5 days in the Harz Mountains - working, laughing, and as a “thank you,” we were thrown off a 100-meter-high bridge.
Some companies send their employees to a dark conference room for team-building. We at Complion, on the other hand, head to the lush Harz Mountains, climbed a 450-meter-high suspension bridge, let ourselves be catapulted about 40 meters into the air (in this case, I was one of the catapult victims), and plunged 100 meters into the depths—but more on that later. For a week, the Complion team gathered in Elbingerode to work together, exchange ideas, have fun, and, of course, explore the area.
If the name Elbingerode doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry—I was in the same boat before the workation. But this resort town has a long history and was first mentioned in 1206. As a former mining town, the “Drei Kronen & Ehrt” visitor mine still serves as a reminder of the iron and sulfur mining that took place there. As compliance and security experts at Complion, however, we prefer to search for vulnerabilities in IT rather than for iron ore and sulfur.
But let’s start at the beginning with the trip. The first day went, as befits good consultants, in a structured manner with a clear agenda. We welcomed our colleagues, unpacked our bags, and explored the immediate surroundings in the evening. As a Cologne native, I was rarely familiar with such nighttime tranquility. On Tuesday, the first practice groups got together to exchange ideas and further develop new concepts or other exciting innovations, such as the FinOps potential assessment.
After an interesting presentation on Elbingerode, we fired up the grill that evening. While we debated whether to put the sausages or the steaks on the grill first, a fierce battle raged at the foosball table over every point. A few egos took a hit at the foosball table (including mine)—here, the question wasn’t about the current status of a maturity analysis, but about the goal difference.
The real highlight came the following day. That’s when the workation turned into a mini-Olympics. Wednesday began, however, with a leisurely hike in the Harz Mountains.
There, we were divided into teams and competed against each other in various challenges during the hike. One quiz required brainpower, while several games of skill required coordination. This revealed who in the team was more of a strategic thinker and who was more of a helping hand. As we walked across the Rappbode Dam during the hike, we could see the prize for the best team in the challenges: a pendulum jump from a height of about 100 meters with a free fall—the so-called Gigaswing. I don’t know what changed faster—the temperatures in Germany or the complexions of my colleagues. But before it came to that, we all zoomed down 1,000 meters over a 120-meter-deep chasm at around 85 km/h on Europe’s longest double-rope zipline.
Before the awards ceremony, we still had to cross a 460-meter-long, roughly 100-meter-high suspension bridge. The teams were announced on the other side. Since my team took second place, we apparently received the “relaxed” prize and were “only” catapulted into the air several times over a distance of 40 meters. In hindsight, I’m not sure if “relaxed” is the right word.
As mentioned earlier, the first-place team “won” the jump from a height of 100 meters. I intentionally put the word “won” in quotation marks. In the end, though, everyone involved had a lot of fun—you could tell just by looking at their faces. Afterward, we wrapped up the day with a small barbecue and a few cold drinks.
Thursday brought us a step closer to our day-to-day work. The agenda included a business session in which we worked through the obstacles and complications posed by difficult clients when preparing proposals. This involved not only active listening but also structured thinking. In the age of AI, this is becoming increasingly important for a good consultant. Continuous improvement of our own work is therefore—alongside the fun social activities—the real reason for the workation. We spent the evening together at a Spanish restaurant enjoying tapas. The next morning—far too soon, of course—it was time to leave. Then it was time to pack our bags, tidy up our rooms, and take one last look at the Harz Mountains.
In the end, we were left with the realization that is reaffirmed after every Complion workation: Team spirit isn’t something you get from kickoff meetings or regular get-togethers—you have to build it together, hike it out, and grill it up (and, if necessary, even jump from a height of 100 meters).
Have we piqued your interest? Then join our team and check out our careers page to learn about your opportunities. We look forward to receiving your application.
https://complion.de/wen-suchen-wir/aktuelle-einstiegsmoeglichkeiten
Author: Roman Scholtysik