The coffee break effect: why informal moments make teams perform better

“I see you at the coffee machine a lot. Not enough work?” Many of us have heard a comment like that. Yet research shows the opposite: the five minutes your team spends chatting over a coffee may be among the most productive minutes of the day. At Nexus, we see it in every team we […]

Simplify to amplify: how a bottom-up strategic retreat brings your strategy to life

Ask a team what comes to mind when they hear the word “strategy”, and the answers are often the same. Strategy is seen as something complex, complicated, fixed and top-down. A thick document written by a few people at the top, presented in a big meeting, then filed away in a drawer until next year. […]

Onboarding in a hybrid team: use your G.P.S.

The hybrid world is here to stay. That much is obvious. What is far less obvious is how to lead a team when some people sit at the office and others work from home. Meetings run fine. Projects move forward. Yet something quietly goes missing: the sense of being one team. When we ask managers […]

What Angkor Wat Teaches Us About Teamwork: 5 Lessons from a Team Retreat in Cambodia

Nexus recently had the privilege of facilitating a team retreat in Cambodia. Between workshops, reflections and shared meals, one moment stood out for all of us: our visit to Angkor Wat, the awe-inspiring temple complex of the ancient Khmer Empire. Standing in front of those towers at sunrise, it is hard not to wonder: how […]

The 5 traits of great teams: what happy, high-performing teams have in common

We had the pleasure of holding a team retreat with a team we have accompanied over the last three years. We will be honest: this team is a dream to work with. They are a perfect example of what we call collective performance and happiness. They deliver great results, and they genuinely enjoy working together. […]

Spring: Time to Plant your professional Bulbs and Seeds

Spring is the time for gardeners to plant their seeds and to pick the bulbs they want to grow. In many countries people do their “Spring-cleaning”, “Frühjahrsputz”, or a “ménage de printemps”, clean up all the dust, useless material and clusters, and refresh their home and environment. What do you have to do to plant […]

9 Strategies to build personal Resilience and manage Stress positively

Dear Reader, When you are reading these lines, it is most likely that you do not feel stressed. Let’s face it, when we really feel stressed, overwhelmed, anxious or tense, we do not feel like reading or learning. But what is stress? Stress is actually natural and necessary to survive, but mostly in exceptional life-threatening situations, such […]

Your Inner Summer Sun: How to recharge Yourself?

For some people, spending a week on the beach is heaven, for others it is too hot, chaotic and stressful. For some people, going for a hike in nature all alone is bliss, for others it is solitude, tiring and hell. The summer vacation is your opportunity to recharge Yourself. In order to make sure you […]