Team bonding is at the very heart of your company’s health. Working in harmony and in a way that promotes productivity and success is something that should be learned, and it often requires a little creativity. That’s where team events come in! You could organize a single activity for your employees to enjoy together or, better yet, set up a corporate retreat where they’ll share multiple team-building experiences. Here’s what you need to know.
What’s a Retreat Event & What Does a Team Event Do?
Team events are designed to bring your staff members together through fun, engaging, and immersive team activities that they wouldn’t get to enjoy at the office. While these team bonding moments do provide entertainment, they also boast many additional benefits. When they spend time as a group in totally different settings, coworkers build stronger relationships and learn how to interact on a deeper level.
While this can be achieved over time through repeated team-building exercises, the immersion is never as complete as it is with corporate retreats. Retreats take the concept of team events to new heights by dedicating several days to fostering well-being, communication, and collaboration.
A few days at the seaside, in the snowy mountains, or in the heart of a forest provide a clean break from the hustle and bustle of the city, and an opportunity to work on establishing a positive company culture.
Don’t worry, we’re here to tell you everything you need to know about planning successful retreats!
How Do You Organize a Team Event & How Are Corporate Retreats Different?
Arranging a single-team event can be as simple as booking an escape room or scheduling a game of kickball. As for how to plan a corporate retreat, it’s a different story.
Retreats provide a chance to experience several team events in one amazing stay, but they require organization. That’s where TeamOut comes in!
This is how it works:
· Connect to our corporate retreat platform or get in touch with a dedicated team event designer.
· Select your venue.
· Build your itinerary.
· Enjoy your team building retreat!
And if you’re not sure how to choose the right activities, here are some team event ideas to combine, along with a few tips for a successful retreat!
Outdoor Activities and Adventure Activities
Activities like hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, or zip-lining can provide a fun way for employees to work together and bond as a team. Breaking the routine all while pushing their physical limits, the participants collaborate to face challenges and get to bolster each other’s confidence.
More adventurous activities, such as a hot-air balloon ride or a helicopter tour, add excitement and offer a unique experience. Gentler outings, such as forest bathing or beach days can also be wonderful options, as they are accessible to anyone.
While employees tend to communicate virtually, from behind their computer screens, outdoor alternatives create unfamiliar settings where the dynamic is completely different. Including this type of activity in your team events takes away the expectation to perform on a professional level, leaving room to explore relationships in a whole new way. That’s one of the greatest benefits of a retreat!
Team-Building Work Exercises
Team events can be all fun and games, but they can also be a means to an end. If you’re working toward specific objectives, it can be interesting to organize team-building exercises tailored to address potential issues, develop certain habits, or affirm your company culture, for example.
Trust exercises, problem-solving games, or team-based challenges are the ideal kind of group activities to help employees work better together.
Workshops
If workshops are so popular at team events, it’s because they are versatile and fun, all while fostering very specific ideals.
For example, workshops that focus on professional development are great at improving professional skills. These include problem-solving activities, blind games to work on listening skills, time management exercises, and more.
Workshops are a wonderful way to emphasize your company values. Your team events could feature workshops on diversity and inclusivity, teamwork, and other soft skills.
Finally, while virtual team communication may be a given for many companies, in-person exchanges don’t feel as natural as they used to. With the right workshops, you can implement a culture of discussion and understanding and cultivate an environment where everyone is comfortable voicing their point of view.
Social Events
A team retreat is a great opportunity to enjoy social events, such as cocktail parties, happy hour, and dinners together. These simple, stake-free get-togethers allow employees to have fun and relax while getting to know each other on a more personal level.
That’s why good food is so important during a retreat! Organizing a nice opening dinner or cocktail is the best way to welcome all the participants to the venue, introduce the purpose of the retreat, and explain the itinerary or retreat plan.
Learning (Classes) Activities
Cooking classes, art classes, wine tasting, yoga classes, etc. are more about sharing an experience and developing teamwork in an enjoyable way than they are about learning.
Including bonding time of this nature in your team events will allow your employees to boost their creative thinking as a group more concretely and effectively than any virtual team-building exercise could.
More Chill Activities / for Smaller Teams
Of course, a corporate retreat doesn’t have to be a massive team-building event with hundreds of participants getting together in a tropical paradise. For most businesses, this is neither within their budget, nor necessarily better than a more low-key alternative.
Don’t hesitate to favor a small, casual-looking meeting space where team connection can take the form of relaxing moments hanging out in a shared common room. You could play board games, organize a laid-back scavenger hunt, or have a murder mystery night! These fun team-bonding ideas can easily take up an entire evening.
Leave Space for Free Time
Finally, don’t forget to make sure your itinerary includes some pockets of free time, especially if your team event runs over a few days. Some participants who may be more introverted will love being able to recharge their batteries between all these exciting activities.
Some downtime also provides an opportunity for everyone to ‘digest’ what they have learned, or simply to bond in their own way.
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