CORPORATE RETREATS
An office is a team. It’s a group of people all working
together to achieve a common goal, and when teammates
are stressed or burnt out they stop working together. One
great way to relieve workplace stress, re-energise a team
and reconnect them with their common goal, is to organise
a corporate retreat. Sounds enticing, right? Well, planning
a great out-of-office experience is no easy task, so we have
put together a comprehensive guide to make sure you get the
most from the team’s time away from their desks.
Why corporate retreats?
Corporate retreats are time consuming. They take people
away from work for an extended period of time and require
lots of preparation. But the benefits of a trip away from the
office can greatly outweigh the costs.
Cooperation is the cornerstone of a well-functioning
office. Each department is a cog in a larger, well-oiled
machine and in order for that machine to run smoothly and
efficiently, all those cogs need to fit together. A corporate
retreat separates the cogs for a while and reminds them
how to work together to keep the machine running. A
shared group experience outside of the office gives people
an opportunity to work together on something that isn’t
related to the job. Completing goals and objectives as a team
will help build strong working relationships that can be
used back in the office. A good retreat will also open lines of
What EAs have to say
To help build this guide, we surveyed EAs that
have experience organising corporate retreats.
Here are some of their key takeaways:
“Make budget the first question. There’s no point
spending time enquiring about your grand
plans if the budget won’t allow. Take everyone’s
suggestions and try and find a middle ground.
Even those who don’t think they’ll enjoy joining
always do on the day! Reach out to your network,
get recommendations from others who have run
successful breaks.”
Bethany Brewer, CPF
“Ensure you have a clear understanding of the
profile of your attendees and that you plan the
event accordingly. What do they want to get from
the event? What are their expectations? What to
do they value?”
Cecilie Algie, Monash University
“The most successful events that I have created
in my tenure bring together three elements:
education, team building, and adventure. Building
a platform for learning and training is vital to
success.”
Lucia Stetson, Form Technologies
“A stunning
natural setting,
or an invigorating
experience can
spark people’s
creativity and
motivation”
communication and create moments where people can bond
on a more personal level.
When morale is suffering it hurts teamwork, and boosting
it in an office environment can be tricky. A corporate
retreat will strip away the workload dragging people down,
and help remind them of the aspects of their job which
they enjoy the most. A team returning from a successful
retreat will have a refreshed outlook on their jobs, and can
focus more on the parts they enjoy while avoiding being
overwhelmed by the parts they don’t.
Corporate retreats are also a great way to reward hard
work. They aren’t just a solution to burnout, they can also
help prevent it. If a sales team exceeds their target, or if a
large company-wide project is completed, a corporate retreat
can act as a reward for a job well done. The retreat will give
hard working guests a break, giving them time to relax and
reflect on their work.
A stunning natural setting, or an invigorating experience
can spark people’s creativity and motivation. This goes
particularly for executives. They are supposed to be focusing
on the big-picture, but these days they are often caught
up in the day-to-day operations of their organisations. A
brainstorming retreat for an executive is an excellent way to
inspire creativity while forcing them away from operational
matters. But to achieve the desired effect, a corporate retreat
must be planned thoroughly and executed well. Now that
we’ve covered the ‘why’, let’s get stuck into the ‘how’.
Establish a goal
The first step in planning a successful retreat is working out
an end goal. Retreats take up valuable working days, so they
need to have an overall result. You can’t expect an efficient
trip if it doesn’t have a clear purpose. If the end goal is for
an executive branch to brainstorm new ideas or to reset a
team with low morale, then it should be identified before the
retreat is booked and planned.
That way, you can take your goal and apply it to every
part of the planning stage. Keeping your goal in mind will
help you choose which planned activities, experiences,
venues and locations will best justify the time and money,
and serve your intended outcome.
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Issue 2 2019 | Chief of Staff 35