[Satellite Office] Try remote work in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture [First time rafting]

This is Umi Fujisawa from Public Relations

Since October 2018, Beyond has been implementing remote work from a rental office in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture as a "trial satellite office."

I was excited but anxious about my first attempt at working in a remote location like a satellite office, but Tokushima Prefecture, surrounded by nature, is a very comfortable place, and the quiet office with its clear air made it an easy environment to work in

The thing that moved me the most was when elementary school students walking down the street greeted me. Tokushima Prefecture is a great place..

also participated in a "rafting training" session aimed at team building

By the way, when the leaders visited the satellite office for the first time, they were interviewed by Ikeda Cable Network

Ikeda Cable Network coverage video

The laid-back atmosphere is appealing. IT companies try out using the office space

Day 1

12:43 Arrive in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture

It takes 3 hours and 43 minutes by bus from Umeda to arrive at Miyoshi City Bus Terminal

"Miyoshi City Community Exchange Center Manabeya (nicknamed) -MINDE-", is located a 5-minute walk away

How beautiful...!

While retaining the feel of good old Japan, it also features a stylish cafe and meeting space

The office space is sunny and provides a relaxing environment where you can work

14:00 Lunch

There is a cafe across the street where you can enjoy a healthy lunch while looking out at the mountains, so you'll never have to worry about food

The mushroom rice was especially delicious

15:00 Start of work

Since I work remotely, I am always in contact with the Osaka office via Skype

So our daily lunch meetings are also held via Skype

I am in charge of daily operational monitoring as a sub, and we communicate with each other to carry out our work

18:00 Operations Management Department Meeting

As it gets dark, it gets quieter outside and the lights shine brighter and more beautiful

On the evening of the first day, the Operations Management Department held a meeting to discuss the team's future challenges

One of the goals of this week is to strengthen team unity

20:00 Move to accommodation

After buying dinner, we head to the lodgings, which are about a 10-minute drive away

It may be hard to tell from the photo, but it's really spacious

There is also a Japanese-style room on the second floor, which is large enough for seven people to sleep in

We decided to have a hot pot dinner that day, so we all started preparing

By the way, do you know what kind of work the Operations Management Department does

I didn't know much about what the Operations Management Department did

So I thought, "I'll take this opportunity to find out more about what the Operations Management Department does," and interviewed the team over hot pot

• What is the cloud in the first place?
• What is cloud operation like?
• Future challenges for the Operations Management Division

We have compiled the information we received into an article, so please take a look

What kind of work is cloud operation? We asked the Operations Management Department [Over a hotpot]

11:00 PM Staying up late playing board games

Even though we had rafting on the Yoshino River the next morning, we lost track of time and immersed ourselves in board games

25:30 Go to bed

I was getting sleepy and decided to end the first day thinking about tomorrow

Day 2

6:30 Wake up

The minimum temperature this morning was 11°C

When I went outside, I became quite anxious, wondering if I could really go into the river

8:00 Depart for rafting training

We head to the meeting point to meet up with the city hall staff running the training and the other participants

8:30 Orientation

We went to a facility on the Yoshino River and were first taught about the precautions to take when rafting and how to put on a wetsuit

This "rafting training" was planned by Miyoshi City and its purpose is to promote team building for companies.

This was the first time that Miyoshi City had attempted such training, and it was also the first time for Beyond to participate in such training

The reason why this training is being conducted on the Yoshino River in Miyoshi City is that the first world rafting championships in Japan were held on the Yoshino River, and the people who will be teaching us how to do it are people who have competed in world rafting championships

To put this to good use in the company's activities, they are conducting training activities to measure employee communication and team improvement by having six people operate one boat

10:00 AM Morning Session: Rafting down the rapids of the Yoshino River

In the morning, we experienced the rapids of the Yoshino River

For the first time as an adult, I had the rare experience of being slapped by water

Ikeda Cable Network has posted footage of the rapids, so please take a look

The Beyond Team is also shown

Ikeda Cable Network Rafting Video

Deepen friendships through rafting at the Yoshino River Water Picnic

12:00 Lunch break

After being exhausted, I fill my stomach with my lunch and prepare for the afternoon

The food tasted even better than usual when surrounded by mountains and rivers

13:00 Afternoon session: Team competition at Ikeda Dam Lake

In the afternoon, four teams competed against each other on a set course at the gently sloping Ikeda Dam Lake

The course required the boat to curve smoothly to pass through three gates, and it was a very difficult course in that if even one of the six people rowed incorrectly, it would not go well

Furthermore, since the gate is almost the same width as the boat, any contact or failure to pass through will result in additional time being added to the time

So, when we moved the paddle just because we didn't want to lose to the other teams, we ended up turning too hard on the curves and our times just kept getting longer and longer

In addition, if the instructions from the control tower are not properly communicated or if each person's role is not understood, they will not be able to pass through the gate

However, based on that experience, we held a proper strategy meeting and decided in advance who would act and how, and we were able to reduce the time

The Yomiuri Shimbun covered the afternoon session and published photos and interviews, so please take a look

Article published in the Yomiuri Shimbun

Rafting for corporate training ◇ Experiments in Miyoshi to improve teamwork, etc

By the time the afternoon session finished, everyone was exhausted (laughs)

15:00 Review of the training

At the end, we looked back on our rafting experience

1. What did you feel through the experience?
2. What applies to the rules of team growth?
3. Similarities and interchangeability between rafting and work

They discussed these topics and each team gave a presentation

• "You can't achieve your goals unless you decide on roles and devise a strategy within the team."
• "If we don't listen to the voices around us, we'll fall apart and fail, so we have to listen."
• "If each person does not understand their own area of ​​responsibility, it is difficult to convey instructions."

A variety of opinions were expressed within the team, and we learned that what you do and how you feel differs depending on your position on the boat

This applies to work as well. Normally, there are many invisible interactions, but with rafting, you move your body and experience success or failure, so it's very easy to understand and it was easy to think about what you should do

If we can apply this training to our regular work, we will be able to grow as a team!

16:00 Rafting training ends

In this way, we were able to complete the rafting training safely

No one got hurt or drowned, and I feel like we all learned the importance of teamwork

18:30 Return to Osaka

After returning to the accommodation, I took a break and then headed back to Osaka

The Operations Management Department will be staying for a week, so they will continue to work on team meetings and other matters

Although I only stayed for two days, I was able to fully enjoy the charm of Miyoshi City!

summary

This is just a trial office, and we plan to continue working towards full-scale remote work operations in the future

Rather than maintaining the status quo, the entire company will work to constantly improve operations

The landing training, which can only be experienced in Miyoshi City, was a valuable experience for the team

My usual work does not require me to be very active physically, so I think this was particularly good training for Beyond

I would like to actively challenge myself to do things that I don't normally do in order to make the company an even better organization!

Miyoshi City Satellite Office Website

https://miyoshi-satelliteoffice.jp/

Miyoshi City Community Exchange Center Facility Manabeya (nicknamed -MINDE-)

http://minde.jp/