Organised by Campaign for Learning, Learning at Work Week is a yearly initiative that aims to highlight the importance and benefits of learning new skills at work.
As a global PR agency, we are always on the lookout for unique ways to keep the team challenged and motivated. Our HR Director, Cressida Fuller, organised a week full of new experiences and activities for the team.
Monday
Kicking off the week, we grasped the basics of mindfulness and meditation to understand the benefits it can have on our professional and personal lives. Senior Account Executives, Kay Seago and Sarah Redman, led the session with the trusty Headspace app and the team left feeling focused for the afternoon ahead.
After the working day we transitioned from training our minds to training our bodies. We pumped up the volume and donned our workout gear for an energetic Zumba session run by Senior Account Executive and Zumba extraordinaire, Nadine Sanders.
Tuesday
Time to get reflective with an insightful session on Myers Briggs Personality Types from Account Manager, Rebecca Morgan. Ahead of the session, the team completed their own assessment (you can take the test here). By understanding our own personalities, and those of our colleagues, we learnt the importance of adapting our communication style to our audience, enabling us to send more effective emails and conduct better meetings.
Wednesday
Most career experts agree that managing up is a method of career development that’s based on consciously working for the mutual benefit of yourself, your manager, and your organisation. It is about understanding your manager’s position and requirements, and making yourself known as a stellar employee by exceeding their expectations. For us, it’s a key part of what makes a successful GingerMay employee.
Account Manager, Emma Gould, and Senior Account Executive, Sarah Redman, both honed their managing up skills at GingerMay and took the opportunity to share their tips for success with the team.
Thursday
The team joined a Mindset for Success talk by Hilary Lees of Essence Coaching. She encouraged us to create a ‘book of gems’ to document our successes for those moments when we need a boost. We also discussed creating visualisation boards to keep us focused on our personal targets and life goals. We addressed the negative gremlins that can hold us back and Imposter Syndrome – a concept describing high-achieving individuals who possess a fear of being exposed as a fraud. We even tried our hand at power posing à la Amy Cuddy (watch the TED talk here).
Friday
Phew, what a week. We learnt a lot from throwing ourselves into new experiences and opportunities – from managing our time to realising we might not be the most coordinated bunch when it comes to Zumba. We rounded off the week with a celebratory office takeaway pizza (well, it was Friday!)