It came down to the wire but after several heats, Senior Web Strategist Riley came out on top! With the help of some extra weight provided by pop tabs (don’t worry, his car modifications were cleared), his car went the farthest and he walked away with the trophy.
To finish retreat, we spent the afternoon volunteering with the Jeremiah Program. The Jeremiah Program’s mission is to disrupt the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time.
Following a tour of their space, we spent time as a team creating summer fun bags for the families. They included bubbles, chalk, sunscreen, and more. It’s so rewarding to spend time with amazing organizations like the Jeremiah Program, we love getting involved with our community!
A long weekend to reflect ☀️
And with that, retreat was finished! We all got so much out of this experience. From learning more about our organization to creating memories as a team, retreat is always a fun thing to look forward to and we will continue to absorb everything we learned over the long weekend. We can’t wait for our next retreat, coming this November!
That wraps up this week! Keep an eye out for our next Plog, coming May 30th!
