Rallye, Set, Go: CharIN Meeting Days in Erfurt

Shortly before seven in the morning, still a little tired but full of anticipation, I got on the train. The CharIN Days are coming up. The CharIN Head Office Berlin team now lives all over Germany, so we decided to meet in the middle between Berlin, Munich, Göttingen, Kassel, and Hanover—in Erfurt. I was delighted to meet the entire CharIN team again after a long time, even though a few colleagues unfortunately could not attend.

I greeted my colleagues at a conference hotel just outside Erfurt, including some new team members. Claas Bracklo, the CEO of CharIN e.V., was particularly pleased to see me. The next few days will show whether it was wise to take the "customer" to an innos team meeting. However, it is also in line with our innovative approach.

After the official welcome, we started the day with a warm-up - literally, because we had to get up and move around the room to answer the questions. On a scale between 1 and 10, with 10 being the best, I'm still at a 7 this morning.

All CharIN teams, whether from the operational, technical, or event areas, brought their input for the day. After happily considering and collecting ideas on how we can celebrate CharIN's 10th anniversary next year, we also looked at the current challenges in the project.

In the evening, we went to the team building in the center of Erfurt. In a city rally, we explored the city in randomly drawn teams. We enjoyed taking selfies with some of the 13 children's figures, such as the Sandman, Tabaluga, or the mouse and the elephant, placed around the city.

After I had reminded everyone the day before that the weather was likely to be mixed according to the forecast; the rain jacket was fortunately not needed all the time during the city rally. Sometimes it's the small successes that count. There were many private conversations over dinner in the "Übersee" restaurant with large and small hop drinks.

On day 2, which I am starting today with a 9 on a scale between 1 and 10, after breakfast and a warm-up with questions about CharIN, we revisited the prioritized challenges from the previous day. Together, we considered ways of tackling these challenges in cross-project teams. We asked ourselves what coordination formats are needed to keep the international branches in regular communication with the team members living in Germany. As there are now CharIN representatives in different parts of the world, we need not only English-language communication throughout but also regular, appropriate involvement from everyone.

As we all departed, each with a sense of fulfillment and a list of tasks to tackle, it was clear that the team meeting had been a resounding success. The content, the personal interactions, and the inclusion of the 'customer' were all met with high praise. The transparency in the innos teams and processes, facilitated by the 'customer's 'participation, was particularly enriching. Their appreciative input was a testament to the open and trusting customer relationship we've cultivated over many years.

I look forward to tackling the next milestones in the project with the team and to the next CharIN team meeting - perhaps later this year.