Get Your Teams Off Site!
Remember those days when you took the train, or sat in hours of traffic to get to the office every morning? Maybe you walked (if you’re one of the lucky few to have been so close). You’d get there in the morning, perhaps grab a coffee — and get down to the daily grind. But your day was likely filled with more than just sitting at your desk. Maybe you grabbed lunch with a co-worker at a local restaurant or bumped into folks for a quick conversation in the hallways. Spontaneous run-ins were frequent, and catching up with fellow team members happened without any effort.
Now, it’s all changed. It’s been 2 years since many of us worked in an office environment — let alone one that allows for all the kinds of interactions we used to have. And, that’s because how and where we work is changing. More and more folks are opting to work remotely, to zoom into meetings rather than meet IRL. And, we know that this future of work has its own unique benefits.
But, what about those spontaneous run-ins? Or the opportunity to meet IRL?
Well, we need to rethink how, why and when we come together as a team — and become more intentional about creating moments that matter with each other vs. the everyday routine of simply seeing each other because we have to. The answer — host an offsite.
Off-sites are an incredible and intentional way to bring teams together for a short period of time to build bonds and achieve strategic goals together. It’s an opportunity for folks who’ve talked through a screen for so long to reconnect in person and re-energize. And offsites can happen in so many ways, shapes and forms: from taking your team to a unique experience like an escape room to simply finding a new space to work together from.
Great offsites are meticulous and magical all at the same time. They give teams the opportunity to rediscover what they value most about the business and each other— and reaffirm culture, values and all the reasons they came to work for your company in the first place.
When you do your off-site right, you’ll accomplish 3 things:
- Stronger Bonds. All great offsites give team members an opportunity to bond with each other. We’d never host an offsite without some element of team building or some downtime for folks to hang out, grab a coffee and chat. This is especially true when you’re bringing a distributed team together. We may not all get the opportunity to really know each other in a zoom world — and building those bonds in-person will surely strengthen group productivity.
- Stronger Collaboration. When your team feels more like a “real team,” it’s easier to collaborate and create together. People work together, better in-person — they just do. And when you have strategic goals to achieve, a well planned offsite can be a great way to strengthen collaboration amongst your team.
- Time Well Spent. We all want our team members to walk away from an offsite feeling re-energized, excited and inspired. This is where the delicate balance between meticulous planning and magical experiences comes into play. You want your team members to feel that this was a good use of their time and that they got an opportunity to enjoy each other.
After some time away from daily routines and desks, we’re sure your team will come back even stronger and more ready to tackle the challenges of your business together!
