Last weekend, the InterWorks gang held our annual BBQ contest and company picnic. As we arrived at Behfar & Staci’s gorgeous home, you could hear the delight in the voices of folks who had clearly missed one another. “Long time, no see!” “Look how big your kiddos are now!” “So great to see you again!”
Having so many employees work remotely can put teams at risk of losing their connectedness, and even though we work to minimize that risk with stuff like Slack, or team meet-ups, or even video conferencing, you just can’t beat a little face-to-face camaraderie. Having an opportunity to just relax with friends (whom you also just happen to work with) is invaluable. InterWorks recognizes how important this is – and we work very hard to facilitate reconnection through events like these.
Because we are also a company full of competitive, driven and type-A personalities, this ultimately turns into a competition. There were very few parameters put on this year’s BBQ contest, so we had offerings from deer tenderloin to smoked chicken, to beef ribs to brisket. The judging was a bit ad hoc (let’s just say the BBQ event coordinator had a busy week of meetings), but we managed to find a few willing taste buds. We thank you for your sacrifice, judges.
We announced the winners (nice job, Will Jones! And Tim Rhymer! And Ideen!) and sang a round of “Happy Birthday” to Behfar. We then got back to conversation, relaxation and the little ones decided a rainy April day was the perfect time for a swim.
Because of the timing of the BBQ, we had planned a series of meetings earlier in the week for folks who were in town. It was a great time for strategy planning, quarterly reviews and for brainstorming. So much work went into the business of that week, but on Saturday it was party time.
You know, we talk a lot about Tableau (capital T) around here. But I was struck by the tableau of that moment: the expanse of the backyard, babies being passed around, children playing football or splashing in the pool, grownups catching up and telling war stories. It looked like a family reunion. I think it was.
