Charm & Challenge: the Office Managers’ Adventurous Trip to Montenegro 

They say the universe keeps a balance between opportunities and obstacles — and this was certainly true for the OM crew’s team building ☯️

After putting all their hearts into helping at the NIX Birthday Party and taking care of the NIX Team, the Office Managers finally took some time off to relax at the beach of Montenegro 🏖️

However, their journey back did not go according to plan…

Read on to experience the wonders of this small Balkan country, along with the challenges the team faced that strengthened their bond and team spirit ❤️‍🔥

A Charming Country, Chosen by the Team

The Office Managers follow a unique tradition. During the New Year Party, everyone in their department participates in a draw to choose the organizers of each team-building event. 

This way, everyone has the opportunity to organize, but nobody has to take on the responsibility of organizing more than one event 🙌

The destination was also decided democratically; the team members could vote for several countries. This year, their choice was Montenegro.

The trip’s planning was entrusted to Tetiana Vatula, Natalia Bocskor, Olha Cherkova, and Maryna Starostina, Office Managers.

“From an organizer’s perspective, I felt that we were very lucky during the trip! The weather was perfect (even though it was raining the previous week). We wanted to make the most out of these 3 days, and we managed to see everything we planned.” – Tetiana says.

Everyone enjoyed the beach at Bečići and the trips to Sveti Stefan island and Budva. But the absolute team favorite was Kotor.

“We rented speedboats and took a trip to the Blue Cave. There were several stops during the trip: we were swimming in the crystal-clear water and visited the cave. It was breathtakingly beautiful!

The boat tour also included the Submarine Tunnel, which served as a garage for submarines in the past. The whole experience was amazing!” – says Natalia.

After the sea, they also conquered the mountain and captured the stunning view ⛰️ 

Besides the boat trip everyone attended, the crew also had time after dinner to gather and have some team-building activities. They discussed a lot of topics to get to know each other and had a ton of fun 🤩

To sum it up, the team could not have been happier. Even the more experienced members felt that they hadn’t had such an extraordinary team-bonding before.

A Challenging Return (Not Chosen by the Team)

On the last day, the crew went to the airport in Podgorica, filled with happy memories and new energy.

😲 However, an unpleasant surprise was waiting for them…

At first, their flight was delayed, but after hours of waiting, the airline canceled it altogether.

The team had to find a solution fast! However, they didn’t back down from the unexpected challenge 💪

“It was awful. But we handled the problem, no matter what. The team worked together: somebody looked for flights, while others checked the buses, trains, and even from other cities. We also checked options to go to Wien first. 

In the end, we managed to find a direct bus from Podgorica to Budapest, but it still took us around 24 hours because we had to wait for about 7 hours on the Serbia-Hungary border.” – says Tetiana.

“I think we spent almost 40 hours traveling — we had to take one extra day off to get back. Afterward, we checked the news, and it turned out that our pilots and stewardesses refused to take the plane after their working hours. So that was the real reason behind our detour.

It was a very unpleasant experience, but I think we reacted very calmly. We didn’t try to blame each other for the situation but supported each other through the hard times. In a sense, it was a unique team-building exercise.

Now that we are back in the office, we laughed together about the situation. I really feel that this experience has strengthened our bond.” – says Nikoletta Szajenko, Office Manager and participant. 

Although the end of the trip did not go as planned, the shared difficulties brought them even closer than the joyful moments 💖

Do you want to share some sweet and bittersweet memories with your teammates? 

Share your ideas with your Team Leader! Every NIX team has its own unique way of building connections — why not go on a trip together next time? 🌍

And if you are tempted to join NIX and participate in our incredible events, don’t hesitate to apply to one of our open positions, or free courses.