Company Offsite Ideas & Team Building Activities that work For Small Teams
If you are looking for a location that suits about 20 guests, within driving distance of Kansas City, we would love to talk to you about how we can help you with your company meeting.
Rock House Retreats would love to help you host a great Company offsite at our location just 1 hour from downtown Kansas City.
Company Offsites are team-building events that take place outside the workplace. This event may last a day or multiple days. Some examples include Golf, Escape rooms, and geocaching. This event will help create ties between the employees. This event is commonly known as a “team offsite” a “business offsite” or a “Team Retreat.” These gatherings are similar to company retreats or virtual team retreats and are examples of team meeting ideas.
We can’t cover every topic in depth but will cover a broad overview of 3 main areas of interest when it comes to company offsite events.
1: Common questions about team offsites
2: The value of offsite team-building activities
3: Ideas to boost team morale
Common Questions About Team Offsites
What makes a good team offsite?
Company offsites are an important part of creating a strong and cohesive corporate culture. They provide the opportunity for team members to bond, learn in new ways, increase their creativity, and boost morale. These events allow employees to step away from the office and explore different venues or activities with the intention of furthering relationships, developing skills, and encouraging each other.
What should be included in an offsite?
An offsite should be an opportunity for team building and recreation, allowing the team to get away from the normal day-to-day routine and activities. It should provide a chance for individuals to interact together outside of a formal work setting in order to build relationships and foster a sense of camaraderie among staff members. Additionally, providing great food and drink can boost morale and contribute positively to your company culture.
***
How do you run a successful offsite?
Hiring a professional facilitator can be an effective way to ensure that your offsite event is successful. Experienced facilitators can help create an atmosphere of mutual respect, collaboration, and problem-solving, while also providing guidance to ensure that the event runs smoothly and efficiently. They can manage the agenda, help facilitate difficult conversations, provide feedback, and relieve you (the organizer) of a ton of stress.
What is the purpose of an offsite?
An offsite is an opportunity for a company to come together and focus on the bigger picture. It is a time for the team members to step away from their daily tasks and look at the organization from a different perspective, allowing for meaningful conversations about the vision, mission, values, and goals of the company. Offsites are designed to boost whatever metric you decide to focus on.
Why have a company offsite?
– Increase team morale
– Enhance communication and collaboration
– Foster a sense of camaraderie
– Develop trust among employees
– Strengthen leadership skills
– Boost creativity and innovation
– Improve problem-solving skills
– Forge relationships with vendors, partners, and customers
– Celebrate success and learn from failures
What should a team cover offsite?
Prior to having an offsite, it is important to be organized and intentional in the planning and preparation of the event. This includes deciding what topics will be discussed and tasks worked on during the offsite. You don’t want to get back from your time away and not really know if you accomplished anything. Your goals need to come from the main pain points in your business but the topic needs to be something that can be addressed indirectly as “goals and ideals instead of from a negative direction like “we need to stop messing this or that thing up.”
Why are corporate offsite events becoming so popular, anyway?
For many years I worked for a construction company where the owner genuinely believed that “culture” was a myth. He didn’t want to invest in his workers because he believed that they would leave for more money at the drop of a hat. Because of this belief, he inadvertently created a culture where he would see good workers come and go for more money than they received at another employer. Most of the time (if they were good at the job) they stayed for only a few months, but lower-quality workers stayed because they couldn’t get paid more anywhere else. The truth is that he created the culture he believed in.
Many organizations now have to address an important issue: how do we make teams better? Employee engagement levels are crucial to company success whether they are retained on location or remote. Gallup has found that employee engagement leads to several positive business outcomes. Finding a good activity to engage your staff can be difficult.
How do you organize an offsite meeting?
1. Decide on the Goals of Your Offsite Meeting
2. Book the Location that Best Fits Those Goals
3. Create an Itinerary for the Meeting
4. Prepare Materials and Supplies Needed for the Meeting
5. Execute Your Plan and Facilitate Discussions During the Meeting
6. Follow Up After The Offsite to Ensure Everyone is On Track With What Was Discussed
7. Reflect on How You Can Improve Future Meetings
Are offsite meetings only for work?
Offsite meetings are not only for work-related purposes. They can also be used to build relationships, brainstorm ideas, and foster collaboration among team members. Offsite meetings provide a different atmosphere than the office, and this can encourage more creative thinking and better communication between participants. Furthermore, offsite meetings allow people to get away from distractions and be relaxed around their work teams.
How do you make offsite meetings engaging?
If a group is planning on hosting a meeting off-site there are two things to consider. Have a goal for the meeting that makes everyone involved know how to go. Organize an event on-site before the event to ensure only sincerely-interested visitors can attend. Do not be limited to the work. Promote fun events for employees.
2: The value of offsite team-building activities
Improved Communication Skills
Communication is critical for any company’s success in the business. Creating teamwork helps the participant communicate while doing tasks.
Rediscover Your Purpose
During the recent pandemic, many workers felt like they had lost their purpose or that the job they were doing just didn’t matter anymore. If your team feels sluggish and disconnected you should host workshops to help employees develop an intentional and meaningful culture. A company offsite can be a time to just focus on the good that your company does for its clients and employees and help your teams recognize that the work they do is meaningful.
Team Building Activities For Smaller Teams
The Rock House is an ideal location for an offsite just outside of Kansas City. Situated on a small lake in a private setting, it offers a unique combination of both rural serenity and convenience to the city. Located on one of the region’s highest points, the site offers unparalleled views of rolling hills and sunsets that stretch across Johnson County Missouri.
Especially in a smaller company, each team member is crucial for your success, and because of your size, the entire team will benefit from and be able to contribute to company’s offsite ideas.
Invite and involve the right people
When involving team members, the most important thing is to identify the right people who need to be involved.
When inviting team members to present, it’s important to give them enough time to prepare. This helps ensure the presentation is well-structured, with all relevant facts and details included. It also allows team members to practice presenting their material beforehand, so they can be confident and deliver a great presentation.
Set Competitive Challenges
A little competition does not damage the team – it only strengthens the uniting spirit. Create challenges for the team to help the group set achievable goals and targets. Among many challenges are fitness challenges. It helps to encourage competitiveness in team sports and enhances the overall performance of the sport.
Collaboration Workshop
Business authors have suggested a variety of formats for collaborative workshops, ranging from traditional lecture-style sessions to more interactive, hands-on approaches. One such format is the Fishbowl Discussion, which is often utilized when looking to generate ideas or explore complex topics. This approach has participants seated in a circle with one inner circle that is actively engaged in the discussion. Those in the outer circle observe and take notes, which can lead to further collaboration.
The Case Study approach is another popular format for collaborative workshops. This method requires participants to analyze a particular case study or project, typically involving a specific problem or topic. Participants are encouraged to share their perspectives and contribute ideas, often through role-playing or simulations.
The Brainstorming Workshop is also a favorite among business professionals. This format typically requires participants to generate ideas and solutions to a particular problem or challenge. Participants are encouraged to think creatively, share their thoughts with the broader group, and build upon each other’s suggestions.
Finally, the Design Thinking approach is an interactive and engaging format for collaborative workshops. This method focuses on user experience and encourages participants to empathize with those who will be utilizing a particular product or service. Through discussions, prototyping, and storyboarding, participants are able to develop creative solutions that respond to customer problems.
3: Ideas to boost team morale
Room Escape Games
Here are some good bonding activities that involve leadership skills, teamwork, logic, patience, and a lot of time. Room Escape Game: Escape room. These are becoming extremely popular team-building exercises. A group is “locked up” within a room with a 1-hour timer. They must discover hidden objects, solve puzzles and find clues so that they can get their keys back. And that doesn’t happen easily: Only 20% to 50% of players actually escape before the hour is up. If you need to convert an office to escape room then hiring a professional can be really helpful.
Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunt is one of the best outdoor activities available. Often times this involves teams working in tandem on solving puzzles. There are numerous methods for organizing a team scavenger hunt. When organizing a scavenger hunt, split the team into groups. Provide each team with a list of items to find in a specific timeframe. This can be done outdoors or indoors, depending on the preferences of the participants.
These activities are all great for developing problem-solving skills and helping groups work together as a unit. They also provide an opportunity for teams to take risks, have some fun, and develop friendships.
Play “Two Truths And a Lie”
One team-building game for employees is two truths and a lie. Ask staff for 3 things they can share, one should be a lie. Have everyone guess who’s lying. This is a great way to get to know each other. It encourages people to share something about themselves and provides an environment for everyone to feel comfortable talking with one another.
Board Game Tournament
The annual office board game tournament is about to begin, and the stage is set for an exciting competition. Teams of two players will face off in a double elimination bracket, competing in a variety of popular board games. Each team will have the chance to prove their skills in classic titles such as Monopoly, Risk, and Battleship…
Trampoline Park
Trampoline park has become an important attraction to everyone from young to old. Some places offer adults only nights or offer rentals for your group. Trampoline parks can burn off energy while having fun. You should look into nearby trampoline sites to make sure they have private bookings for groups of adults. Some companies book this reservation during the day. A further option is running a team building activity involving obstacle courses and relay events.
Painting Class
Welcome to our painting class! For the next hour, we will be exploring the world of creativity and expression through art. This exercise is a great way for us to get out of our comfort zone and try something new as a team. We’ll start by discussing some tips on how to paint before getting into the fun part – creating your own masterpiece! So grab your brush, pick up some paints, and let’s get started!
Team building activities are a great way to strengthen team morale and create an environment of collaboration. From room escape games to scavenger hunts, board game tournaments, trampoline parks, and painting classes! These activities help teams develop leadership skills, problem-solving abilities, patience, and logic while creating friendships that last beyond the workplace. By investing in these types of events or experiences you can foster better communication among your employees which will ultimately lead to improved job satisfaction across the entire company. Investing time into team-building exercises helps build trust within groups so they can work together more effectively towards common goals – leading to greater success for your business as a whole.
Hopefully, you got a creative company offsite idea or 2 from our list and now you’re ready to invest in a team outing. If so, give us a call and see if Rock House Retreats can help you with your next event.