April 16, 2019 at 17:20I thought that I need to send designers to ...
“Horses die from work,” the famous saying goes. To our employees lived longer, we try to organize their work and leisure as interesting as possible. For example, we send to travel.
Many large and not-so-well companies arrange on-site corporate events. Such events are called to unite the team, arrange for the employees to “unload”, and usually it happens. However, corporate travel can have much more goals: reload, inspiration, exchange of experience, employee motivation, HR brand development. To achieve these goals, it is not enough to buy a ticket to the Turkish coast for the sales department. We will tell you why WebCanape sends specialists abroad and how to do it with the maximum benefit for the company.
For the first time, WebCanape employees all went abroad together in 2014. We opened an office in Germany and went to Munich in 2 cars to monitor and adjust the processes. On that trip, we realized that the road unites, allows you to look at colleagues in a new way. Interesting ideas may come along the way, which you can immediately discuss with colleagues and make an important decision for the company. Upon returning from Germany, we, of course, forgot about all this and began to work further. True, more productive. But no one has analyzed the reasons for the increase in efficiency.
March 2018 Three long months of winter did not end in any way, it seemed that the heat would never come, and the lines of tasks - not to clear. In such situations, the creative ones begin to suffer first - designers began to give out one unsuccessful landing after another. Layouts were rejected, design time was growing, and efficiency was falling. One of the founders of WebCanape suggested sending the entire design department for inspiration, so that the guys get acquainted with the culture of other countries and accumulate ideas for work. So happened the first "canapetur" - WebCanape Design Tour 2018.
The route ran through 5 countries: Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany. Amsterdam became the central point of the tour, and on the way the group stopped by in Warsaw, Wroclaw and Prague. Returned through Berlin.
Mandatory program:
A new environment, a new palette, world masterpieces of fine art and architecture, a completely different design of the environment - our designers had enough impressions for a long time. The experience gained during the trip helped them to go beyond the usual perception and create in a completely new plane.
However, improving the quality of work is not the only result of WebCanape Design Tour 2018. We spend a lot of time in the office, but even sitting with a person at the next table, we may not know anything about his life, interests and habits. The trip allowed colleagues to see each other in an unusual environment. Many became friends, some began to feel cooler to each other. The head of the design department Dima turned out to be a leader not only at work, but in travel. He organized a group and planned moving around the city. Every day, designer Masha carefully prepared breakfast for everyone, for which she is still called mom. Designer Misha talked about his Jewish roots and led his colleagues to iconic Jewish sights.
The ten-day voyage is over, everyone returned to work. And the task queue, accumulating for months, disappeared in two weeks. New colors appeared on banners, layouts began to look more joyful. Who knows what influenced more - the opportunity to get to know colleagues from unexpected sides and make friends, a change of scenery and new experiences, relaxation or inspiration, the source of which was people, culture, new experience. However, changes in work and attitudes towards work were immediately visible.
After the first successful tour, we decided to make such trips a tradition. And in the fall of 2018, our developers and testers set off on their first WebCanape Techno Tour 2018. They visited the Baltic countries and Finland, and after the tour gathered all the ideas that appeared on their way into a single system of employee development - the wheel of professional competencies.
Organizing a company tour is easy, but there are three questions that should be answered at the very beginning:
Usually these are people who have achieved success for the company, and the management has something to encourage them with a trip for. These employees tend to grow and have experience that they can share with colleagues. If you bring such people together and send them to where they will spend most of the time side by side, they usually manage to achieve synergy and create a certain value for the company as a result of the tour.
We send the most active, those for whom WebCanape is not only a place of work, but a company of like-minded people. Usually the backbone of a team is assembled by the head of the department that is going on tour. Approves candidates company management. So far we have not rejected a single candidate from the proposed.
It is important that these people can tell about their impressions, ideas that arose during the trip, the results of the whole event. This creates a favorable image of the company in the eyes of those who consider it as a future place of work.
WebCanape pays 300,000 rubles for each employee’s trip abroad. From a budget of 250,000 rubles, employees are compensated for accommodation and transport. Personal expenses, entertainment, as well as hotels and travel in excess of the specified limit are paid by yourself. About 50,000 rubles is usually spent on marketing activities around the tour - maintaining communities on social networks, targeted advertising, affiliate activities, the work of designers, magnets, t-shirts, badges, flags and other attributes.
In addition, each of the participants expects to spend about 30-40 thousand on food, personal expenses and entertainment within and beyond the program.
It is worth noting that not all employees agree to go on such tours. Often the reason may be personal circumstances - a small child, difficulties with obtaining visas. But sometimes they refuse and for financial reasons. Since personal expenses fall on the shoulders of the tour participant, not everyone can allocate money from the family budget to travel with colleagues.
A couple of months before the tour, the team will agree on the dates of the trip. Usually we choose a period when the absence of the majority of specialists in one area will not greatly affect the work of the company. The best time for this is the May holidays.
The team thinks through the route and activities along the way, and then presents the program to management. The tour plan does not only consist of a list of attractions. It is imperative to add activities related to professional activities: exchange of experience with foreign colleagues, brainstorming, specialized museums and exhibitions. After approval of the route and the program, the company provides financing.
We create communities in social networks where travelers will report on the tour, organize contests for subscribers and tell interesting facts about points of the route. This is important because it helps build a company’s reputation among job seekers. In IT, there are always difficulties with the selection of personnel, so the development of an HR brand is one of the tasks that WebCanape sets for employees by sending them on corporate tours.
Upon return, everyone collects thoughts in one presentation and holds a reporting meeting. Here the rested and refreshed participants of the “canapetour” talk about what they saw, learned, did on a trip, share plans, make suggestions for the development of the company.
Evgeny Churanov and WebCanape Team
Many large and not-so-well companies arrange on-site corporate events. Such events are called to unite the team, arrange for the employees to “unload”, and usually it happens. However, corporate travel can have much more goals: reload, inspiration, exchange of experience, employee motivation, HR brand development. To achieve these goals, it is not enough to buy a ticket to the Turkish coast for the sales department. We will tell you why WebCanape sends specialists abroad and how to do it with the maximum benefit for the company.
Corporate travel - start
For the first time, WebCanape employees all went abroad together in 2014. We opened an office in Germany and went to Munich in 2 cars to monitor and adjust the processes. On that trip, we realized that the road unites, allows you to look at colleagues in a new way. Interesting ideas may come along the way, which you can immediately discuss with colleagues and make an important decision for the company. Upon returning from Germany, we, of course, forgot about all this and began to work further. True, more productive. But no one has analyzed the reasons for the increase in efficiency.
March 2018 Three long months of winter did not end in any way, it seemed that the heat would never come, and the lines of tasks - not to clear. In such situations, the creative ones begin to suffer first - designers began to give out one unsuccessful landing after another. Layouts were rejected, design time was growing, and efficiency was falling. One of the founders of WebCanape suggested sending the entire design department for inspiration, so that the guys get acquainted with the culture of other countries and accumulate ideas for work. So happened the first "canapetur" - WebCanape Design Tour 2018.
I thought that it was necessary to send designers to Amsterdam to expand their ideas about culture and art, to “pump over” the visual cortex of the brain. In Smolensk, they will never see such material, but at the same time they work for people who are abroad.The design team was strengthened by two people from technical support and the internal development department, in total 2 crews with a total number of 7 people turned out. We decided to go by car, because it is very convenient to travel from Smolensk in this way - only 700 km to Poland and 500 km to Lithuania. The route was planned by ourselves.
Andrey Kotov
Director of Information Security WebCanape
Travel plan: world masterpieces and plein airs
The route ran through 5 countries: Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany. Amsterdam became the central point of the tour, and on the way the group stopped by in Warsaw, Wroclaw and Prague. Returned through Berlin.
Mandatory program:
- Sightseeing tours in cities
- St. Witt Cathedral and Karlstejn Castle
- Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum
- Apple Museum in Prague
- Plein Air on the North Sea
A new environment, a new palette, world masterpieces of fine art and architecture, a completely different design of the environment - our designers had enough impressions for a long time. The experience gained during the trip helped them to go beyond the usual perception and create in a completely new plane.
However, improving the quality of work is not the only result of WebCanape Design Tour 2018. We spend a lot of time in the office, but even sitting with a person at the next table, we may not know anything about his life, interests and habits. The trip allowed colleagues to see each other in an unusual environment. Many became friends, some began to feel cooler to each other. The head of the design department Dima turned out to be a leader not only at work, but in travel. He organized a group and planned moving around the city. Every day, designer Masha carefully prepared breakfast for everyone, for which she is still called mom. Designer Misha talked about his Jewish roots and led his colleagues to iconic Jewish sights.
A small group on a long trip is a separate community, which is partially enclosed within itself. And here the characters are manifested particularly prominently.
Angelica Trofimova
WebCanape Director
What came of it
The ten-day voyage is over, everyone returned to work. And the task queue, accumulating for months, disappeared in two weeks. New colors appeared on banners, layouts began to look more joyful. Who knows what influenced more - the opportunity to get to know colleagues from unexpected sides and make friends, a change of scenery and new experiences, relaxation or inspiration, the source of which was people, culture, new experience. However, changes in work and attitudes towards work were immediately visible.
After the first successful tour, we decided to make such trips a tradition. And in the fall of 2018, our developers and testers set off on their first WebCanape Techno Tour 2018. They visited the Baltic countries and Finland, and after the tour gathered all the ideas that appeared on their way into a single system of employee development - the wheel of professional competencies.
Designers and programmers from trips returned as a team, with a bunch of new ideas. Colleagues began to relate to each other at a closer emotional level.
Angelica Trofimova
WebCanape Director
Inside corporate tour: budget and organization
Organizing a company tour is easy, but there are three questions that should be answered at the very beginning:
- Who is going?
- Who pays?
- Who is responsible for what?
Usually these are people who have achieved success for the company, and the management has something to encourage them with a trip for. These employees tend to grow and have experience that they can share with colleagues. If you bring such people together and send them to where they will spend most of the time side by side, they usually manage to achieve synergy and create a certain value for the company as a result of the tour.
We send the most active, those for whom WebCanape is not only a place of work, but a company of like-minded people. Usually the backbone of a team is assembled by the head of the department that is going on tour. Approves candidates company management. So far we have not rejected a single candidate from the proposed.
It is important that these people can tell about their impressions, ideas that arose during the trip, the results of the whole event. This creates a favorable image of the company in the eyes of those who consider it as a future place of work.
Who pays?
WebCanape pays 300,000 rubles for each employee’s trip abroad. From a budget of 250,000 rubles, employees are compensated for accommodation and transport. Personal expenses, entertainment, as well as hotels and travel in excess of the specified limit are paid by yourself. About 50,000 rubles is usually spent on marketing activities around the tour - maintaining communities on social networks, targeted advertising, affiliate activities, the work of designers, magnets, t-shirts, badges, flags and other attributes.
In addition, each of the participants expects to spend about 30-40 thousand on food, personal expenses and entertainment within and beyond the program.
It is worth noting that not all employees agree to go on such tours. Often the reason may be personal circumstances - a small child, difficulties with obtaining visas. But sometimes they refuse and for financial reasons. Since personal expenses fall on the shoulders of the tour participant, not everyone can allocate money from the family budget to travel with colleagues.
Who is responsible for what?
A couple of months before the tour, the team will agree on the dates of the trip. Usually we choose a period when the absence of the majority of specialists in one area will not greatly affect the work of the company. The best time for this is the May holidays.
The team thinks through the route and activities along the way, and then presents the program to management. The tour plan does not only consist of a list of attractions. It is imperative to add activities related to professional activities: exchange of experience with foreign colleagues, brainstorming, specialized museums and exhibitions. After approval of the route and the program, the company provides financing.
We create communities in social networks where travelers will report on the tour, organize contests for subscribers and tell interesting facts about points of the route. This is important because it helps build a company’s reputation among job seekers. In IT, there are always difficulties with the selection of personnel, so the development of an HR brand is one of the tasks that WebCanape sets for employees by sending them on corporate tours.
Upon return, everyone collects thoughts in one presentation and holds a reporting meeting. Here the rested and refreshed participants of the “canapetour” talk about what they saw, learned, did on a trip, share plans, make suggestions for the development of the company.
We travel a lot. One, two, three trips ... At some point you realize that you are returning by another person. Proper travels greatly enrich and energize people. The constant change of the picture outside the window, always everything is new. New people, new countries, new ideas. All this helps you to think creatively, to look more broadly at life and the business you are doing. And you need to develop not only yourself, but the whole team. So the idea came to send our employees to cognitive WebCanape.Only a couple of weeks left before the next “canapeture”. This time we are sending to Italy our online marketers. From April 26 to May 5, they will travel around Lombardy, Tuscany and Lazio and keep a trip diary on VKontakte.
Vasily Churanov vasyay
Founder of the digital agency WebCanape
Evgeny Churanov and WebCanape Team