YES. Team workshops go digital.
Normally our department organizes a Garment Team workshop that brings our colleagues from our subsidiaries together for 2-3 days here in Tübingen. We prepare presentations on topics we’re currently developing as well as new finishes or products and complement those with practical tests and experiments in our laboratories. Unfortunately we weren’t able to hold the event as usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thorough preparation across all teams
My colleagues and I were asked to organize a digital Garment Team workshop instead. And it was actually really fun! First we asked for advice from our IT team about the best software to use for an event like this. We had a few test runs before the actual event and practiced how to handle things in all the different countries so that we knew we had the technical aspect of things down. That way we were confident we could eliminate or at least minimize disruptions. We also had to procure headsets for our team, define rules for how to conduct the event (for example, how we would deal with any questions that might arise during the presentations) – and of course we had to prepare the technical content of our contributions to the presentation as well.
Virtual and international exchange
In addition we asked our colleagues abroad to complete a questionnaire in advance of the event to gain insights about the current situation in their respective countries and better understand their wants and needs with regard to newly developed products. Because our subsidiaries are located to both the east and west of Germany, we also decided to form two groups. That meant the event would take place in Germany in the afternoon for countries to the west and in the morning for countries to the east. Both workshops were a smashing success!
New possibilities make for new routines
All our colleagues really enjoyed the event. Everyone was happy to be able to exchange questions and ideas with each other again and see our current presentations. Because travel restrictions will likely continue to remain in place due to the pandemic, we’ve decided we’ll hold events like these every 2-3 months. That way we’ll be able to continue exchanging information with our colleagues abroad even as we remain apart.
