It doesn’t matter if you consider yourself the superman or superwoman of the office, everyone needs a break from time to time. A day or weekend to simply cut back and not have to worry about that big meeting or the sales calls you have to make.
For many businesses, they like to take a day or two like this throughout the year in order to not only relax, but also to build up teamwork and relieve stress.
In the National Football League, the New Orleans Saints used to take a day off of team practices to take their families to the water park and hang out and they’ve been an incredibly successful team over the last decade.
By no means does this guarantee success after visiting a water park, but it does show the importance of team-building and bonding outside the workplace. Those activities help build up trust and provide a chance for you to get to know some of your other coworkers.
Below, we’re going to run through five great business retreat ideas to help you and your coworkers.
Combine Business with Pleasure
If your company is having to head out of town for a conference, why not mix a little pleasure in between the meetings and networking events? Before heading to the city or area, check out the surrounding parts to see if there is some restaurant or event place you could enjoy with your colleagues.
It doesn’t have to be anything special, but it’s a great time and opportunity to cut back once the events are over and the professional attitude can take second place to your personal side. This will technically be a half-retreat, but you can still make it fun for everyone involved.
Get Out of Town
If you’ve got a smaller team, why not look to places outside of town to visit. You can rent a cabin, AirBnb, or similar venue and spend a few days relaxing.
If it’s summertime, make sure someone is manning the grill while the rest are getting in their daily dose of Vitamin D out by the pool. If it’s fall, see what you can do about making a fire and relaxing with some smores.
It can almost be like summer camp, renting a bus for your trip away from home. You can even ask your family members to send you a care package with your favorite candies and maybe even a new book or two.
Comedy Central
Here, you have a number of options for making your own laugh track. Find a local comedy club in town and bring the whole team together. Nothing is quite like a bit of laughter and maybe one of your coworkers will be put on the spot by the comedian.
Or, you can bring a comedian in house and have them lead a comedy workshop. Even though you may not have an improvisation bone in your body, you can still find time to laugh at you and your colleague’s attempt at jokes. Laughter really is the greatest medicine.
Arcade Night
Every town has one of those places that combines video games with other great activities, like bowling, go-karts, or laser tag. If you’re a competitive person, then this might be the best place for you. Just be sure to dial it back a bit when playing.
Taking your team there will bring out the inner kid again. Fistfuls of quarters are much easier to come by as you won’t have to run up to your mom or dad with a pleading face, asking for just one more dollar so you can get revenge on your brother in air hockey.
Escape Room
Once again for smaller businesses or teams, an escape room is an ideal way to build teamwork while testing your abilities in a (semi) intense environment. Escape rooms are popping up all over the world and many have themes tied to TV shows or historical events.
Some places will even let you divide up into separate teams so you can compete against one another. With an escape room, you should combine the evening with dinner as most of these only last an hour at most, but are still a blast.
