Trade shows can build or improve team dynamics

As company president, it falls on me to find and recruit the best talent. Part of that means ensuring they have the resources they need to succeed; and for me, creating a culture where people can achieve their potential – individually and as a team.

Our employees spend a big part of their time and energy focused on our clients’ needs, designing and building the ideal facilities and delivering amazing service from start to finish. However, that doesn’t mean work can’t be really fun too. It’s important to take occasions to celebrate our people and our company successes.

We’re exhibiting at an upcoming mining trade show in Toronto. It provides the occasion for our people to meet important company goals (market awareness, sales goals, client development, etc.) – more importantly, it’s one of several occasions during the year I look forward to because we are able to get together and enjoy spending time as a team.

See what Summit Steel Buildings is looking forward to seeing at this year’s PDAC show.

Building connections 

I don’t think I can adequately express what events likes the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada annual conference mean for both me and the Summit Steel Buildings team. The PDAC exploration and mining convention is one of our “all-hands-on-deck” annual events that involves all our senior staff onsite and everyone else – aside from our skilled tradespeople who remain busy installing our pre-engineered structures in various locations across Western Canada. 

As a lean operation with our team spread across the country, getting as many of us as possible together in one place allows us to meet many organizational and professional goals. We get to reconnect face-to-face and catch up with those important work-life balance conversations, check in with colleagues and their outside-of-work interests – a little banter about sports loyalties. It’s an opportunity to reinforce that we’re not merely a group of people working for an organization – we're colleagues with vested interests in each other. What we all do outside of work is equally important to celebrate – new families, children getting into the school they want, new hobbies and celebrations. It’s all part of being a cohesive, collaborative team. 

As Frank Melo has mentioned to me when we’ve discussed our organizational culture and growing need for exceptional talent, “People don’t work for just a pay cheque. They want to have purpose and feel part of something bigger. Attending these shows together allows everyone to enjoy the social aspect and team bonding in a dynamic environment.”

The time we spend together after a long day of attending presentations, doing sales pitches and networking to have a drink or treating ourselves to an amazing steak at one of Toronto’s prestigious restaurants is equally as important as completing our daily work. (To note, we’re aiming to visit Butcher Chef for their Canadian Wildridge Farms striploin or Japanese A5 Miyazaki striploin). PDAC is one of the rare occasions during the year where everyone is together in one place, and we can take the time to enjoy a relaxing moment to savor the fruits, engage in meaningful conversations… and just catch up!

Get our perspective from exhibiting at previous PDAC mining conferences.

Being part of a team – an important component of this business we’ve been building – is more than about developing strategy, creating plans, accomplishing goals, crossing off items on our to-do list or getting from one meeting to the next. It’s a reminder about growing together, enjoying the time we spend during the week and refocusing on what we’re trying to accomplish through our collective effort. 

The other thing I love about getting the team together for events like this – part of the comradery – is the learning, and networking. I love how team creativity sparks new ideas and builds momentum for the year ahead.

We’d love to catch up with you too

Come visit us in the North Building of the Metro Convention Trade Centre at booth #7229N between March 1 and 5. Play with our engineering virtual reality technology and have a chat with Frank Melo and me. We’d love to hear what plans you have on deck for your team and your future vision.