August 1-4, SAP Hybris’ Cloud Services & Support (CS&S) leaders joined forces in Montebello, one hour outside of Montreal to hold their international leadership summit.
What happened?
The summit’s agenda was packed with workshops and project discussions. Before discussing strategies, KPI, competitive intelligence and business development, the team participated in a team building activity centered on helping underprivileged children. The opening workshop, a bicycle assembly challenge, was a great success – all teams were able to assemble their bicycles in 1.5 hours. This workshop required the teams to negotiate and to cooperate. Each team had a tool that every other team needed, so strategic negotiation and deals were made to accommodate all participants. All bicycles were donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Ottawa, a foundation that serves 1500 underprivileged children. In addition to those bicycles assembled by the teams, SAP matched the participants’ private donations and a total of 6 bicycles were donated.
The group spent every waking moment together – from breakfast to dinner, including workshops and even a treacherous canoe relay race. The leaders had the chance to observe how their teams operate when they are united.
With only a few days to spend together, they made every minute count. The summit was work-heavy, and outcomes included a mutually agreed set of indicators on how the team can improve their use of technology to reduce the amount of repetitive labor, and a goal to work with as many customers as possible in the future.
Final Thoughts
Nature was the perfect setting for the summit as it felt detached from the office environment. Team members went for runs and walks in the early mornings, some swam and spent what time was available outside with their thoughts. Heiko Stoermer (VP SAP Hybris CS&S) has been holding the summits in nature for this very reason, and will continue with the tradition in the years to come.
Although much was accomplished during the summit, Heiko states that there is always a feeling that you could have used more time. You always want to achieve more, you always want to improve. This is the mentality that drives the CS&S leaders. They are never 100% satisfied, they are always waiting on the next opportunity and the next steps. This type of mindset is what fuels innovation and progress.
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