4 Best Practices for Remote Team Retreats

Step aside, boring business meetings. Remote companies looking to breathe new life into ho-hum remote team retreats should take a cue from Formstack (which happens to be one of the awesome remote companies that shared its insights with Remote.co!).

The online form building software giant recently posted: “Formstack All Hands 2015: A Recap,” a story on its singular annual company retreat.

If you’re looking to crank your company’s in-person retreats to the next level, learn these four best practices for remote team retreats:

1. Make it fun.

No one wants to fly halfway across the country—or the world, for that matter—just to sit in a stuffy conference room staring blankly at a PowerPoint presentation. If you want to get your staffers thinking and planning for the future, start off with fun, not facts! The employees at Formstack played team-building board games like Connect Four and Jenga, and more. They also participated in a historical scavenger hunt at the French Lick Resort in Indiana where they were staying. Noteworthy: not one meeting was scheduled for the first full day; it was all about allowing the employees to get to know each other in a fun way.

2. Keep a balance.

There wasn’t one day that was day-to-night business meetings, with a few coffee breaks in between. Each day had some sort of business agenda but was also infused with fun. For example, on the second day of meetings, Formstack workers went indoor karting.

3. Give them space—and swag.

The managers at Formstack made sure to build lots of free time into the employees’ schedules. This downtime was used at dinners (where employees got to pick restaurants and who they wanted to hang out with), and après dinner activities too, like a few rounds of Blackjack at the hotel’s casino. Giving employees blocks of free time allowed them to absorb what they had learned, and also bond with fellow team members, and meet new ones, too. On top of that, Formstack employees were given a cool swag bag full of t-shirts, hats, snacks, and more. After all, who doesn’t like free stuff?

4. Deliver information in an interesting way.

Formstack took learning to the next level with its manifesto mini-series. Teams of eight or nine workers performed skits to represent the company’s seven chief values and objectives. This cool way of demonstrating the company’s core values not only reinforced its mission and goals to its team, but also made learning fun for everyone in attendance.

If you’re considering an all-company retreat, Formstack’s annual All Hands is something to marvel at. Remote team retreats are by far one of the best ways to help remote workers meet in person and develop better bonding. And with a focus on fun, bonding, and yes, learning, its team members left the retreat with new friendships, great memories, and a renewed team spirit that money can’t buy.