A team can work well online, but meeting in person is something completely different, especially for a team like YPNE, which brings together young people from different places, it is important for our team to have time to meet, exchange ideas and simply spend time together. With our first YPNE summit coming up in just two months, our team weekend in Munich was a great opportunity to get to know each other better, reflect on our work so far and prepare our next steps as a team.
One of the main focuses was team reflection: We took time to discuss where we currently stand as a team, what is working well and where we are facing difficulties, but we also talked about personal stress and where team members might need more support. In the end, this created an open atmosphere in which it was possible to talk about challenges without focusing only on solutions or tasks. Another important part was the preparation for the upcoming YPNE Summit in May of the same year. With the event getting closer, we used the weekend to work together on different parts of the event and clarify open questions. Having several hours of uninterrupted time as a team together made it possible to go into more detail than in our regular online meetings. We could discuss ideas directly, make decisions together and get a clearer picture of what still needs to be done before the Summit.
The weekend also focused strongly on team building: The activities were connected to the reflection phase and were meant to strengthen trust and communication within the team and spending time together outside of formal meetings was an important part of this as well. So bowling, games and simply having conversations in a more relaxed setting allowed us to get to know each other beyond our individual roles in YPNE, and in the end, this helped create a stronger sense of team and made the cooperation feel more personal.
We also used the weekend to think about the future of YPNE. Instead of only concentrating on the upcoming Summit, we discussed where we want to take the network in the longer term and what we want to achieve together. This was especially valuable for us because our first Summit is not an endpoint, but rather an important step in the development of YPNE. Thinking about the future as a team helped us connect our current work with the bigger idea behind YPNE: connecting young people, encouraging their engagement and empowering them to create their own projects and networks.
