Ch. 02: Team-building
I was curious about the famous team-building. My colleagues were talking about a lot and sometimes we got an e-mail about the plans. I think they had tried to make us interested in the team-building so they gave us information about it little by little only. There was a poster in the elevator, showing who is in charge of the registrations. Of course, I sent my registration in a long time ago. I was wondering who can I get to know of these strangers who I work with. And I was hoping I can get to know Bonnie a bit better after the team-building itself, at the party. Who knows, maybe we'll get a special exercise together during the day...
But nothing works out as you planned it. As I found out, the location of the team-bulding was a little camp in the mountains west from the city. Back in the old times, it was a student camp, but somebody bought it and remade it. He organised outings here for big companies like ours. There were a few timber houses around a lawn, and a big representative building made of bricks and glass, where we could get together to lunch or dinner.
The team-building itself was a huge disappointment. The whole day was spent with idiotic things: we were searching in teams of five for some kind of hidden treasure in the woods, we had to solve lots of one-horse tasks, to find traces to it. I lost all my spirit when I had to dive into a wet, cold cavity of an old tree elbow deep - I'm no Indiana Jones, for heaven's sake!
Later on, I got friends with two guys from the IT department, so we laughed on everything from then on. The leader of the team, sent by a professional team-building firm, almost got crazy at the end of the day. He promised us our bosses will know everything about our "attitude", as he said. But we were just laughing, since we were only a nickname in our neck, a nickname, which should "describe us." This was another of the team-builders' ideas.
I was really glad when the night had come. I occupied an empty corner with my food. I was searching for Bonnie but I couldn't find her anywhere.
During the evening, the managers told us how proud they are to be a member of our team, how good work we had done, how satisfied our clients are and so on. The beginning was sort of entertaining, but when they were telling us the same bullshit the twentieth time, I got bored and I didn't care any more.
At least the food was good. I was eating the dessert when I saw Bonnie. She was sitting among her colleagues, with the other hot chicks from the real estate department, and they were really enjoying themselves. I figured out I will ask her somehow out for a little chit-chat. I ate my dessert, took my plates out and wanted to go to Bonnie but I bumped into Carl. He was an arrogant, grease-haired, tall but slim man. I never really liked him.
"Hi, Scott, how's the food?" he asked.
"Good, I guess," I said and tried to sidestep him, but he stopped me.
"Do you want to have a little fun?"
I saw in his eyes there is something going on. I checked the real estate girls above Carl's shoulders. I didn't see Bonnie there any more.
"What is it about?" I asked a little disappointedly.
"Come with me," he said and hurried out.
We went around the building. Carl was behaving very mysteriously, he checked whether we are followed by someone and answered none of my questions. But he stopped at the pool:
"Listen up, you're still new here so I thought I will put you up to this. You don't have to thank me, let's say I'm doin' you a favor. And when you will have to do a favor for me, you will remember what a good friend of yours I am, comprende?"
I didn't like his Godfather take-off too much, but I nodded. He continued on his arrogant tone:
"Do you know Helen? From the HR?"
"The small, black-haired girl? Of course! She organized my job interview, when I came to the firm..."
"Okay, okay..." Carl said, but didn't really listened to me, he was watching the surroundings behind us. "Listen, mate" he leaned to me like a conspirator from the middle ages. "Helen's got a... little strange obsession. At these kind of team-buildings she always hides into a room and welcomes a little group of insiders there."
I was looking at him with a dumb expression on my face.