Pickleball Anyone? Wait, Is This Déjà Vu?

It was time for the HTK offices to once again come together for a team building experience. We weighed our options and thought long and hard about the best way to have this event while being COVID safe at the same time.  We really could not find any venue or activity that could handle the COVID safety recommendations better than…(drum roll please)… Chicken N Pickle!

On September 18^th, our office family took a trip out to Chicken N’ Pickle in North Kansas City where we were able to have a full day of professional development and team building exercises all while practicing social distancing. GO HTK TEAM!!  

Here at HTK, we value teamwork, sportsmanship, and creativity, I mean we are in Architecture after all. This year’s theme was “Perfect Pairs” and we had everything from Unicorns & Rainbows to Mario & Luigi.

Talk about getting your game face on!

“Is there a better pair than the classic Mario & Luigi, especially during a pandemic? These gents already wear gloves, which “may” have helped our grip on the paddles.  We were able to attach the mustache onto our mask for the safety of all.”

–Mario & Luigi, Costume Winners

Just like last year, we held a round-robin style tournament with teams of two—Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals were awarded to our top three teams. Congratulations to Team Shake N’ Bake for bringing home the gold for a second year in a row!

What advice would you give to other Pickleball Champion Hopefuls?

“My key to success is to goad your partner into doing all the pickleball practice, training, and competition throughout the year.  They do all the hard work, and you come in and win the championship with little to no effort.  Easy-peasy!  I call it Shake…and Bake!  Cookin’ up another recipe for a 3-peat win in 2021!”

 – Shake N’ Bake, Tournament winners

Not far from Shake N’ Bake was Pocket Aces with the Silver, and DIY Tool Time with Bronze!

Last, but not least, another competition that we held was “Best Team Name.” Congratulations to the Pocket Aces for winning this category!

How did you two pick this “Best Pairs” team name?

“We tried to jump on it as soon as we could because it seemed like it would be the cleverest union of the ‘perfect pairs’ theme and pickleball as long as everyone picked up on ‘ace’ being a score from a serve. Luckily they did!”

–Pocket Aces, Best Name Winners

Something that was different than last year was our new team building exercise, Designing a Stronger Culture – The HTK Family took time to do a brainstorming session to explore our Core Values and the Behaviors we believe should be exhibited by those values!

“Our culture is the lifeline of HTK Architects. It attracts our people, brings high quality talent, and long-term loyal team members. Our culture at HTK Architects is about how our clients see and relate to us. A strong culture provides clear beliefs and values to which we hold our teams accountable to.” – Brad Kiehl, HTK Education Planner

Our Culture is the common framework and language we use to solve challenges. It serves as our filter through which important decisions are made. Stay tuned for more exciting information about HTK Architects and our strategic plan.

We had an awesome day with our HTK team, and we are so thankful to Chicken N’ Pickle for hosting our event for a second year! Keep an eye out for our Social Media and Blog to see what kind of fun and creative things HTK does next.