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How Remote Workers Are Transforming The Company Retreat

This article is more than 8 years old.

The Future of Work debate has sparked incredible transformations in workplace culture. We’re starting to see honest and real change in employee engagement. No stone will be left unturned as employees and leaders find mutual value in each other.

Even the company retreat is getting a much needed shakeup. Teams no longer have to endure a faceless, beige conference room with boring cold sandwiches and uninspiring corporate culture exercises.

Thanks to efforts being made by progressive virtual teams and digital nomad communities, borderless employees are using unique pockets of the world as a backdrop for team building and collaboration exercises. Sure there are companies that are ahead of the pack, but there are far too many organizations that fail to invest in the job of motivating their employees. Let's change that.

Below you’ll find a simple tool and two stunning locations that can offer your team a world of collaboration and adventure:

Startup Retreats

If you’re not even sure where or what your team might want to do for a retreat, Startup Retreats might be a great place to start. Startup Retreats consolidates a complete list of retreat locations and options for companies to consider.

Pieter Levels, creator of the service,  has made a name for himself in digital nomad circles as a master aggregator. RemoteOk is his portal for recent remote work job openings. Nomad List is a database of digital nomad friendly destinations around the world.

Levels’ work with Startup Retreats offers an incredibly simple directory of events, experiences and locations your team can enjoy around the world. Simply click a pin on the map and explore.

Outsite

Outsite aims to merge the offsite experience with the outdoors. The company offers beautiful locations and accommodation for small and medium sized teams to connect and create together. With current locations in Californian cities of San Diego and Santa Cruz, Outsite expects to expand to other US areas like Lake Tahoe and Hawaii.

Beyond the aesthetics of a getaway location, the company also curates offsite and event experiences and has counted teams from Google and LinkedIn as happy customers. Teams can spend the day working and then enjoy outdoor activities like surfing, hiking, and even beach clean up sessions. Startup Surfbus is a unique networking event where attendees can mix beach adventures with relationship building and absorb keynote conversations from influential minds in the business community. Unplugged was another summer event where Outsite invited attendees to fully disconnect from their online lives and dive into a world of outdoor survival exercises and fun.

The Blue House

Aline Mayard’s Blue House accommodates large teams and solo traveling remote workers. Mayard has secured a location in the Moroccan fishing village of Taghazout and can create offsite programs for teams of 10 or 100.

After running a couple of pilot programs with rented housing in the area, Mayard is now actively raising money to secure and launch a permanent location for Blue House retreats, offsites, and residencies. Blue House stands out not only for its stunning and unique location, but also because the service can cater to teams beyond the startup world (as does Outsite).

That’s an important aspect to consider: these resources aren’t just for shiny new startups looking to standout. Established companies can also take advantage of these services to improve the kinds of break out excursions employees can enjoy.

Your teams need to be inspired, and what better way to get them motivated than by shuttling them to an experience like no other?

Is your company transforming the Future of Work? Get in touch with me on Twitter here: @kaviguppta.