Communication is key in any team, especially when you are a Translations Project Manager that is in charge of overseeing the entire translation process from start to finish. However, how do you achieve true and effective communication when your entire team works remotely? How do you make sure your message is getting across without being misconstrued or misinterpreted? How do you truly feel part of a team when all your team members are in different countries and you only get to see them in person once a year?
The first weekend of November 2022 we held our second annual CCI Group Retreat titled “Better Together” in Orlando, Florida. It was an opportunity to reconnect with co-workers I had met for the first time in our first company retreat last year in Houston, Texas and to meet the new members that joined the team this year. This year we were also able to incorporate a hybrid component the first day for our colleagues that were unable to join us from Mexico and Argentina. It was also the first time I was able to visit the company office in-person.
Being part of a remote work team environment, although it has many perks, also poses many challenges. The main one is being able to truly feel part of a team and feel invested in the company when often times you have never met your colleagues in person. Therefore, having opportunities to bond and communicate with your team members become of the utmost importance. Our weekly team meetings with our traditional “good news check in” and annual company retreats have become spaces where we are able to connect and synergize with each of the team members.
Here at CCI Group, one of our core values revolves around synergy. We understand that a combined effort is needed in order to achieve true results not only for our clients but it is also essential for the dynamics and communication within our team. And in order to achieve this synergy, events like our annual retreat become essential. It offers us an opportunity to not only discuss business but also to talk about our everyday lives, laugh, play, and dance to the beat of some reggae as we did this year. At the end of the day, these are the small things that make us a team. That make us look beyond the day-to-day business to truly understand our team members on a human level. To understand their personality type, their communication style, their dreams and their goals.
This year I left Orlando having a better sense not only of who my co-workers are, but also of who I am myself and what my purpose is not only within the company but in this world. I cherish this opportunity and look forward to re-connecting with my team once again next year in… (drumroll please) MEXICO CITY!
