Camden, NJ – On Friday, April 19th, 2024, LAEDA held its annual team retreat. Breakfast was catered by our long-time friend and client, Cesily’s Love Meals. Delicious breakfast options to start our day in team building. (https://www.cesilyslovemeals.com). 

The morning kicked off with a professional development workshop hosted by Fonda Wynn, of Wynn Consultants, who is also an experienced instructor for LAEDA’s 9 week programs. In the team meetings leading up to the team retreat, many ideas were proposed and discussed in regards to the topic of this particular workshop. And there was one underlying theme among all the ideas – how to better serve our clients and meet them where they are on their journey of entrepreneurship. It was finally decided that communication was key, that every client responds differently to different styles and that’s what the team focused on. 

The session centered around John Maxwell’s DISC evaluation of personality types, specifically as it relates to communication and teamwork. Every member of the LAEDA team was able to learn more about their own DISC profile and how it reflects our everyday behavior. The team was also able to better understand each other’s communication styles and how to better express ideas for maximum impact. 

The morning concluded with a “Zombie Virus Outbreak” simulation in which participants worked together to stop the spread of the virus, which clearly demonstrated the internal strengths and weaknesses of the team’s decision-making and communication behaviors. 

Following the brain-churning session, the team enjoyed a fulfilling American-cuisine lunch at Chuck Lager’s Tavern, then made their way to the “fun” part of the day – arts and crafts at Paint-a-Treasure Art Studio in Haddon Heights. The team surprised each other with their imagination and artistic prowess, on full display in the picture. It was another moment of bonding, just being in each other’s presence and enjoying each other’s company. All in all, the team not only learned a lot while bonding over each others’ communication styles and strategies, but also found a moment of respite and inspiration creating the different art projects.