Plan activities that youll be doing as a team, and book them far in advance. Click here to contact an event planner near you. Between 10 and 50, boutique hotels tend to work well. Make sure your plan is feasible, identify any potential challenges, and think through how to keep things running smoothly. 27 Company Retreat Ideas Your Team Will Actually Enjoy, retreat (to Singapore) would cost $380,067. So, your company decided to embark on an offsite retreat and youre in charge of the planning. Scheduling team-meeting time is also great for big-picture visioning and strategizing, which energizes everyone to return to their remote offices with refreshed goals and attitudes to execute. Whats next? Appreciation retreats are perfect for celebrating business milestones and preparing all-hands and leaders for whats next. The first step in planning your corporate retreat is deciding which retreat is best for your business. Weve combined our years of experience with the best resources from around the web on how to plan team offsites, execute company retreats, and organize meaningful team-building experiences. What are the different skills and comfort levels of your team members? A successful work retreat is an investment back into your business, creating substantial differences in the way your business performs for years to comes. Looking for some other retreat activities? A themed casino party is a perfect opportunity to bring some fun and excitement to your retreat. We cover what to expect and let everyone ask questions, and we pair them up with a Help Scout veteran as their retreat buddy so they have a point of contact before and during the event. One other factor we try to be aware of is that politically, we need to ensure all of our team members can travel safely and be admitted without hassle to the countries where were traveling. Did you get stuck planning an offsite retreat even though youre not an event planner? However, if youre hoping to plan a few fun activities or excursions, heres what we recommend: Looking for some help planning your next company retreat? If youre a remote company and still concerned about the price tag, keep in mind that its less expensive to fly everyone someplace twice a year than to pay rent on an office space year-round.
kindness act cards card acts deck planners bloom daily You may be able to coordinate with a few team members one-on-one about potentially carpooling, cutting costs if needed. A cool venue and scenic location doesn't matter if your retreat is boring and irrelevant. Depending on your company goals, you may have allocated unstructured free time as part of the retreat agenda. Activities like these create a fun and carefree break, while also reinforcing teamwork. Part of the differentiated retreat planning involves sending information via various channels, so the more the better reaching people in a variety of ways ensures everyone gets to the right place at the right time. You can save a considerable amount by traveling in the off season, and staying somewhere close to a major airport. This methodology allows us to curate unique experiences for each team and avoid otherwise cookie-cutter field trips. When you get back to the office, we recommend blocking out some time to review and debrief with your team. We also have locations in major cities all over the United States. We know that it takes a lot to manage a retreat and that it can become a bit overwhelming. We carefully estimate flight costs, accommodations, meals and incidentals, all the way down to AV costs, airport transfers, gratuities and of course, swag! Develop a theme and curate an agenda around meaningful content and events. In this case, having more time for team introductions and bonding activities will be crucial, and youll want to plan for the retreat to last at least 2-3 days. Lets say youre planning a team-building retreat for your entire company. Check out our ultimate guide here!, Our team will support you, to make your programs a success. Here is an example of a Help Scout company retreat agenda, from our Spring 2019 trip to Lisbon, Portugal.
At Offsiter, our own retreat planning process is based on human-centered design, where meeting business needs relies on meeting the human needs behind them. Before we start talking about planning your corporate retreat, lets talk about the importance and benefits of a successful one. Does any content created at the retreat need to be collected, organized, or distributed? When planned and organized correctly, it relieves stress, sparks inspiration, creates time to reflect, and most importantly boosts company morale. Not only do you have to organize the retreat itself, but you also must plan ahead with destination management, transportation, hotels, flights, and picking the right retreat venue.
While its important to make sure you have plenty of activities and an organized schedule, it is equally important to make sure you plan plenty of breaks to avoid cranky and overworked employees. Take a break from a day of meetings and plan a team-building Olympic themed company outing. Planning, organizing, and hosting a great corporate retreat can be rewarding, but it can also be stressful. Our first four retreats were four-day, Tuesday-Friday affairs. Will people be taking notes? One of the most useful things I learned as a high school teacher was the concept of differentiated instruction not every student learns the same way, so the act of teaching benefits from a variety of approaches to present any given topic. It is meant to bring your entire team together while focusing solely on how to make your business better. Just be crystal-clear on which activities are mandatory and which are not. Just hoping to get out of the office with a group? Here are some resources to help you get started: Design Thinking By Ideo https://designthinking.ideo.com/, Learning more about group development Tuckmans Stages of Group Development, Reasons to go offsite https://liberationist.org/how-to-make-the-best-out-of-a-team-offsite/, Planning a strategic offsite https://hbr.org/2006/06/off-sites-that-work. (Click here for help with destination management.) If youre interested in an offsite retreat but dont want to deal with the planning process, let Offsiter do it for you! If, however, you just want to give your team some fun time away from the office for casual team building, then a quick day or two should suffice.. For our first retreat in September 2014, we rented a few houses and kept things simple. Adding a designated travel day and three full days at our offsite was the perfect amount of time to get work done and have enough time to get to know each other. It increases the budget, but weve found that our team appreciates some quiet time and the chance to recharge alone. Why are you bringing your team on a retreat? This guide is a one-stop shop for setting your team up for a meaningful experience without the hassle. Time of year is crucial for retreats, and will take a little extra research if youre going outside your immediate area. Some team members may be planning their sabbatical or parental leave. (Find the Top 10 Team Building Activities in Los Angeles). How can each person feel uniquely engaged in the effort? A retreat doesnt just require planning on your end; anything outside of your staffs normal routine requires that you give them a heads up far in advance, especially if travel or unusual hours are involved. Did you know that businesses with high morale outperform their counterparts by 20%? And if youd like to stay in touch, subscribe to our timely email newsletter Field Guides for more tips, events, experiences, and updates from around the country. Ideation Start with your team, who are they, how do they work, and what are their needs as people? Managing focus & attention Who is running the session (i.e. Can you use Google Earth to take a virtual walk from the closest metro stop to the main lobby entrance, so you can give your team members all the travel instructions they might need? Corporate retreats give you the chance to clarify your companys goals and missions, employee roles, and your company culture while offering a team bonding experience outside of the office. Engaging the Senses Planning a company retreat that leaves your team invigorated has its challenges, and with several under our belt, weve learned a great deal. An offsite retreat can help your company take time to reset and focus in on its strategic goals. company retreat swag weve done T-shirts, pins, totes, backpacks, temporary tattoos and other fun mementos. Some of our favorites are The Amazing Race, Corporate Trivia, and Family-Feud. By choosing the right venue to combine work and play, give your employees the inspiration to plan for a successful year ahead. Buffer, another remote company, projected their ninth retreat (to Singapore) would cost $380,067 for 85 team members, plus their partners and children. Theres a lot that goes into it, so we generally start planning our retreats nine months in advance! Be sure to look for recreational spots near and around your starting point first. As youre planning, be mindful of the size of the office youre planning for. Travel & Destination Events At this point, youve gotten most of the difficult logistics taken care of, and now its time to start planning more of the fun stuff: activities and retreat events. There are multiple considerations that come into play when deciding where to bring your team. Decorate and design your party with your logo, colors, and success. Decide whether youll have an official theme (Successful Meetings), Establish what needs to be taken care of ahead of time (Harvard Business Review), Be mindful of the pace and timing of your events (Thrive Global), Determine who will be responsible for keeping everything on track (Startup Grind). World class support, all in one place.Learn More, Get an in-depth, personalized tour of Help Scout, Explore Help Scout on your own in this guided tour, Join a community walkthrough of the product, How other teams deliver great support with Help Scout. All Rights Reserved, Hiring a motivational speaker or an industry expert to deliver a speech, Hackathons, where team members from different departments are grouped together to come up with new business or product ideas, which theyll then present to the entire staff, Scavenger hunts, where employees are broken down into small teams, Cooking classes or wine tastings, with the option to opt out for anyone who doesnt want to be around alcohol for any reason, Paintball, kickball, or dodgeball, where you can have different departments compete against each other, Escape rooms, which will often require you to break down your staff into teams of around eight to twelve people. For how long? All of this makes it possible to plan enjoyable and rewarding retreats that your entire staff will love, which is always the end goal to keep in mind., Interested in discovering more ways to increase employee engagement and improve team collaboration? These details are critical whether you work together in an office or youre a remote team, like we are.
That is why it is important to organize your retreat in steps, focusing on each important detail that makes your retreat successful, rewarding, and productive. As youre planning your corporate retreat, youll want to think about what it is exactly your team wants to do. The bigger the minimum, the cheaper the rates. Implementation It all comes down to execution, and bringing it all together takes a team. If youre local, this wont matter too much, but all other retreats should absolutely factor transportation into the planning process (and the budget)., Charter buses can work well for a one-day retreat where youre simply going to a single location thats relatively close by and back, and wont need transport elsewhere. Check out our planning services and get ahold of us to learn more about what we offer. Much like differentiated instruction, differentiated company retreat planning is the best approach providing variety and choice will result in maximum happiness and a trip everyone will remember. Or maybe you want to travel to a top city where employees can site-see on their time off. Look below to find out which retreat is best for your company. As the experience economy continues to grow and attract customers of all kinds, it can be hard to narrow down your choices and pick the right venue for your team. Plan icebreakers for networking events and all-hands meetings where you have employees from all different offices and locations. You can learn more here.. San Francisco, CA While the main reason we retreat is for everyone to build deeper relationships, we also talk shop. Ready to get started? Luxury retreats, all hands retreats, leadership retreats, and team-building retreats are some of the many retreat ideas that bring your company together while allowing you and your employees time out of the office for both work and play. The vendors, speakers, and recreational activities you choose can make or break your offsite retreat. In addition to work, companies try to foster team building and psychological safety among team members. If your company has never retreated before, start small. Revisit your reasons for planning an offsite are you onboarding new team members or breaking through challenges with an existing team, for example and curate an experience that will build momentum and culminate in a memorable event. Then comes the planning. While that sounds like a no-brainer, keep in mind that your team will likely not want to eat every single meal at the hotel, especially if youre in a location with a vibrant food scene. Capturing value How can you package and repurpose this experience into marketing and outreach materials? For our fall retreat this year, to a resort in Cancn, Mexico, we aimed at keeping our budget under $2,300 per person. Well save you weeks of planning and months of stress by coordinating everything down to the last detail. Have your facilitator plan a live band for during the luncheon or breakout of the monotony of the meeting with an employee scavenger hunt that is designed to boost your event! Our destination management company services all of Southern California (including the Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego), as well as Las Vegas and the Dallas Fort-Worth area of Texas. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX Retreats can also improve morale and motivate your entire staff, making them a worthwhile investment. 5 Ideas for Your Product Launch With this philosophy in mind, lets talk details: setting a budget, picking a location, finding a place to stay, and structuring those memorable activities. It's also great to be able to host brainstorming sessions with everyone in the same room. Retreats dont have to break the bank. Nowadays, we schedule a full workweek retreat (Monday-Friday). From selecting a destination to sorting out logistics, building an itinerary to finding catering, the process can be overwhelming not to mention time-consuming. When planned with intention and consideration, a company retreat provides an authentic opportunity to boost employee happiness and build a strong, connected culture and it shouldnt require a six-figure spa bill to pull it off. All you have to do is enjoy (finally) getting your remote team together. Whether a day retreat or weekend retreat, there are important factors that you must consider. We try to book entire hotels, estimating how many rooms well need based on our hiring plan. Leah is the Director of Talent Acquisition at Help Scout. At Help Scout, were rethinking how to plan a company retreat the goal is to produce thoughtful, effective getaways that spur productivity, juice up morale, and lead to more meaningful relationships. Leadership retreats differ from health and wellness retreats or weekend retreats at the local spa with a group of friends. In many cases, though, youll need to book accommodations separately, and youll want to find somewhere thats close enough to your venue that its easy for your staff to get back and forth. Choose the perfect space to fit your groups unique goals and dynamics. My guests all enjoyed a wonderful evening. Timely emails filled with offsite inspiration, location guides, and more. Some great examples include the following: Planning a corporate retreat can feel a little overwhelming, but having the right tools, resources, and planning processes at their disposal will make a world of difference. A corporate retreat is planned and created entirely for your business and its needs, goals, and values. Las Vegas, NV Your staff isnt going to be on lockdown the entire time theyre at the retreat, so its good to not only plan blocks of time where they can venture off on their own, but also provide some recommendations for what to do during that time. Something went wrong while submitting the form. Every company retreat is unique, and each one carries its own set of distinct challenges. Plan ahead with fun activities like bowling, employee karaoke, movie night, or a sightseeing tour if youre traveling to a new and exciting city. In addition to all-hands meals in the hotel, we also break the team up into dinner groups and send them out to various restaurants around the city, so everyone gets a chance to interact with folks from different teams. Details are important to us we want to treat our team just as well as we treat our customers.
Does the hotel have plenty of breakout spaces for team meetings? But while four days is probably sufficient for co-located offices, our remote team is spread out all over the world, which meant the first day was always lost to travel. Plan an over-the-top casino night themed event after your long day. To determine a budget, consider your company size and where you want to go. People will expect both talks and team building exercises., Different examples of activities you may organize for the retreat include:, If youre not sure where to start, services like TeamBonding can match your venue location with team-building or recreational activities in the area, making organization a little easier.. Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo, How is your staff going to get to, from, and around the retreat area? Retreats are meant to be fun and social!
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