I spent a couple of days this week at a work retreat in Gex,
France, hashing out a paper that will be submitted for publication hopefully
before my internship at the WHO ends. Perhaps the idea of spending 48 hours
with colleagues working on one single project can sound exhausting or
intimidating, but I found it refreshing to be out of the office in a beautiful
French village and working with young colleagues like myself. The four of us
worked well together, and I found the mix of being focused and productive, with
being silly and relaxed, made for a very successful retreat. I’m new to the
whole work retreat thing, so I have little to compare it to, but I must say
that two things stood out for me which made it an enjoyable and productive
experience:
1. We spent a considerable amount of time making and
enjoying each meal. The combination of cooking the meals together and then
enjoying lingering conversation when meals were done was a very nice way to
break up the day and focus our energy on work when we needed to.
2. We went for a late walk through the village on the Monday
night, and this time physically away from the house we were working at, as well
as the peacefulness of exploring a new place in the calm of the night, was an
incredibly successful way to unwind after a long day of working.
I feel quite lucky to have had the opportunity to have had
such a positive work experience. Now it’s down to the grind to finish off the
paper and submit it for first review by this afternoon, eep!
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| The view from the balcony, in Gex, France |
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