High-performing culture = high-performing business

Back in September, the TreasurySpring team had the pleasure to travel out to the stunning hillside in Mondaino, Italy for our first ever international offsite. Whilst most of us could not point Mondaino out on the map, once we arrived, we quickly realised why Matt (COO and Co-founder) spends his summer holidays working over there. Set into the hidden hills of Italy, 30 minutes away from Rimini, we were pleasantly blessed with a tranquil countryside, breath-taking landscape and arguably the best hangover proof wine on the continent.

The trip consisted of multiple physical activities, team building exercises, lunches, dinners and evening entertainment. It quickly became apparent how much everyone enjoyed being in the same place at the same time. As a remote-first company that has an international employee base working across the globe, it is difficult to have everyone in the same room at once.

With over half the team joining TreasurySpring during the pandemic, some of us had never formally met each other and the opportunity to spend 3 days together proved to be invaluable. The ability to interact in person across departments is truly priceless and can give your mental wealth a small yet warranted boost. It lent itself to building stronger relationships, whilst learning about different aspects of the business that you would not typically get access to whilst working remotely.

A key theme behind the itinerary for our team building exercises was driven from ‘The High-Performance’ book, co-authored by TV presenter Jake Humphrey’s and Professor Damian Hughes. The book focuses on the authors’ key takeaways regarding how and why the most successful athletes, celebrities and entrepreneurs become the highest performing individuals in the world. The combination of individual and group exercises provided extensive inward and outward looking feedback, resulting in multiple layers of the onion being peeled off for each of us as we learnt about each other.

One activity that looked simple on paper but difficult to execute was ‘finding flow’ which required us to fill out a sheet with three overlapping circles and separate the daily activities that you find ‘difficult’, ‘enjoy’ and ‘excel’ at in your life. It became apparent that all of us struggled to identify multiple tasks that we found difficult yet excelled at, in addition to identifying tasks that we simply excel at, as these were usually endeavours that we enjoyed. Trying to strike an even balance that mirrored the symmetry of the circles was puzzling, but provided us with the introspective research that we typically do not tend to engage in.

The trip was a crucial timestamp in the company’s journey. It helped further embed our company culture, align our visions and kickstart the next phase of growth that we have begun to embark on. The opportunity cost that you assume when you book flights, airport transfers, accommodation, food, drink and activities is quickly justified when you bring individuals to a setting that provides you with peace, fun and prosciutto ham!