WEconomy

“Why should your relationship with your place of work be different from any other relationship in your life? The best and most rewarding are always based on mutual trust and respect.”

Part Two: Chapter 13People are Your Purpose

By Holly Branson

Teambuilding 2.0: engaging your people in the Weconomy

It was like an episode of the The Twilight Zone and The Stepford Wives rolled into one.

Suits and ties as far as the eye could see. Every desk occupied by 9 a.m. sharp but the presence of 130 people produced only deafening silence. No music, no shouting across desks over the sound of the cappuccino machine or the crunching of toast. Glum faces abounded as curt emails were sent to any staff member caught checking Facebook or not wearing the appropriate office attire. Lunch kept to a strict 30 minutes. Teabags rationed to 1.4 per member of staff.

At 5 p.m. the office emptied and only the deafening silence remained.

I cringe writing the above because I'm aware that for some of you this is a typical day at the office . . . welcome to your world, right?

For Virgin Management Limited (VML), our “Corporate Day” was a novel experiment to raise money for charity and give us all a new appreciation for how “uncorporate” we usually are at the office. It also resulted in a telling-off for my brother Sam, who forgot and turned up in jeans and trainers. The following morning, we returned ...