Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Plumerai offsite in France

Working together at our company offsite.

by Cedric Nugteren

Sometimes people ask me questions about team dynamics at Plumerai. In particular, they wonder how we created such a strong cohesive team, despite its division across two locations: London and Amsterdam. Especially at a startup it is crucial that everyone feels that they are truly part of one aligned team. At Plumerai we move fast, priorities change, and people need to be able to trust each other and communicate clearly without adding unnecessary process.

One way of achieving this is our regular company offsite. On our most recent trip, our colleagues from the US, London and Amsterdam traveled to the south of France, enjoying the beautiful rolling hills from our comfortable villa accommodations. During the offsite our engineers paused their regular work and gave Claude Code and our Kubernetes cluster a small holiday. Instead we engaged in interactive discussions about various topics and made plans for the future of Plumerai. Some sessions were company-wide, while others took place in smaller breakout groups focused on more technical topics

Of course, an offsite would not be complete without team-building and leisure activities. This time we enjoyed a scenic hike, great dinners, a relaxing swimming pool, a poker night (won by the CEO), and much more. The highlight was a three-course French cooking lesson, which was not only very entertaining but also delicious. The trip gave everyone time to connect outside their day-to-day work, while our working sessions gave us time to align on our roadmap, sharpen our strategy, and make sure everyone has a shared view of the opportunities ahead. That combination of focused planning and informal time together makes a real difference.