A company retreat is an opportunity for team members to come together, away from the office and their typical responsibilities, for the betterment of the company.
Laura Burkhauser, a product manager at Twitter stated in the New York Times, “off-sites are more important than ever in a time of virtual work” because it is easier to trust and communicate with remote co-workers when you actually know them.”
At Bella Events LLC, we think that any company retreat needs to be 50% transformation and 50% vacation.
Why? Because a burned-out, stressed-out, remote team needs more than just time in the same rooms with their coworkers in order to magically have improved relationships and communication.
They need bonding, relaxing time, and time to still do their jobs if the company cannot shut down all the way for the retreat.
The magic of building relationships happens at happy hours, dinner tables, and through thoughtful activities… NOT in meetings. Do you want people to work better together? Then, let them be together unscripted.
What is a solid company retreat mission ?
You might want to jump into planning the fun parts: exotic locations, daring team-building activities, or luxury dining options. Slow your roll! You’re jumping way far ahead! Before you do any of this, you need to decide on a Retreat Mission or what will your corporate retreat accomplish. Why do you want to have one?
You’re RIDICULOUS if you say “Because we need it” (Don’t like being called ridiculous? Of course you don’t! So don’t do ridiculous things!). This is NOT a good enough reason. If you don’t start with a clear reason to have a retreat you will have no way to gauge if it has been a success or not, and might end up wasting everyone’s time and company money. There is a science to planning a company retreat, and you need to know it before you start. You aren’t a retreat planner yet, but starting here will set you up for success (or just ask us to do it for you).
Company Retreat Mission Examples:
Example 1: your company has doubled in size in the last 2 years. You’re happy with the growth but your employees are located all across the country and projects seem to take longer than you think they should. You’ve even heard there is a riff between the Marketing and IT departments, and that isn’t even counting the mavericks on the Executive Committee who can’t seem to delegate anything. Nothing bad has happened yet, but you think something could get dropped soon if departments don’t start working together.
The Retreat Mission could be: improve company morale by focusing on team building between all departments during a company-wide retreat.
If you are clear with your Retreat Mission, you can focus all activities around this while still giving your team the space to recharge. You can bring the team to a specific team-building activity, such as a high ropes course, scavenger hunt, or cooking class, and you will give them a chance to become a team in a totally different way than previously.
Example 2: a mid-sized company that has been around for a while is developing an expansion to push your company to the next level. You want to thank them for their hard work by hosting an international retreat for them. You have some ideas of topics to discuss, but you haven’t put much thought into them. Maybe you’ll talk about next year’s product growth or headcount. You’ll all be together anyway so some sort of team resolution will automatically happen.
WRONG. If you think like this, you’re guaranteed to miss the mark. You’ve fallen into the newbie mistake of trying to wing it.
The Retreat Mission could be: to strategize for product expansion so the company can hit the financial target of $X expected by investors by year 202Y.
Summary
Starting with a specific retreat mission and then planning the details around that mission will guarantee a successful company retreat with tangible and trackable results. It will also allow you to create a specific and tailored experience with purpose for your company so you will rest easy knowing the budget dollars are well spent.
Want to read more? click the links to learn more about What is a Company Retreat or how a retreat can support the Growing Pains of a Scaling Startup
Emily is a Assistant Retreat Planner with Bella Events.
Emily has traveled the world with her family and has even lived in Mongolia when she was in the Peace Corps. She enjoys home improvement projects and playing with her three cats.
To schedule a connection call and explore how Bella Events can support your next company retreat or offsite, click the button below.