All about the 2022 kick-off meeting from the management side, and why we decided to hold it in person

In January, we held our yearly kick-off meeting at a rental meeting space in Tokyo Station.

There were pros and cons to even holding this event. We’d like to share all about the experience from the management side.

Redefining new workstyles. Holding an in-person kick-off meeting

2022 has begun, and it’s been about two years since working from home became the norm due to COVID-19. It’s true that issues involving the amount, quality, and speed of communication have arisen.

With the company relocating in March, WOVN needed to update its definition of working.

That’s why we put together a management team of volunteers centered around the CEO’s office with the purpose of improving our common value at WOVN to “Boost the Team.” We decided to plan an event that focused on an in-person experience, mainly to help foster a style of communication that keeps new workstyles in mind.

Our event policy was simple - don’t be swayed by COVID-19 news.

However, as we entered into January, the huge leap in COVID-19 cases flooded the news for days.

Detailed planning began in December, and based on what was happening out in the world, a lot of members started asking if holding an in-person event was really the best choice.

In fact, one point we had to review after holding a hybrid online and in-person event in the past was that no matter how we looked at it, the experience value of meeting in-person had decreased because of the hybrid way.

Which is why we were determined to hold a completely in-person event this time and made participation optional because of everyone’s home situations and personal opinions on the matter.

• The event was held in-person and participation was optional

• We followed the guidelines set by the country and the city

• We complied with standards to prevent close contact

Being on edge about the number of cases each day and constantly thinking about whether to hold the event would have led to everyone feeling exhausted, unfocused, and becoming worrywarts.

Having a simple policy for holding the event helped us avoid these issues from early on.

In turn, the management team was able to focus on content planning and preparations for the day of.

If the government had imposed a heavy lockdown the day before the event, we would have been good sports and canceled it. Even if that had happened, we would have been confident that the costs, time, and work put into the preparations were not in vain.

We finalized the number of participants a week in advance and ordered bento lunches but understood there might be last-minute changes and stayed in contact with the venue to be as flexible as possible.

The theme of the kick-off meeting was to get to know each other and our clients better

To achieve our company goal, a major theme of this kick-off meeting was related to strengthening our “boost the team” value, and the program revolved around the subthemes of “get to know each other” in the morning, and “get to know our clients” in the afternoon. Next, we’ll explain the actual flow of the day.

The CEO Mr. Hayashi said, “We keep repeating the process of trial and improvement.”

From Mr. Hayashi's greeting:

“There is no right answer when it comes to holding events like this or working from the office. I think this is a period for us to move forward through trial and error. We making improvements each day and moving toward embodying our values of vital work, go beyond, and boost the team.

Please share your unfiltered feedback about this kick-off meeting with either the management team or me. Again, we are an organization that repeats trials each day to improve.”

After this, Mr. Hayashi went to a table and joined in on the workshops with other members as a participant.

(In the middle wearing a black mask is Mr. Hayashi)

Get to know each other workshop #1: Name your team & design a team mascot!

At this kick-off meeting, 8-person groups held workshops at each table.

Since participants kept changing up to the last minute, it was hard for the management team to finalize the groups.

When deciding the workshop groups, we wanted to give people who were in different departments or who normally didn’t interact changes to communicate and also minimize the language barrier issue we often face at WOVN due to our international nature.

As an icebreaker, we held a “Name your team & design a team mascot” workshop to help give identities to the randomly chosen groups and promote bonding between the members of each team.

This icebreaker was based on the workshops actually held by multinational company Goodpatch.

< How to play >
STEP 1
Take the playing cards of the envelope.

STEP 2　(20 minutes)
Design a mascot based on the animals and items shown on the cards, as well as your team name and details about your mascot.

STEP 3　(10 minutes)
Have each team share about their team name, mascot, and their excitement for the day in one minute.

They picked out keywords from set items and made their designs take shape. Each team added personality and background stories to express their uniqueness.

All the teams came up with wonderful and uniquely interesting mascots.

Get to know each other workshop #2: Value cards

The purpose of the second workshop about value cards was to let people experience the given that even though we’re all members of WOVN, our personal values differ.

This workshop was recommended by a management team member who had actually done this exercise before. We used colored value cards written in Japanese and English.

< How to play >
STEP 1
Hand out five cards to each participant. Place the remaining cards face down in a pile in the middle.

STEP 2
Draw one card from the pile and get rid of one unneeded value. Explain why you’re getting rid of that card.

STEP 3
The next person will either pick up a card from the pile or chose one of the discarded cards. They will then get rid of one card and explain why. The cards in your hand will begin to match up with your values.

STEP 4
The team will jointly discuss what to do with the last five cards remaining. One person will represent the team by sharing with everyone about their values using the cards in their hand.

We received a lot of positive feedback about this exercise through a followup survey, with comments about how people learned a lot about other members and how they wanted to play again with different members.

The cards are stored at the office, so we recommend playing a round during your free time or lunch break.

The customer experience booth was popular during the lunch break

We took an hour-long break for lunch. We had to be careful when eating, since our masks were off and asked that everyone refrain from sharing food or talking at each table.

The customer success (CS) team put together an amazing interactive “love your customers” booth inside the venue. Even though they only had a week to prepare, they created a space for members to deepen their understanding about products and services offered by companies that use WOVN.

One is example was for Daiso, with Ichiran instant ramen, Marukome miso soup, Meiji brand snacks, and Shiseido cosmetics all lined up, plus details all the way down to plastic bags to carry the items.

Music by avex artists was played at the venue, with materials on display for each type of industry so that members could see, hear, touch, and taste to learn more about our customers.

Members who don’t usually come in contact with our customers, like those from the developer and corporate teams, were surprised to learn about what kinds of customers we have and their products.

Panel discussion: Customer Success’ thorough analysis of clients

The afternoon session started with a panel discussion on three CS clients under the theme of "Getting to know our clients.”

We started with a toast with the "Karada ni Euglena" drink to introduce Euglena.

The panelists talked about their counterparts and their roles in the company, the candid stories of how WOVN was integrated, how they dealt with problems, where WOVN shined, and other topics heard only here.

Get to know our clients Workshop "Experience UX"

“Get to know our clients” was the concept behind this Kick-off.

For the ending content, we prepared a workshop divided into two halves to touch on the importance of UX.

＜ Flow ＞
First half
Under the theme of "cup of coffee at a cafe," we looked at the overall behavior and discuss the factors that affect user behavior and expectations according to the worksheet.

Second half
"What types of industries will WOVN lead to success?" Using the UX concept of the first half as a reference, we discussed what kinds of industries and people need WOVN, why, and how they can succeed.

At the end of the session, COO Uemori-san joined the session as a moderator and shared his thoughts on each group’s presentation.

In this session, CEO Hayashi-san and members of the Legal Department discussed ideas on how WOVN can support customers in fields with strict laws and regulations in their overseas expansion.

Everybody transcended departments and discussed how to acquire new customers.

It was a time for members of various backgrounds to pool their knowledge and find the common thread to acquiring new customers.

COO Uemori-san explained the multifaceted viewpoints necessary to create a market.

We ended the Kick-off with closing remarks from Uemori-san.

From Uemori-san

I will show you a picture for only 3 seconds. Please tell me how many soccer balls are in the picture.

The correct answer is "6". I think many people answered correctly.

So, how many people felt off about the picture?

Did you notice the person has 6 fingers?

It’s far more unusual to have 6 fingers than it is to have 6 soccer balls, but people don’t notice that. What I'm trying to say is whether it’s from the view of sales, development, marketing, or corporate, that we need to approach things from different perspectives.

Viewed from only 1 angle, you gain only 1 bit of insight. "There were 6 balls, that's it."

But to create a market, you need to get a lot of insight from many perspectives.

WOVN is now looking for a lot of insight about the market, users, and technology.

There is a limit to how much one person can investigate on their own. This is where Boost the Team becomes crucial, asking various friends and users. Today's Kick-off was held under the premise of a face-to-face relationship.

Thank you for your participation.

Simultaneous interpretation allowed all to participate without language barriers

As WOVN is a multinational organization, we must take the language spoken into consideration.

Simultaneous interpretation was used throughout the event, and English-speaking members were seen wearing earphones.

This was our first attempt at using simultaneous interpretation at an offline event, but participants praised the quality and smoothness of the interpretation, and we will continue striving for an environment where both Japanese and English speakers can participate with no language barriers.

95% Satisfaction from the questionnaire results

90% of the participants, excluding the event organizers, answered the questionnaire, and the satisfaction level was 95%. The event was a great success, judging by the participant engagement and the qualitative feedback we received directly.

It was clear that the members who attended the event despite it being held offline at this time of the year did so because they wanted to communicate with members they had not met in person.

Something that can be improved next time is, in addition to the above goal, attracting more participants by announcing the event contents beforehand.

In addition, as a cross-departmental task force, the management team was able to successfully organize the event despite the circumstances by communicating quickly and frequently, and the spirit of Boost the Team was unmistakable.

We were able to do this thanks to not just the even organizers, but all others who helped out!

Thank you everyone!