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Here in Dectar, our team is growing rapidly and we have been honored to have so many new and talented people join the team. It is an exciting time to be part of Dectar and as a fully remote company, working across Europe, Dectar faces the challenge of how to connect employees that have only met virtually.
Dectar believes remote teams should meet up when possible.
Dectar is focused on building a fun, innovative organization. Everyone is working towards making Dectar the go to vendor for cyber defense products. But in reality, remote working can present difficulties and our human resources team, led by Silvia Avanzi, have been focusing on finding ways to connect the company’s employees, improve communications and build the team.
Dectar management team felt it was important to get everyone together, in one place, to catch up and have the chance to meet in person. So last week, Dectar held our Offsite Team Building Meeting.
Dectar’ team had a chance to meet in person & spend quality time as a company.
The team went to Apulia (Puglia) in the south of Italy where we had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the local culture and cuisine. The team chose the perfect location for us all to work and build connections with our remote colleagues.
The Dectar team arrived from all over Europe to the stunning beachside Hotel Masseria Santa Lucia the hotel’s grounds and location, the beautiful facilities, provided an amazing venue for the team building. The hotel staff went out of their way to make all of our team feel welcome and we were well looked after.
In addition to the many meetings and activities our team were delighted to have the chance to attend the spa, swim in the pool or take a walk down to the nearby beach and swim in the Adriatic Sea.
The stunning conference venue was spacious with a tropical grotto outside the doors and all the facilities we needed for team meet ups and presentations. Each of the teams had the chance to present their work giving the Dectar staff members the chance to introduce themselves and talk about what they are working on.
The hotel provided fantastic food, drink and the location was beautiful. The nearby hilltop town of Ostuni was a great spot for lunch. Breakfast was fabulous with a selection of cakes, fruits. A truly classy breakfast in the Italian style.
We were delighted to visit Alberobello for a sunset tour of the traditional unique buildings of the region – limestone Trullis. With walls over a meter thick, the village is a truly unique place and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Sight in 1996. After exploring the village for the evening, we visited a restaurant located inside a trulli where we had a regional fish dinner under the beautiful vaulted ceilings.
On the last night our teams were delighted to go to the beautiful Masseria Sansone – Ostuni to learn how to make regional pasta Orecchiette. Divided into teams, we created piles of fresh pasta with the blue team coming out victorious and winning the coveted best pasta makers trophy.
The dinner was incredible with local cheeses, regional foods and meats. We were able to see fresh burrata cheese being made by the Masseria team. Entertainment included a band with a powerful singer who sang traditional Italian songs and we all danced the ‘Pizzica Dance’.
The Dectar team learned the steps with the Masseria’s fantastic dancers teaching our team to do the Pizzica. The Pizzica’s dancer’s energy had the whole team up, spinning about and waving scarfs and learning the Pizzica dance or the “taranta”. The taranta is traditional to the region and the dance is thought to represent fighting off a tarantula, the singing of the songs and dance serve as the antidote to the venom of the bite.
Friday saw the threat of a strike across Italian transport put everybody’s travel plans a bit out of whack but we all arrived home safe and sound refreshed and ready to get back to work.
Meeting in person has energized the teams. Learning about our colleagues, their experience and projects that are underway has helped the company to build connections that are hard to replicate remotely.
By working together we are building Dectar and it is an exciting time to be part of the team.
The stunning photos used in this post were created by our colleague Stefano Bisceglia a talented photographer who moonlights as our Channel Sales Manager. Grazie Stefano!