Amsterdam

I’m not going to lie, when it was first announced that team leads at Automattic were expected to attend leadership training at some point, I was a bit hesitant. I had been already travelled to five countries for work last year and with travel times being at least twelve hours in any direction from Cape Town, I was dreading this last stint.

Physical spaces

However, I could’ve been more wrong. Yes, it was still draining, but it was so worth it. And not just because the training ended up taking place in Amsterdam, being one of my favourite cities in Europe.

It was great being able to spend time in the same room with people who deal with very similar challenges as I on a daily basis and learn from their wisdom and expertise. Remote working is amazing, but having the opportunity to learn from my colleagues while being in the same physical space was invaluable. It’s now over a month since our training ended and I’m still processing some of the things I learnt that week and trying to implement them in my own team and division.

Amsterdam locations

We also went to some amazing restaurants while in Amsterdam. We stayed at the Hampshire Hotel near the Oosterpark where we had our daily training in The Thinking Hut co-working space. Dinners were at Dwaze Zaken, Van Speyk, and Thrill Grill.