Team Glue
On the morning of Friday 30th a heady mixture of excitement, anticipation and above all a touch of sadness was in the air at Martec, all for very different reasons. One moment I was excited and flushed with adrenaline about the pending “battle royale” that was about to take place on the go-karting track, however this was quickly replaced by the feeling of sadness at the thought that this was the last day before my colleague and mentor David Sanders retired.
There was a lot to celebrate that day. Ray Harkin reached the landmark anniversary of being with the company for 10 years, an inspirational amount of time and it’s clear to see how his wisdom and experience has filtered down to the rest of us.
This was also the day that, to celebrate David Sanders retirement, we were to go to the go-karting track and join, as teams, in a Le-Mans endurance event!
If you, like me have never done any go-karting before, your expectations would be somewhat different from the reality. These go-karts are a long way from the electric, coin-operated seaside karts that I remember when I was a nipper. These 240cc karts reach up to 60 MPH!
I’m sure there’s been a time in a company where you have worked, when they have organised a “team building” event that was really enjoyable but didn’t engender the kind of team spirit everyone was hoping for. That’s where this event was different.
We made sure that the teams were a mix of departments, which was one of the keys to it’s success.
The Le Mans endurance event lasts for 2 hours and just as important as driving skill, is the tactics that each team employed. There were four members in each team and only one person can drive at any one time. Each team had to decide when to leave a team member on the track on for a few minutes longer or when to pull them off. The change-over was critical as the clock kept running so a Jenson Button style pit stop of only a few seconds made all the difference.
Looking around me in the pit lane with the cacophony of revving engines and the smell of 2 stroke exhaust fumes, it was astounding how something so simple and yet so well organised had brought people from all departments together. We were transformed from “colleagues who work together” into a band of brothers and sisters!
It came down to the last 10 minutes of course, with all the teams close to each other and the winner too close to call. As everyone franticly cheered on their team during the final lap, the chequered flag came down and all we could do was await the results.
For me win or lose, I knew that I had taken away something incredibly positive from this event and now look at all my colleagues with a new found respect, earned from an adrenalin charged shared experience, that no amount of corporate clichéd “rope bridge across the river” events could ever produce; A highly recommended experience!!!
I believe the formula for a successful event is:
1. Good organisation
2. Mixed teams
3. Struggle and endurance
4. Celebration!
Patrick Osmond
August 5th, 2010 at 8:40 am
I don’t think I could summarise the afternoon any better. The team spirit was immense and we all had an amazing time.
August 6th, 2010 at 11:10 am
It was a great event! A shame though that I am still in so much pain, obviously due to other peoples driving, rather than mine!
I’m sure my ribs will heal eventually!!
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