Each revolution begins from a place of simplicity. The startups that produced today's top tech corporations may have been initiated in a conference room with a whiteboard, or an empty, sterile office space, or by simply meeting with a few people over coffee at a local cafe. The beauty of a local cafe is not the delicious espresso, but its role as one of the most effective destination workspaces. It provides the energy that comes from an informal setting, where ideas can flow freely.
A small cafe has an intrinsic "magic". Many small cafes are filled with the rhythmic grinding of coffee beans, and the soft background noise of conversations taking place around them, combined with the absence of any corporate hierarchy. Together, these elements combine to form an environment that is unlike anything experienced within most corporate offices. Within the MICEcafe Journey, the transition takes place from traditionally stiff office environments to fluid, yet inspiring, environments.
The Evolution of Informal Meetings Travel
The old-fashioned corporate structure is falling apart; in its place there will be an organic way of connecting with each other instead of the "death by PowerPoint" way of connecting. Due to this, there is now a new trend where companies will hold informal meeting trips to a destination that is chosen due to the ability of the location to create authentic human connections.
A table in a coffee shop can produce better results than a conference room table for several reasons:
- Decreased Pressure - The informal atmosphere has a tendency to remove some level of intimidation, making it easier for junior team members to share their thoughts and feelings just as easily as executives.
- Environmental Cues - Changing your physical environment can create new neural pathways, meaning when you go to a new location, you are no longer bound by your normal thought processes.
- Psychological Safety - The combination of the public and private nature of the cafe will create an environment that allows for comfort and encourages risk-taking regarding new concepts.
When companies realize that their greatest innovations take place on a coffee break as opposed to the actual meeting, they are now planning travel itineraries based on opportunities of these informal meeting experiences to increase their impact.
The Rise of Creative Offsites
Traditional work will take place at your usual desk every day. Conceptual advances happen at creative offsites; small cafes can act as a model of what a successful creative offsite should represent: Intimate, unpretentious, and inspiring.
Creative offsites is not only seen as a vacation for the team but as a strategic investment into the "collective genius" of the group. By removing the group from their "status quo" workplace, the team can produce large amounts of concentration for deep work sessions and brainstorm together in a collaborative manner, both of which are not feasible in a busy office atmosphere.
Conceptually, we will search for those "small cafes" in various cities across the world. The focus of these cafes will be to provide the personality, character, and atmosphere required for creative discovery and resolving complex issues.
Whether they are boutique hotels set in the mountains, or the hidden gems of small seaside towns, it is through these offsite locations that we are going to breathe life into the MICEcafe Journey; creating milestones for the growth of our companies that would otherwise not be achievable through standard business travel.
Destination Workspaces: More Than Just a Desk
As we have blurred the lines that separate 'where we live' from 'where we work,' the demand for high-quality destination workspaces has skyrocketed. Destination work spaces offer more than just your typical co-working space, as the selection of where to travel to will be based upon what type of ecosystem the location has (examples include fast internet access, inspiring venues, collaborative visionaries).
A small cafe in a foreign city can serve as a temporary headquarters for a few days or weeks for teams that travel for business purposes. A destination work space allows those teams to be productive while experiencing the culture of their destination.
The knowledge that one’s “office” for the week is a sun-drenched cafe overlooking a beautiful square transforms one’s view of what work is into a purpose-driven mission rather than a job they must complete.
Navigating the Logistics of Inspiration
It is true that working from a quaint little cafe is a very romantic notion, however, actualizing this thought is a time-consuming, frustrating logistical process that requires attention to detail. It is important to verify the technical capabilities of the destination workspaces you have selected before making plans for informal meetings, scouting locations for your team, or scouting locations; and this location must maintain the "small coffee shop possibility."
There are several considerations that you must keep in mind when moving your "big concept" into "flawless executions." Those two instances can be considered polar opposites. When there are issues with your accommodations or with travel arrangements, you cannot have a successful Creative Off-Sites Experience. You need to remain focused on the "Biggest Idea," not the stress involved in coordinating all of the logistics.
Why the MICEcafe Journey is Your Ultimate Partner
To unlock this innovative potential of the small cafe environment through the neighboring business environment of a corporate cafe, there’s more that needs to occur beyond just identifying this potential. You will also need to create a platform or system for people to gather within a business environment that allows for seamless integration of business and leisure (Bleisure) to accomplish the maximum possible outcome of this environment.
The MICEcafe Journey serves as this bridge. The next big idea needs a nurturing environment that facilitates its growth. The MICEcafe Journey is an outstanding platform for both corporate and leisure travel globally and is therefore an excellent platform for:
- Real-Time Hotel Status Checks - You no longer have to worry about "Expectation vs. Reality", MICEcafe Journey does it for you! MICEcafe Journey provides you with a detailed description of all hotel facilities and ensures that the hotel meets your business needs as well as your personal requirements when you stay there.
- Seamless Ticket Booking - You can book all of your team’s travel at once, from flight tickets to local transport tickets. This allows you to spend more time brainstorming and the least amount of time worrying about your team’s movement.
- Curated Experiences - MICEcafe Journey provides assistance to its customers by assisting customers in identifying those unique workspaces and offsite venues that combine the ambiance of a small cafe with the professionalism and reliability of five-star hotels.
Every great idea begins in a location. Let the MICEcafe Journey help you find where your next great idea will be created.
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