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What is a Team Retreat?
Let’s start here – a team retreat is one of the best investments that you will make for your company. If planned well, they could really help boost motivation and creativity in your team, especially in the post-pandemic environment.
So what are the specifics of a team retreat?
A team retreat is a planned team outing or an out of the office gathering. It is designed with the goal of enhancing team spirit and pushing for team building within the company’s employees. Team retreats usually aim to allow employees to work remotely while also engaging in other fun activities. Ideally, a team retreat is held on the outskirts of a city, in a rural setting or in the countryside. This would allow teams to slow down and work together at their own pace.
Team retreats are known by different names such as team workations, work retreats, business retreats, company retreats, coworkations and so on. Whether you are a startup, a collaborator or a multinational corporation, a team retreat can be beneficial to your employees/partners in many ways.
What are the benefits of a Team Retreat?
Team retreats can be seen as a period of unwinding and rebuilding for your organisation or team. Depending on the goals for your team workation, here are some amazing benefits it offers:
Team retreats help with work-life balance
The pandemic has come down heavily on this aspect of our lives. The Great Resignation is testimony to people refusing to accept toxic work culture norms, the toxic part being the inability to have a work-life balance. According to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report and Employee Well-Being Report, at least 1 out of 5 employees experienced burnout while working from home, and almost 50% of employees felt that they would be able to have a better work-life balance if work was hybrid. Team Retreats can help regain the lost balance and pave a new way forward for a more flexible workspace. They help you slow down and find ways to connect with your team outside of the office and consequently establish a healthier, more respectful working environment.
One to boost creativity!
Have you ever wondered why your best ideas are found in the showers? According to Business Insider, 72% of people get their best ideas in the shower. A study conducted by Scientific Reports on freestyle rappers said that “when we are being creative, some of the everyday brain areas are completely deactivated, whilst others we don’t use in our everyday lives light up”. These studies highlight the importance of relaxation for creative thinking. The part of our brain that does creative thinking isn’t the same as the part of our brain that does the decision-making. Creative activity in the brain is as random as it gets and generally is triggered during inactivity, says a report by Buffer. Work isn’t always tapping away at keys for 8 hours non-stop. Sometimes, the best way to move forward is through new, creative ideas to the same old things. So yes, if this isn’t reason enough to plan an escape for your team, we don’t know what is.
Team retreats can boost productivity
Our body needs rest every now and then. Ayurveda has proved the need for afternoon naps and psychology has furthered the claim through additional research. The time spent resting is directly proportional to work efficiency. Basecamp recently experimented with adding an additional day to the weekend to create a four-day workweek. The result was a decrease in stress and an increase in not just creativity and problem solving, but also work efficiency. The amount of work getting done was still the same, even though the workweek was shorter by a day. To conclude, planning a team retreat that is focused on rest can be wonderful for your team’s productivity and motivation.
An easy boost to your company image
The many known advantages of planning a team retreat can help build your company’s PR and image. Moreover, the fact that you care for your employees will help you retain your top talent. If they know that their well-being is valued just as much as their contribution to the company, they will stay and grow with you. Going forward, the post-pandemic work culture will be all about flexibility and freedom, and retreats are a great way to inculcate that. Frequent team retreats are the future of work and can make for a great selling point for potential employees.
Your team dynamics will thank you!
Taking work to where work roles don’t exist, help team members bond differently. Team retreats can help enhance your team’s dynamics and hone your employees’ leadership and engagement skills. Nothing could work more in your favour than a highly efficient, collaborative team that knows how to communicate and get things done.
Why Plan A Team Workation with NomadGao?
NomadGao is one of the first coworking and coliving spaces in India to facilitate work from anywhere, team retreats and team building, and community collaboration. The NomadGao Community of digital nomads, remote workers, founders and creators enables an environment of constant learning and growth.
You can choose to be part of the community or block the entire space for your team.
