Company meeting = success!

Good evening,

We recently had a meeting with all of the employees, and we went out to BD’s Mongolian Grill to relax, get away, and spend a little time to talk about a lot of business “stuff”.

Watching these guys fry your food in front of you works up an appetite!

We were able to occupy the entire grill together and it was obvious that there was somewhat of a “silent” competition on who would eat the most hot chili oil, and therefore have the spiciest dish. I know that my mouth was on fire and my sinuses were clear!

It’s a chance for us to get together and get on the same page…of course that’s what a meeting is for. But it’s also a chance for us to get together and spend a little personal time outside of the office so we understand one another.

There’s no question that managing and working with people brings out the best and the worst. My father once told me that when he was a young up-and-coming Silicon Valley hopeful, he went to his boss for some advice. Being a new executive, he figured that his boss would have some insightful tips on how to manage employees. What he got was what most mangers think but never say: “if it were not for the people, my job would be easy.”

I believe that out of all of the management challenges, nothing comes close to managing people. It’s good to get together once in a while and do what’s right. Pay attention, listen, and get some stir fry.

The busy season is upon us, and we are heading into the Holidays this year with a smile. We will see you soon!

Take care, Ryan

Mission Repair quarterly meeting a success! Kind of.

Hello there-

It’s true; I try to keep our employees up to date, connected and on the same page. It’s called MANAGING. Some of you may have heard of it, but I know that others have not.

Every quarter I get the team together and we head to Bass Pro Shops here in Olathe, Kansas and reserve a meeting space. It’s a good time to get away from the hustle of the work environment, and everyone gets a few extra hours on their paycheck AND a good meal!

This time I broke the group into teams, gave them 9 pieces of paper, and told them to work together to make a tower that stood on it’s own, with only the 9 pieces of copy paper and some scotch tape. The key was that the tower had to be at least 40 inches tall. Ready, set, go!

I’m there in the background because my Colorado crew was joining in with us on Facetime, so I was showing them what others were doing via my iPhone…but it was fruitless. Those guys in Lakewood, CO killed it and came up with the best tower of all.

In the foreground of this picture was Jake (backward hat) who failed miserably as a team leader 😉 I’ll just keep him to fixing devices, not building paper towers.

Before the meeting I built an example of what it could look like back in the office just in case no one could get it:

These times are all about fun and business, and we got a lot done that night.

The new training schedule was announced for our employees, so soon when you call in you may hear some “refinement” from our newer employees…that’s a great thing!

I’m always looking for new group team building activities, have any ideas?

Take care, Ryan

Mission Repair Employee Olympics – 3rd event!

Good afternoon again folks. Our March event is in the books! This month it was a head-to-head “stinky cheese” tasting contest where each contestant had 6 kinds of cheese to taste and make a decision as to what each was.

We rallied in the Mission Repair breakroom after hours last night and found that it’s harder to tell what kind of cheese is what even when you think you know about them. There’s one hint: “American Singles” weren’t a choice. We went to great lengths to get a good variety of truly amazing cheeses to try – and many employees had not even tried them before – so watching them pop a hunk of Gorgonzola in their mouth was kind of funny. By the way, fresh Gorganzola is truly a “stinky cheese” 😉 I love it!

So in the end, Albert came out as the big winner. Albert is one of our expert iPad Repair technicians and he’s entered to win the trip to Manhattan at the end of the year and he will also get his very one signature “Mission Repair Tshirt” designed, printed and distributed next month. Want one of his tshirts? Email him here to get on his waiting list!

Take care, Ryan