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5 Important Questions When Planning A Corporate Retreat

Corporate retreats are either a lot of fun and a well-earned break for employees, or a nightmare that has your team wishing they’d stayed at home. The difference makers are the location and itinerary of activities for the week. At their worst, they can be really boring with outdated team activities. Or they can get overly competitive with too much team building for business. At their best, they can give employees time to socialize and blow off steam while still offering a chance to relax and celebrate achievements. There are 5 questions you need to keep in mind when working with a corporate retreat planner: why, when, where, what, and how.

The 5 Questions For Corporate Retreat Planning

1) Why?

Why does your team want to go on a corporate retreat? The word want might not be appropriate depending on who you talk to within your team. There are probably some employees with bad memories of poorly executed corporate retreats from past jobs. That’s why you need to put the time and effort into creating the ideal retreat this time. You need to create something they will all want to be a part of.

The “why” question from a corporate perspective should be clearer. There should be a definite objective for setting up this retreat. Are you looking to bring everyone closer together after a significant event, department shake-up, or merger? Are you giving everyone a chance to unwind away from the office because of their hard work? Is this some secret headhunting scheme to pick out the best prospects for promotions? That’s something you and your managerial team need to be on the same page about.

2) When?

This should be the most straightforward question of the lot – assuming that your company’s calendar is up-to-date and synchronized across all departments. It would be best if you had a time that suits everyone as best you can. Someone will surely have an issue with it if it clashes with something in their personal life. Yet, provided nobody in the team has booked time off for the chosen dates, you should be fine.

You can plan an event around specific points in the calendar. Perhaps there is a period where sales and overall activity drop and you can afford to take things easy for a week. Maybe there’s a big project with an end date marked in bold on the company noticeboard. A retreat would make that endpoint even sweeter. You could also try and tie in around holidays, although the availability of the best corporate retreat locations may be limited. You’ll also want to make sure the location is suitable for the time of year. Do you want to go into the snowy mountains in December and risk getting stranded? Is the 4th of July really a good time to start trying to get down to Florida?

3) Where?

That brings out to our next important question. Where do you all want to go? You could open this up to the opinions of your workers and enjoy the democratic process. However, this could just lead to arguments and no clear winner. It might be better for higher-ups to decide on a location based on its suitability, availability, and budget.

There are different approaches that you can take when choosing somewhere for a corporate retreat. Many companies like to go somewhere rural and as close to off-grid as possible. This provides a contrast to working life in a big city and a chance for team-building activities in nature. Just make sure it’s not too rustic in the mountains or by the lakes and that there are comfortable beds and WiFi. Others from small-town firms will love the chance to take workers to the big cities for some fun activities and culture. Then there’s the perfect middle ground of the smaller coastal resorts with access to urban and rural delights.

4) What?

There isn’t going to be much team building for business on this retreat if everyone heads across the country for a week and doesn’t do much. Employees may be seeking some relaxation and a chance to socialize at the beach, on hikes, or with drinks at their lavish accommodations. You can offer this, but you’ll also want to throw in additional activities to achieve your aims. This goes back to that early question of why. If you have another motive behind testing your team, you need to give them challenges and competitive team games to show themselves off.

It can be difficult to find the right balance between friendly competition and social events to keep everyone happy. That’s why it’s so important to bring in a professional corporate retreat planner to find the best activities possible. They will come up with ideas you’d never considered because of their unbeatable knowledge of the opportunities in each area. They’ll help you set a fun itinerary that everyone can appreciate.

5) How?

Finally, there is the how, as in how are you going to get there and pull this off. If you’re a small firm over in Pennsylvania dreaming of a retreat on the California coast, what’s the plan? Do you get corporate to find the airfare to get everyone down there? Is that affordable? Would it be easier and more cost-effective to find a similarly interesting coastal retreat on the East Coast, such as in New Jersey? These are important questions to bring up with those in charge of the time sheet and the budget before suggesting anything to employees. You don’t want to get their hopes up with promises you can’t keep.

Work With Top Corporate Retreat Planners For The Best Results

Wherever you want to go, whenever it’s convenient, and whatever the reason for the trip, experienced corporate retreat planners can help. Their knowledge of event planning and relationships with local businesses make them highly reliable partners for these big occasions. Trust them to deliver something your team can enjoy and look back on with fond memories.