Having attended many corporate events before, I’ve always come away thinking they could have been better. Too often they feel too corporate; corporate hotels, highly structured agenda, formal speakers, buffet food and so on. Impersonal, lacking inclusivity and also hugely (and unnecessarily) expensive.
Covid has played a significant part shaking up the world of events, but we’ve been involved in running events for business leaders and their teams since 2005 where the focus has always been on inclusivity, relevance and a more relaxed feel.
A decade ago, when building Sempre, a core foundation of what success meant to us was having a great team, one that works hard for each other and the client, making a better reality – a genuine understanding that sometimes personal life is more important than work. Whilst the work was taken seriously, part of 'better' meant to enjoy ourselves, treat each other like family and our customers like friends.
A core part of building the team was a trip away each year, that gives the team the chance to come together, reflect on company progress, plan for the future and take time out of the day-to-day job. They also were a chance to get to know new faces - more important now than ever - and enjoy some adventure and local cuisine in a new city.
Whilst there’s some focused work sessions and chance for a lot of fun together, the additional opportunity to work in different ways with others is invaluable. Working under pressure in a different environment, not only helps bond better teams, but also cross-departmental collaboration as well as getting the creative juices going; an opportunity you don't always get when stuck on a Teams calls, in an office, or focused on the day-to-day job.
In turn this has a positive impact on clients: learning to work with each other in new environments, outside of our comfort zones, enables us to work more effectively as a team, and crucially, the bonds we forge mean we know we can rely on each other to get the best outcomes in all situations.
When you add in a journey and adventure to the mix, especially when the team can be involved in the choice, you get an excitement and buzz that starts long before the event and lasts long after. Do it right, and regularly enough, as the buzz of the last one wears off, there’s the excitement of a new one to look forward to. Having analysed staff churn and motivation, we also know that a welcome upside of this is a very effective recruitment and retention strategy. It provides your business with an irreplicable benefit to your working environment and culture.
Moral of the story? Get you and your team out of the office together and away from the computer screens. You'll work better as a team, build stronger relationships and have a lot more fun along the way.
Some starting considerations:
Inclusive from the ground up: Not everyone is a golfer, or a foodie, or into bars, or wants to be with everyone all the time. For the more introverted in your team, lots of time with others can be intimidating and exhausting; it's important to have options.
Safety & Privacy first: Does your event enable everyone to feel safe? Are you renting a villa that means people don’t have locks on their bedrooms (or do you want them to share rooms?) Do they have to share a bathroom? Sounds obvious – it's amazing how often we hear of company events happening where there is an expectation to share rooms, bathrooms etc. Are your staff going to be safe if walking/travelling between locations? What if they get separated? All things to consider.
Location & digs: Does this match your company culture? For example, is the hotel you’re in too corporate? Too large? Are wellness options important?
Compulsory v Non-Compulsory: Work sessions must be compulsory of course, but what isn’t? What about those who need to get back to their families, how do you make it easy for them to opt out?
Thinking of running one for your team?
With the slight exception of a bear gate-crashing one event in Canada (which is a story for another day), and despite Covid, we've still run and continued to refine events for companies in the pursuit of the perfect event DNA. So, we’d be happy to help and give you some pointers. As well as myself, Leonie, our resident events expert, who's managed many trips in her time, (quite literally from Pole to Pole), is available to chat through pointers and ideas.