An early morning walk along the beach the next day (with the sea only 100m from where we were staying), followed by an al fresco breakfast, kick-started the away day nicely. We launched into the main topics of our trip: project milestones and updating associated checklists, to ensure learning from each other, good working practice throughout the team and quality assurance.

We split into three groups to review different stages of projects and the design process. One group worked on reviewing on-site project templates and checklists to make sure practice during construction remains efficient to allow focus on quality of build. Another group focused on the initial stage of winning work and communication of our role and value, to make sure this is clear and transparent for our clients. The third group focused on in-office learning, how to best make the most of experience within the team on different projects through checklist documents and staff-to-staff CPDs.

With a pub lunch where we sampled the local lobster and crab, followed by some sun filled frisbee action (with a quick hiatus for Harry to retrieve it from a tree), we reviewed our three morning sessions with the whole team, and continued for the afternoon.

As an office, Archio take all staff learning seriously, and believe that capturing and disseminating the knowledge we gain from the variety of projects which we work on is crucial. By using a series of checklists at the different stages of a project, we ensure that quality is high, items are not missed, and the whole office is able to learn from and add to these documents.  These checklists also create more time to work on excellent designs, freeing us up for creative thinking.

We returned from Norfolk refreshed and with a number of updated and new process documents, which are already being put in place. All in all, a great away day with the whole Archio team's valuable input, not to mention Mike's ragu triumph.

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