We just did a team offsite in Bali and here’s why we would do it again.
Written by Megan Doyle.
And that’s a wrap!
We’ve just returned from hosting our very first Linum Labs offsite, where our team gathered in Bali, Indonesia for over a week-long strategy session.
At Linum Labs, we are a team of diverse individuals working remotely from all over the world towards the common goal of building impactful solutions through technology. We don’t get to see each other very often so when we do, we make the most of our time together.
Bali was both a beautiful destination, and the perfect location, to get together under one roof to brainstorm and bond. Offsites are really the best opportunity to get aligned, set the course for the next few months, and strengthen the team’s internal culture.
Planning an offsite does get a bit tricky the larger the team grows. If you’re planning a retreat for your remote team, it can be incredibly stressful, but we’ll dive into the ins and outs of our planning process so that it doesn’t have to be!
We’ll take you through what we did at our team retreat, why we decided on doing it in Bali and the outcome of our time there.
Landing in paradise
If you’re part of a remote team, you’ll know most of the tools used to communicate while at work, but sometimes it’s more productive to meet up with your team face to face. Some things just happen better in person.
After months of careful planning, we were able to lock down a location, a date, and an entire team’s schedule to make Bali 2018 a reality.
Here’s how we did it:
The planning
Hours were spent researching the right location, the availability of accommodation, good wifi connections, transport, catering services, and local central working spaces. From the cost-benefit analysis of locations to the duration comparison of flight times, we wanted to make sure that everyone was taken care of. Admittedly, choosing a time of year that suited all team members, was arguably the hardest part of planning the retreat.
The preparation
Leading up to the offsite, we created a travel pack to send to the team as a little taster of what to expect before arriving. It included information about the location, an itinerary, a packing checklist, and other information to get the team excited.
We also created a questionnaire (a quick Google survey) for the team to fill in prior to the offsite, about what needed to be prioritized in the itinerary, as a way to get input from everyone on key aspects that they felt needed to be highlighted in Bali. Finally, as a fun exercise, each team member completed an online personality type test to share during one of the interactive workshops at the offsite.
The location
Being in Bali combined hard work, fun and a one of a kind experience to see the sensational sights and culture of the local area. Working in a “not your everyday-type” of location helped the team embrace the “not your everyday” type of thinking.
We made sure that everyone stayed together in a villa to create a co-working, co-living environment to bounce ideas off one another and to create a space for collaboration to thrive and relationships to grow stronger.
The schedule
It can be challenging to fit so much into such a short period of time. That’s why we set up a schedule in advance to make sure that everything ran smoothly. Outlining daily sessions set up a good structure, with the ability for additional, more strategically directed, sessions to be added during the actual offsite. We capped each day at 6pm to relax, have fun and reset for the following day of work.
The swag
Bringing in some exclusive swag (some epic company merchandise) was a great way to boost morale and create a deeper sense of reward and connection among team members. We made sure that the team was kitted out with tote bags, new journals, pens, stickers, and t-shirts as souvenirs to take home to remember the occasion.
The materials
We brought sheets of paper, colourful markers, sticky notes, and stickers to bring our creative, collaborative ideas to life. We made sure to transfer all the information to an online document so that we could keep track of the outcome of each workshop.
We also brought along two cameras to the villa so that at any point in the day, team members could take a few candid snaps. This was a great way to make the retreat more meaningful and memorable.
The food
With a full day of workshops to get through, time was limited. We hired a chef so that everyone had a shared breakfast, leading up to another jam-packed, productive day. Lunches were light and healthy, to avoid feeling heavy and sleepy, and dinners consisted of takeaways and other opportunities where we were able to experience the local cuisine out and about town. Meal times were a wonderful way to bond with the team, consisting of good food and great company!
The activities
We set time aside for reflection, time to explore, time to work and time for the team to really get to know one another. If you plan on hosting a company retreat, we can highly suggest that you bring along a few tabletop games.
We wanted to focus on the activities that really matter; motivating the team and getting to know the people we work with. From team yoga sessions to late night charades to scoping out the best local hangouts, we made sure to make Bali 2018 a time to remember.
As a fun way to end off our last evening together, we planned a fines evening that captured a few of the more funnier moments and friendly banter of our time spent in the villa.
Added benefit
During our time on the island, we had an incredibly productive strategy retreat but we also made sure to stay true to our community building efforts by hosting our very first Ethereum Meetup in Bali.
The outcome
On the final day before our departure, we did a team retrospective to learn and improve on our time spent in Bali by answering these 3 questions:
- What worked well?
- What didn’t work well?
- What are we going to try to do differently next time?
With this particular retrospective, team members were encouraged to voice their experiences and to share their ideas for future retreats.
In Closing
During our time in Bali, we highlighted the importance and impact of teamwork, leadership and support, company culture, remote working practices and developing and communicating a strong strategic direction.
An annual retreat is the best way to meet your whole team in person and it’s a lot of fun. Not only were we able to get to know an amazing team of unique individuals, but we were also lucky enough to travel to an incredible location for a once in a lifetime experience.
As a team, we are incredibly excited to have uncovered a new strategic direction of Linum Labs during the offsite (announcement coming soon), and we are looking forward to what’s to come in the future. We have the technology, we have the knowledge, but most importantly we have the people to make it happen.
We’d love to hear any suggestions or lessons you’ve learned from previous team offsites with a specific focus on the remote working community. Let us know in the comments section or please give us a few ‘claps’ if you enjoyed this piece!
We’re hiring! If you want to work alongside our awesome team, check out the list of available positions here.
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