Springtime at Formstack means coming out of hibernation and pressing the “refresh” button via individual department meetups across the United States. With more than half of Formstack’s employees based in locations far from the company’s Indianapolis headquarters, these team gatherings give employees some valuable face time with one another.2017 marks the third year of departmental team-building retreats—which we’ve now dubbed “Small Hands.” The overarching goals for Small Hands are to explore new places, work together, and build relationships with our teammates. This year, CEO Chris Byers even encouraged employees to leave “work mode” behind and focus on getting to know our coworkers better.“I truly believe that the relationships we build at Formstack are the most important things that carry our business forward,” Byers said. “More than anything else, it’s these relationships that allow us to grow and to succeed. When you’re doing great work surrounded by people you care about—and when you know that they care about you in return—you’re not only going to work more effectively, but you’re also going to enjoy the journey a lot more.”Want an inside look at how each department spent their time together this spring? Here are the highlights:
Customer Care
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Number of Formstackers: 10
Memorable Happenings:
- Swarming on customer cases
- Performing a SWOT analysis to identify areas for service improvement
- Walking the Vegas strip
- Watching the Bellagio fountains
- Visiting Madame Tussauds wax museum
- Enjoying a gondola ride at the Venetian
- Attending an entertaining show at Frank Marino’s Divas
- Frequenting the many buffets and indulging in tasty Dole Whip
- Losing some (but not too much!) money at the slots
Product + Design + Dev + Finance
Location: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Number of Formstackers: 27
Memorable Happenings:
- Enjoying Smoky Mountain views from luxury cabins
- Playing with board games, video games, and drones
- Conducting a lively ideas session for improving Formstack
- Getting adventurous with mountainous hiking, ziplining, and off-roading
- Hanging out at Sugarlands Distilling Co. and sampling their local spirits
- Visiting Dollywood and the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Show
Watch a video recap here.
Human Resources
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Number of Formstackers: 5
Memorable Happenings:
- Taking over a local mansion for the week (via Airbnb)
- Completing Predictive Index training
- Solving an age-old murder mystery and making it out of a famed European castle at The Escape Room
- Brainstorming and strategizing around Formstack’s HR future
- Getting into the spring spirit with floral canvas painting at Painting with a Twist
Marketing + Inbound Sales
Location: Fennville/Saugatuck/South Haven, Michigan
Number of Formstackers: 19
Memorable Happenings:
- Taking over DollyBrook Family Resort for the week
- Riding bikes and ATVs near Lake Michigan
- Brainstorming innovative sales and marketing tactics
- Going on a roller-coaster-esque dune ride
- Enjoying good old-fashioned fun via board games, basketball, volleyball, and a trivia showdown
- Singing karaoke and creating an impromptu team dance party
Watch a video recap here.
We love catching up with each other during Small Hands! And now we’re looking forward to this fall, when the entire Formstack family will gather for our annual All Hands meeting. Follow us on Twitter or Instagram to keep up with these fun team-building meetups and other notable happenings.
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