How to Plan a Team Building Retreat

Whether you’re interested in giving your team’s chemistry a refresh, introducing a new team to each other, or hoping to reestablish your team’s professional goals as a whole, a team building retreat can offer the platform you need to leave members with poignant motivation for the year to come, often both personally and professionally. Here, we offer a few tips and tricks for planning a successful retreat.

Let’s start with the things you should do. Begin by establishing a planning committee. This team of planners can make a retreat happen more efficiently by delegating the required planning tasks, but a larger group of individuals can also offer a broader perspective on the retreat’s itinerary to ensure the enjoyment of the retreat by your team members and that it will help you meet your goals. Speaking of that, always plan a retreat with a few goals in mind. This instills your purpose, but also gives your team participants something to work toward. Other points that will make your retreat a success are infusing team engagement as a priority – this means leaving titles at the door and creating a safe, equal space to exchange ideas and encouragement. Focus on relationships and communication when you choose activities – the result of these options will provide long lasting results when it comes to teamwork and problem solving in the future.

Logistically, you’ll want to ensure your planning committee has a few things in mind. First, plan your retreat outside of tight deadlines, to relieve pressure from the team members in production roles. Pick a venue that is feasible for both your participants’ modes of transportation and for your budget. Asking them to travel far is an added expense, and if you’re not planning to pay for travel, you’ll want to make sure there is still positive anticipation when you give them the destination. If your budget allows, choose a place where your participants are free from the distractions of the outside world.

Of course, there are also a couple of things you should not do when it comes to planning a retreat. Consider the size of your team, and choose something that is appropriate for that size. Don’t pick an activity that spreads your participants too thin, or something too small, where the majority of your group is disengaged. Don’t leave anyone out. This is your chance to build chemistry from the ground up, establishing respect across all lines, hopefully carrying over into the real world.

Lastly, plenty of team building retreats happen every year, all year long. Your employees have probably heard about the unique things other companies are doing. To keep your team excited about a retreat, consider what’s trending, and choose something that will keep them bragging as well. Collaborative team building activities are also popular and encourage a high level of teamwork and engagement. They creatively force you to work, problem solve and get creative together – all things that carry over professionally, so why not hone those skills outside the office?

The bottom line is that team building is an individualized activity for your company, and your team. When done correctly, it can incite a positive camaraderie among your team that will carry over into professional results, including revenue, interpersonal relationships and company growth.