The Ultimate Team-Building Experience: Mobal's First Offsite

What did Mobal's first offsite look like?

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On a Wednesday winter morning, 30 Mobalers hopped onto a bus and headed towards the archipelago of Sipoo. After a bumpy boat ride through the icy sea with My Heart Will Go On playing in the background, we landed at our offsite venue in the middle of beautiful Finnish nature. The location Seasong perfectly matched our traditional Finnish Mökki (summer cottage) theme.

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The master plan behind the offsite was to escape the day-to-day routines with colleagues for a Mökki weekend and get to know each other better. Sometimes it's easy to get stuck on executing the daily work and tasks with a full focus mode and forgetting to connect with others. A new environment and experiences would help us build our team even stronger.

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What did we do during the two days on an island?

After arriving at the venue, our guest speaker Tony Honkanen from Wolt, shared their impressive expansion stories. Even though Wolt works in a different industry than us we figured out multiple early-stage similarities. Thank you, Tony, for the great tips and inspiring presentation!

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Survival challenge in the nature

When our bellies were filled with hearty salmon soup lunch, we headed to the woods for a survival challenge. The wilderness guides tested our skills in staying safe in Finnish wild nature in case of an accident. Some of us were super quick on lighting a good fire; for some, it took a while.

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Mexican dinner and cold dips in the freezing sea

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The evening was filled with good food, relaxation, and of course, karaoke (the all-time favorite activity in Mobal events). One of the fun highlights of the trip was when every Mobaler joined the dinner preparations. Such great and effective teamwork resulted in a delicious dinner! The rest of the night was spent relaxing in the sauna and hot tub, with many cold dips in the freezing sea. This was for sure exotic for our UK team.

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And, of course, not forgetting the beautiful karaoke performances such as Walking in Memphis by our Sales Ops Lead Pontus or Would You Love a Monsterman by our CEO Jakob and Tech Lead Jonatan.

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Mobal superpowers

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Thursday morning started with a beautiful sunrise and a lovely walk in the forest. This gave us the energy and strength to have a workshop about our team's superpowers. Although some random power cuts were due to a strong wind, this workshop gave us even more insight into understanding each other better and reflecting on our strengths.

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The last survival challenge of the offsite was to make our way home safely through a stormy and bumpy sea. A bunch of happy Mobalers arrived at the office with plenty of fun memories and learnings richer.

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Key takeaways from the offsite:

• A new environment sparks new ideas and discussions
• We all have unique superpowers that make our team strong
• Getting to know your colleagues even better makes the day-to-day operations more fun
• Finnish nature during winter time is not the easiest environment to survive in case of an accident
• This might have been our first offsite but definitely not the last!

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Check out our TikTok video from the offsite!

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How to plan a successful company offsite?

Planning a great offsite requires careful thought and consideration to ensure it meets its goals and objectives.

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• Identify the goals and objectives for the offsite
• Select a location that aligns with the goals of the offsite and provides the necessary facilities and resources
• Involve team members in the planning process to create a sense of ownership and commitment
• Develop a clear schedule and agenda for the offsite, including opportunities for structured and unstructured activities
• Ensure all logistics are taken care of, such as transportation, accommodations, and meals
• Incorporate team-building activities and opportunities for socializing and relaxation
• Evaluate the success of the offsite afterward and make changes for future events

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To sum it up

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Mobal's first offsite was a great success in achieving their goals of team building and escaping day-to-day routines. The location and activities helped the team connect with each other better, and the guest speaker provided valuable insights.

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The offsite also highlighted the importance of taking time away from work to focus on team dynamics and personal growth. Following the tips for planning a great offsite, other companies can create similar experiences that lead to stronger teams and better collaboration.

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