Jacqueline Hochheiser, Corporate Communications
About the Show Me Show Down Down Challenge
In true Mini-Circuits Missouri fashion, our team in the mid-west rolled out a new team building exercise in March of 2022. This initiative was called the “Show Me Show Down Challenge,” and consisted of monthly competitions that focused on bringing the rapidly growing Missouri team together as well as inspiring fierce competition and unique creativity to meet the requirements.
Teams were divided by department and the already present teams within the inside sales force. Each team was responsible for picking a unique name for themselves. The team lineup was as follows: the Goal Diggers, the Supreme Circuits, the Mini-Pros and the Blue Waves.
After each challenge, the teams would submit their final work to a panel of judges including Kim Sainato, Crystal Ragland, Paul Wilson, Mark Dvorak, Erick Olsen, and Jeremy Cortez, who would decide the ranking of each team and award points for respective places. First, each team was awarded one point for submitting the challenge on time, and first place was awarded five points. Teams would accumulate points after each challenge and the group with the most points at the end of the year were declared the winner, earning an all-expenses paid outing on Mini-Circuits. Certainly high stakes that fueled the Missouri team’s competitive side!
All is Fair in Team Work and Competition
Despite the fact that some teams were composed of members who worked at different locations including the Branson office, Spring Field office and those members that work from home, the challenges were an inventive way to bring a team separated by distance closer in camaraderie.
“Our work from home team members came into the office if they could and team members from Springfield traveled to Branson to help as well. All team members helped with ideas whether they could be present or not. We have an amazing team with lots of great minds,” said Paige Williams, a member of the Goal Diggers team.
The challenges each month were designed to be fun, yet require inventive solutions to win gold. The first challenge held in March was called “Kobe,” and required each team to submit a video of one of their members making the most impressive trick shot into a garbage can. The “Portrait of Perfection” challenge required each group to submit a work of art that best resembled one of their team members’ portraits. The crowd favorite, the “Holiday Light Fight” challenge was held in December and required each team to decorate a section of the Branson office in a winter wonderland theme, and whichever team had the best decorated section won.
For Tina Sumner, who had joined Mini-Circuits in October of 2022 and only participated in the last two challenges as part of the Goal Digger team, felt that these exercises were exactly what she needed to acclimate to her new role.
“It was really neat to see the creativity of people at Mini-Circuits and the competitiveness! Decorating was definitely fun and a lot of people got involved in that one,” said Tina. “Mini-Circuits is a family and it was very much a bonding experience. To be able to do something that fun and interactive in a workspace is almost mind-blowing to me. It inspires comradery and unity among people from home and in the office.”
The overall winner of the Show Me Show Down Challenge was finally presented at Missouri’s holiday party in December. The competition had come to a close two weeks earlier than the celebration and anticipation to find out who had come out on top built to a peak. But at long last, the winner was announced to be the Goal Diggers.
The goal Diggers were able to take proud pictures with their teammates and a trophy, show casing their win for the 2022 year. With the Show Me Show Down challenge having been such a success and source of fun for the Missouri members, the team looks forward to continuing the tradition in 2023.
“I would love to definitely continue the challenges next year, but maybe not as frequently. I would suggest doing a challenge each quarter this year,” said Patrice Braack, a member of the Goal Digger team. “I really enjoyed the challenges. I have a very big team, so just being able to collaborate with each other while being in different locations was a great opportunity to bring us all together.
“This whole challenge made our team a lot stronger because of the amount of time we spent collaborating. It made us more like one team.”
As Mini-Circuits Missouri gears up for the next consecutive year of the Show Me Show Down Challenge, the company eagerly awaits to find out what the challenges will be and who will come out victorious the second time around. Congratulations on a job well done to all the members of the Goal Digger Team!
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