Handshaking Team Retreats
How we run our in-person retreats for our fully work from home / remote work force. We do these as much as possible, since we are also an international remote company.
Disclosure: All of our customers are from the US. The CEO / Founder is American, and all other team members are Filipino and based in the Philippines. Cultural differences are best understood, well, by interacting in person with people from the other culture.
Why do we host company retreats?
Company retreats can be a lot to plan if you are a small team without an event coordinator. Managers are already busy and planning hotels, flights, transporation, meals, schedule, goals and more is a heavy task. So, why invest in this?
Well, as an online, fully remote company from the start. There's simply some things done better in person. The CEO Matt would say that the first time he met his assistant in person after working together 3 years without meeting in person, "there were 3 things that took 15 minutes that saved both of us 3 hours per week for the rest of the following 3+ years we've worked together."
That's why somethings are just done bette rin person.
Additionally, the relationship building is limited online. Online is great for work, and keeps you focused on results, but sometimes it can feel awkward to start to ask personal questions to a team member, but of course that's natural if you're working in person.
Where do we host company retreats?
We have hosted retreats in the Philippines. Since we only hire in the Philippines, and only sell to US customers, our retreats are best suited in this country. We've tried multiple office location + lodging variations in the Philippines, but at the end of the day. We ONLY use WeWork offices, for 3 reasons:
-reliable, stupid fast wifi
-24/7 access for our sales team (US hours start at 10pm in this country)
-Big conference rooms with whiteboards for brainstorming and getting into the details
Actually our retreats are a ton of fun. Since you don't see everyone on a daily basis, it's exciting to have everyone around for a few days or week-long excursion where you can talk about more than work tasks and learn more about each other as individual people with feelings, families, goals, and more in a normal setting.
When choosing a place for your company retreat, there are a few things to consider:
Disclosure: All of our customers are from the US. The CEO / Founder is American, and all other team members are Filipino and based in the Philippines. Cultural differences are best understood, well, by interacting in person with people from the other culture.
Why do we host company retreats?
Company retreats can be a lot to plan if you are a small team without an event coordinator. Managers are already busy and planning hotels, flights, transporation, meals, schedule, goals and more is a heavy task. So, why invest in this?
Well, as an online, fully remote company from the start. There's simply some things done better in person. The CEO Matt would say that the first time he met his assistant in person after working together 3 years without meeting in person, "there were 3 things that took 15 minutes that saved both of us 3 hours per week for the rest of the following 3+ years we've worked together."
That's why somethings are just done bette rin person.
Additionally, the relationship building is limited online. Online is great for work, and keeps you focused on results, but sometimes it can feel awkward to start to ask personal questions to a team member, but of course that's natural if you're working in person.
Where do we host company retreats?
We have hosted retreats in the Philippines. Since we only hire in the Philippines, and only sell to US customers, our retreats are best suited in this country. We've tried multiple office location + lodging variations in the Philippines, but at the end of the day. We ONLY use WeWork offices, for 3 reasons:
-reliable, stupid fast wifi
-24/7 access for our sales team (US hours start at 10pm in this country)
-Big conference rooms with whiteboards for brainstorming and getting into the details
Actually our retreats are a ton of fun. Since you don't see everyone on a daily basis, it's exciting to have everyone around for a few days or week-long excursion where you can talk about more than work tasks and learn more about each other as individual people with feelings, families, goals, and more in a normal setting.
When choosing a place for your company retreat, there are a few things to consider:
- Make sure lodging is close to where you'll be working. We've made the mistake of booking lodging too far away and we wasted a lot of time on transportation and waiting and traffic. Time is already limited in person with remote companies, so don't make the mistake we did. One crazy thing our American company has learned is the cultural expectations of privacy and closeness.
- The people are the most important part, so don't make the schedule too tight, as it's hard to even ask 11 sales reps to move from one conference room to a restaurant next door. Let things happen naturally, don't interrupt valuable impromptu conversations that are important to team members building relationships with one another. Those relationships are what will keep them at the company when there are problems, pandemics, or panic.
- However, it is a great idea to assign volunteer team members activities to host. This will help your small remote company plan the retreat, and will give them the valuable time they need without the bosses or managers around, all while giving them the leadership experience of hosting a fun activity.
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What's included:
-Flights -Lodging -Transportation to lodging -Meals while together as a team -Company swag giveaway items - Pics from our Earliest, most Informal retreats |
Location of our next retreatRetreats currently organized by: Matt Holmes
CEO / Founder of Handshaking, an outsourced team with staff in the Philippines, investing in local SEO lead generation websites. We sell monthly recurring phone call leads to US real estate contractor customers. 
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