8+ Virtual Retreat Ideas For Remote Work Companies‍

Virtual retreats are fun not just for employees but also for the ones organizing it. As organizers, you get to pick and suggest ideas on what employees will do during the time of the retreat. However, you should note that not every activity out there is worth exploring.

Remember that a virtual retreat is a time for employees to get their minds off work and unwind. Alongside relaxation retreats also help in team building, creating a stronger relationship between employees, and improving effective communication.

Given the above mentioned facts, you must implement virtual retreat activities that supports the goal behind your company’s initiative. In this article, we have listed proven-to-work activity ideas used by various remote companies.

Before we get to the list, let us brush our understanding of these virtual retreats.

Table of Contents

1. What Is A Virtual Retreat?
2. What To Know Before Starting A Virtual Retreat?
3. Virtual Retreat Ideas To Follow

What Is A Virtual Retreat?

Just like an in-person retreat, the goal of its digital version of it would be to allow employees to relax a bit from work. It’s a period where team members can bond together through the activities in the retreat.

There are many reasons why a company invests in an event like this:

Team building

One of the top reasons would be to increase and strengthen team relationships in the workplace. This might sound cheesy, but that reason can lead to many advantages that the company will enjoy.

Some of the benefits of excellent teamwork would be increased productivity, better communication, smoother execution of projects and campaigns. This initiative doesn’t just strengthen members' relationships within the same department; it also facilitates inter-department communication.

Renewed spirit at work

Another top reason could be to lessen the burnout of employees. When people work non-stop, they tend to be tired from doing the same tasks and feel uninspired when coming to the workplace. Any team leader knows that this scenario should be avoided at all costs.

When employees are tired and burned out, their productivity will significantly decrease. This can negatively affect the quality of work, the time spent on tasks, and can lead to being unmotivated to work towards the company’s goals.

These are the main reasons why businesses love to hold company retreats. It allows their employees to unwind and have fun. This period relaxes their mind and body. It’s like a mini-time off work but involves fun and engaging activities.

What To Know Before Starting A Virtual Retreat?

Before we get into the virtual retreat ideas, let’s first discuss the things you need to do. At this point in time, you’re preparing various things to make this virtual retreat a success. So without further ado, here is your pre-virtual retreat checklist:

Determine the goal of this event

You’re not conducting a virtual retreat for no reason. This initiative should have a goal as to why the company is doing this. Is it so that the team can rest? Is it done to build and strengthen relationships? Is it to create a fun experience? Or is it all of these things?

Whatever the reason is, make sure to define the goal before you start the virtual retreat. This will help you have a clear direction on how the event will take place.

Brainstorm ideas with a team

To increase the chances of success, try to work with a dedicated team for the virtual retreat. This will allow you to have more ideas on how the company can achieve its goals for this event. Moreover, working with a team ensures better structure, event flow, and activity ideas.

Having more than one head in this initiative will make the challenge easier. Remember that you’re holding a virtual event that is quite different from a live one. With a virtual retreat, attendees are facing a computer that lacks the human connection compared to an in-person event.

Work with a budget

Virtual retreats should be far cheaper than in-person events as the company doesn’t need to rent a place and spend on other items and amenities. But, if spending is still required on a virtual retreat, make sure to only work within the given budget.

Draft the program structure

On the day of the event, you just can’t wing it. There should be a program structure that should be followed and well planned. You can even note how substance abuse treatment centers and other inpatient treatment facilities structure their program within the day or week.

They’re a great example because they’re the ones who are excellent in achieving change in a person’s behavior – just like what you’re doing here in the virtual retreat.Not only will this produce a smoother event, but the program structure can also be presented to the attendees. This gives them something to look out for.

Perform a test run

This part is quite hard to do, but once it is achieved, you’ll be more confident about how the event will go. If you’re the coordinator, you want to make sure that everything has been tested so you’ll be less anxious and more confident with the program on the day of the event.

Virtual Retreat Ideas To Follow

Icebreakers

Since almost everyone in the company will join this virtual retreat, it’s always good to start this event with icebreakers. These icebreakers serve as a way to get the nerves off. They also make the shy people of the group less tense and anxious.

Icebreakers can be a series of get-to-know-you questions. It will be like an introduction to all the attendees of the virtual event. Questions could be:

• What is your name?
• What is your job title?
• What is your job description?
• Where are you joining from?

From these serious questions, you can add fun and entertaining ones that everyone will listen to like:

• If you could live the life of any historical figure, who would you choose?
• What is something that you feel proud of this week?
• Which international icon do you like the most?
• If aliens appeared on earth tomorrow, what would you say and offer to them?
• What life quote do you live by the most?
• If you could add anyone to Mount Rushmore, who would it be; why?

There are several questions that you can ask to break the ice. You can even go for questions that relate to your company. Just remember that the purpose of the icebreaker is to set a fun atmosphere throughout the event.

To know more about icebreaker games, check out this 26 Best Icebreaker Games for Remote Teams article for more ideas.

Different workshops

Your program can include different workshops that can help team members be better at their jobs or start knowing more about new activities by joining workshops that are particularly brand new to them.

In these workshops, you can do frontline training, back-end office training, personal development teachings, be more efficient at work, marketing training, start an Amazon FBA business, and many more. These workshops may or may not be work-related. But what’s important is it will help your employees grow. To encourage more people to join, you can mention that every member needs to join one training session during the virtual retreat.

Show a picture of something they are proud of

In virtual retreats, a common goal of businesses would be to increase the confidence of their employees. And showing a picture that they are proud of to people in the company can help increase the confidence of team members.

This picture could be anything. It could be a photo of them graduating, being with their family, being on vacation, catching a big fish, owning a house, buying a car, etc. Any photo that they are proud of can be included.

When people get to share something that they are proud of, especially when tied to life accomplishments, it can make them more confident. People who show confidence tend to be better at work, finish tasks on or before the deadline, are more efficient, and the quality of their work will be top-notch.

Time travel to the early days of the company

When your company has been around for several years already, it’s a good idea to show the current employees the history of the business. It makes them understand and see how the company was created and started.

Presenting the history behind the business will give employees a perspective that what they’re doing is a continuation of what the core founders did. It gives them a higher sense of purpose when doing their tasks and jobs.

Additionally, showing the company's history can also show founding values and its vision for the future. Presenting the timeline will also show the challenges and hardships that the early employees went through. It makes current employees empathize and realize how much the early team members of the company went through to make the business what it is today.

This particular event will also show the growth and the milestones that the company has achieved throughout the years. Displaying these significant triumphs can act as a motivation to the current staff.

Implement escape games

Escape games are fun since they are designed to be accomplished through a collaborative effort. The teams will be asked to solve riddles, find keys and clues to escape the room. The game should have a timer to make things a bit more interesting. This will make teams more focused.

You can also add a reward system to really motivate the team to do their best. If the reward is significant enough, everyone will bring their A-game. Consequences can also be thrown in the mix. Any team that lands in fourth place and below should perform a consequence that will entertain everybody.

The purpose of adding an escape game in the virtual retreat would be to support further teamwork, collaboration, and brainstorming efforts. This will increase camaraderie within the company. The experience here can be applied when challenges are faced in work.

Virtual trivia games

Trivia games are part of almost all entertaining events that companies use. The question now is, would you go with a company-themed trivia game? A generalized one? Or both?

Whichever type it is, attendees of the event will surely have a great time. If you’re able to construct a series of relatable questions and something that your attendees love, this event will be a memorable one for them.

Employee wellness

Try to add a wellness session after all games and activities are done in your program structure. Wellness sessions can be meditation and mindfulness events. This can be led by a hired professional or someone in the company who does this regularly. An online video or audio resource can also be utilized here.

This type of session is important since it will greatly help team members relax their minds, bodies, and souls. It will teach them breathing techniques to use when they find themselves in a stressful situation.

This initiative can even be integrated into the company as a permanent session – it doesn’t need to be on virtual retreats only. In 2018, 52% of employers provided mindfulness classes to their employees. A study led by the University of California even reported that meditation could provide increased ability to sustain attention.

Teaching your employees to meditate can allow them to relax after a day filled with tasks and work. A professional can even suggest tinctures and topicals and even self-care applications to aid with this process. This will help employees feel more relaxed and calm.

An AMA with the CEO

An Ask-Me-Anything session with the CEO can be considered as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the attendees of the virtual retreat. It’s not every day that the CEO sits down with their company staff and will be open to any questions.

This can be the time when people can ask how the CEO got to where he is today, what financial advice can he give, how to climb the corporate ladder, how does he balance a hectic schedule, how did he scale the once small company into an industry leader, etc.

Since it’s an ask me anything session, the staff can also ask questions that are not work-related. Go personal. Ask for life advice, family advice, personal development questions, how to stay focused, and how to reach your goals in life.

Your CEO is there for a reason. And if your CEO is an excellent one, he will answer those questions truthfully. His answers should come from a place where he genuinely wants to help his staff improve their lives.

Have A Virtual Photo Booth

Having a memory of an event is a great thing, but having photos can make it more nostalgic when looking back after a few years. So for your team members to have a physical memory of your virtual retreat, incorporate a virtual photo booth where they can have pictures with their team and new friends.

This one is a great idea, especially if you’re going with a themed-style virtual retreat. Pictures will look fun and cute when everyone’s wearing their Hawaiian polos, retro outfits, pajamas, and other ideas.

Virtual Awards Show

This particular event is a way of recognizing team members' efforts in the workplace. You could either make this event a serious or goofy one wherein you have fun and unique awards that everyone will find funny.

The categories could be:

• First Email Responder - These are the people that respond consistently first to corporate emails.
• Best Curator Of Email Subject Lines - This award can go to the person with the most creative email subject lines for corporate email, abandoned cart email subject lines, or conversational email subject lines.
• Best Troubleshooter - These are the people or people who troubleshoot the fasts when such an issue arises in the workplace.
• The Best Tech Geek - This is the person who is up to date with tech news and always suggests using new technology in the company.
• The Most Customer Friendly - This is the person who has received the highest customer satisfaction. He/she can be the one who empathizes the most with customers.
• Giphy Award - These are the people that send the best GIFs in the company’s group chat.
• Best Zoom Background - These are the people that always display the best Zoom background whenever the company has a Zoom meeting.
• Most Competitive Team - The winner is the team that has the most awards and points gathered during the virtual retreat.
• Night-owl/s Of The Company - These are the people online in the weirdest hours of the night.
• The Best-Dressed Of The Company - This person always dresses to impress, whether it’s a company meeting or a team session.
• The Go-Getter - This is the person who has gathered the company's most incentives.

To make this virtual award show feel like a real in-person event, make sure to create a virtual invitation that’s fancy and contains all the relevant information about the event. Include the date, time, the zoom link, the dress code, and a short message.

You can also incorporate virtual backgrounds that are fancy and feel like the attendees are in a very prestigious place. Don't disclose the award categories to make it more interesting and fun. This will make the attendees surprised and have a good laugh.

Conclusion

Virtual retreats are a fun event that all of the company’s staff enjoy. It's an event that allows team members to relax and have fun with their coworkers. The activities here help establish new relationships, strengthen current friendships, and improve teamwork and collaboration.

Implementing the ideas above will help create the virtual retreat more fun and memorable. It will be a great experience and a memory that will last forever.

Author Bio

Burkhard Berger is the founder of Novum™. You can follow him on his journey from 0 to 100,000 monthly visitors on novumhq.com. His articles include some of the best growth hacking strategies and digital scaling tactics that he has learned from his own successes and failures.