A few weeks ago, the entire Skout team visited the beautiful and historic city of Palma, Majorca for our annual kick off event. It’s been a long time in the planning (pre-pandemic to be precise) and the first time we’ve been abroad for a kick off to the new financial year.
We’ve always found kick off meetings a great way to reflect on the past 12 months – the highs and the lows – and use these to plan for the next year. We had some great client wins last year including strengthening existing relationships. We also broadened our own communications activity by doing more networking, guest podcasting and speaking at events. However, we also learnt some key lessons and these are just as important for planning.
In keeping with our ‘go big’ theme, we decided to look further ahead to Skout’s next five years as well. We spent a full day introducing the team to Skout’s business plan that will take us to 2028 – and will see Skout turn 18 and become an adult. There’s some scary big grown-up stuff in there, as well as lots of activity that will ensure that we’re on the right track to meet our objectives. We talked a lot about growth mindsets, brands we’d like to work for and how to keep our culture intact as we double and triple in size.
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Once we’d agreed the plan, we turned the microscope on ourselves for a little bit of self-reflection. What Rob and I wanted to know was, “Where does the team see themselves in five years?” The results were amazing and surprising as were the job titles! It’s possible that there will be a few marriages (a divorce!), births, lots of side hustles and the continuation of building on our global footprint in Skout’s future.
It wasn’t all work, however. We got to sample some of Palma’s local restaurants, including a Spanish fusion/reinterpretation called Rosa Del Mar (we’d highly recommend), as well as Dukes that served an eclectic mix of food including guacamole with banana chips, and deep fried avocado. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
The highlight for me (apart from all the excellent team bonding and sunshine) was a wine and food walking tour. I learnt that there are 100s of versions of Patatas Bravas with each restaurant creating their own; that Palma is famous for Vermouth (and there are lots of different types); and that the team is pretty much happy to try any food (or drink) put in front of them (even octopus).
The trip wasn’t without drama. Yes, there were a couple of mishaps – a nearly missed flight by Rob and the loss of Jack’s sunglasses (which have played a crucial role in Skout life over the past six months – if you know, you know), but overall it was a resounding success.
While it was wonderful to be in the sun as the UK was getting a drenching, I think that I’m simply grateful for the time I got to spend with colleagues planning our future. And I am pleased that we all made it there and back in one piece – well there may or may not have been a couple of broken Skouts on the flight home.
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#OneTeamOneDream
