When things are quiet

It's almost that time again... staff bonding session time.

Retreats, conferences, weekend getaway, jailtime, whatever you call this annual trek to somewhere supposedly nice and spend some supposedly good, relaxing time with your co-workers is meant to be just that. Although a Peppers retreat at Grandchester was pretty cool, with optional 1 hour massage session :D

In the past it's been a fairly mixed bag- skills training, motivational speaker (complete with 10-15 min hypnosis session......two years in a row...*good grief*), boules on the grass, Thai-cooking classes, yoga sessions and playing pool in a farm shed.

The dreaded things that always seem to crop up though which are never fully resolved, include time management skills, team-building exercises and handling stress in the workplace. Although people winge and whine about such topics, they aren't actually really interested in making the effort to overcome these issues.

The team behind this year's retreat have sent around an email asking us for ideas. That is, ideas on speakers, games, activities etc. Apparently the feedback from last year's retreat was so bad, the partners decided to get the staff themselves to form a committee to handle it :D

Somehow, when the topic of games is mentioned, I don't think some staff would appreciate being tied up hand and foot, dumped into a small plastic wash tub filled with soapy water and then have green porridge poured over their head.

Boating and waterskiing may be good.



Or maybe some dancing lessons.



NOTE: PEOPLE IN THESE PICTURES CAN REMAIN ANONYMOUS..UNLESS YOU CAN SOMEHOW DECIPHER WHO THEY ARE.