A Team Effort

23 Mar 2015

It’s been just over three weeks since I agreed to take part in the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge we are doing, as a company, to raise money for the charity Papyrus. I’ve been thinking a lot more about the food I’m eating and have been trying to dedicate some time every other evening to doing some kind of fitness training.

It is hard work and I’ve only just started. I dread to think what I’m going to be like trying to drag myself up that final peak.

I know that it’s for a good cause and that it will feel amazing when we’ve finished, but I won’t lie—it is starting to feel quite scary.

I think the main thing that is keeping this challenge feeling possible is that I know everyone else is having the same thoughts and the same struggles. It’s become a fairly common occurrence to see someone hobbling around the office, saying that they’ve overdone their training.

That comradery is what turns this from a personal hurdle to overcome to a group goal—and one that is in aid of a great cause that is very close to our hearts.

To be perfectly honest, I sometimes hear the same worry and dread when speaking to new customers who are just starting to learn the system. They worry that they won’t understand it or just dread learning another piece of software.

Once all of their colleagues are in that conference call, though, and we get started, all of that worry melts away.

They know their workmates are in the same boat as them and that, if they run into trouble, not only are we just a phone call away, but they can always turn and ask the person next to them if they remember how to find that one little widget.

By doing training sessions in small groups, I think you really help to establish support and make the whole process a lot less daunting. It’s one of the main reasons we offer these virtual, group training sessions to our customers.

I’m hoping that, as the afternoon is starting to draw to a close on our Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge that my office mates are able to offer the same kind of support I hear during these training sessions. That we’ll rally together and finish the day with tired legs, but a real sense of achievement.