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From discovering hidden talents and promoting leadership, to increasing productivity and attracting new superstars to your business, there are a huge number of advantages to organising a team retreat.
As the expectations of individuals working for businesses changes and a better understanding of emotional intelligence grows, it is becoming more and more evident that a happy and healthy team is the most effective way to building and maintaining a sustainable and profitable business.
There are obviously a number of factors which contribute towards creating a happy and healthy team, including restructures, work environment improvements, bonus structure and benefit packages, however, many of these initiatives are operational and though beneficial, won’t foster the kind of connections that could be forged during a team retreat.
To help you understand the importance of organising a team getaway, we’ve done some serious digging to demonstrate how individuals and the collective can flourish as a result of going on a team retreat. But what is more important, these are not just some empty assumptions.
We can personally vouch for these facts, thanks to our real life experiences and testimonials of dozens of teams that we have successfully hosted and helped organise a team retreat for.
REDUCING STRESS &
RESOLVING CONFLICTS
This Harvard Business School report highlights a number of factors which cause employees to lose motivation while also making recommendations to help reverse the trend if this is the case.
A strong team will always prevail over an individual when a problem is encountered, however, if the members of the team do not work well together, the same may not be true.
Anybody who has worked in a team will understand how tensions can rise within a professional environment and if left unchecked, can turn into a more serious issue.
Furthermore, if senior management is in the dark, the productivity and motivation of a team could be drastically reduced.
That is why it is critical for a team to have more than a simple professional working relationship, something which can be encouraged during a team retreat facilitated by experts.
Being taken out of an office environment and moving to a new and exciting location can work wonders for a team as behaviour has been proved to drastically change based on where a person is.
With the correct management of a team retreat, new bonds are allowed to form, allowing for better relations and better output.
Problems can arise within any companies and in many forms, and problems not addressed only get bigger. Sometimes more advanced solutions like Problem solving Workshop can be a beneficial addition to the team retreat, to help target a problem’s root causes and help your team achieve goals.
ATTRACTING TALENT
Company retreats offer a huge number of benefits to current employees, however, if a business wishes to attract the best talent, offering an annual or biannual team getaway, may be the difference between a superstar deciding to join a company or not.
It is becoming more and more important for professionals to have a healthy work-life balance and you only have to look at modern job descriptions at the top tech businesses to see how perks are offered to attract the best of the best to apply.
If your business wants the same, offering a team retreat in a stunning location as a perk could be the difference between you getting a difference maker or losing them to your competition.
SUPERCHARGE YOUR DISTRIBUTED TEAM
If your business utilises remote workers, it can be difficult to create a strong culture or bond between staff and management as they so rarely get to spend time with each other.
Furthermore, communicating ideas, plans and updates can present difficulties despite the rise of communication and workflow platforms such as Slack, Our People and Trello.
However, many businesses, including numerous Fortune 500 companies, are migrating towards a remote or semi-remote model where vast numbers of employees are remote workers, meaning methods of encouraging teamwork and culture are changing. Therefore, organising a company retreat for a remote team offers a perfect solution.
Bringing people together to live, work and have in an inspiring environment such as the Tatra Mountains or the Canary Islands is the kind of team activity which creates incredible togetherness which is bound to remain once the team dissipates.
UNCOVER HIDDEN TALENT
If you spend 100% of your time with your staff in the office, the only version of the individuals that you will get to know, will be their professional side.
If this is the case, it is unlikely that you will ever see what they are really capable as human beings.
How often is it that an opportunity comes up for a member of staff to play the guitar or showcase their ability to debate complex philosophical subjects over a campfire in the office?
You may not think that these kind of skills are valuable within a professional environment but if you are able to recognise certain qualities in an individual during a retreat such as; creativity, leadership, empathy etc, you may be able to harness them to help your business.
For example, if you have a UX designer who spends all of their time writing code, they may not get the chance to display their skills as a photographer, however, if you take your team on a retreat and that person ends up taking the most stunning photos, you may be able to use them for a huge number of business activities, such us implementing his photos into your SM content strategy.
BOOST MORALE
Modern employees and millennials are working for you not only because of a paycheck. They love the environment, the culture and the work that makes them happy. In they are unhappy, group morale drops and some might consider looking for new work opportunities elsewhere. Team retreat allows them to have transformative experience, make them feel valued and renew their energy and positivity. The boost in morale can have a positive impact on workplace motivation and performance and subsequently bolster your company’s bottom line.
Studies have shown that team members that experience frequent bursts of happiness have the potential to be 31% more productive, have 23% fewer fatigue symptoms and are 10x more engaged.
CREATE NEW BONDS
Unless your business consists of 0-10 people, the likelihood is that certain individuals will not spend too much time working together on projects if they are in different teams or have different responsibilities.
The Chief Financial Officer will never work on the same project as a Content Marketing Manager, furthermore, if the two work in different locations, the connection is weakened further.
Therefore, you may never know what kind of potential the two could have to make improvements to the business.
For example, in a start-up, a Content Manager may not have anybody to check over their work due to a lack of staff resource and the time of others in the office. But what if the CFO had a keen eye for detail (they would have to let’s be honest) and would be happy to check over copy?
This kind of support and new relationship could only be created if the pair is allowed to spend time with each other in an informal setting, especially if they are based in separate offices or working remotely.
And here is one important question – what are those activities and approaches that make the team work so much better? Read more about approaches that help reach set goals in our article – 4 Approaches to Team Building.
TEAM RETREAT ORGANISATION
Organising a team retreat from scratch is a full-time job and there is no guarantee that the choices an inexperienced person may make when organising a retreat will turn out well for the group. To make sure everything runs smoothly and minimise the workload on your internal team, you can use services of a professional facilitator, that already has the resources and experience in your preferred destination.
NextRetreat offers a holistic solution to organising retreats and getaways for teams, from selecting the right venue with accommodation and workspace, to securing additional activities & services. Our experienced retreat specialists can help you plan your retreat and your dedicated host makes sure everything runs smoothly, so that you can focus on working, bonding and having fun with your team. Our approach is a personal one, both in terms of relationships with our customers, recommendations, crafting personalised schedules and helping to organise retreats for teams of all sizes.
