If the answer to ‘have you had an offsite in the last 20 months?’ is in the negative, you join the 64% of corporate employees who have also missed their corporate outing because of the pandemic. This is a reminder for you and your company, nudging them to plan that long due corporate offsite.
Gone are the days when companies would plan outing once every couple of years. Today an annual or bi-annual retreat is a must given how stressful work environments can be, lack of communication because of work from home and the need to be productive despite it all. Studies have shown that there is tons of good that comes from having such offsite get-togethers and a few of the reasons have been elaborated below.
1. In-Person vs Virtual Meetings
Yes, WFH (Work from Home) gave us all the freedom to balance our corporate personal lives in 2020, but there’s only so much that you can do via video calls and virtual meets. The joy and adrenaline rush of meeting your peers in a face-to-face session to strategise, brainstorm and plan ideas cannot be matched by a ting-ting of them connecting on a video call. Almost 80% of the respondents agree that they miss the in-person meetings and cannot wait to meet their colleagues.
And yet, why limit yourself to a boring, vanilla board room? The best place to have your next corporate outing or strategy meeting would be a private estate which provides more of a casual setup where your minds can run wild – no walls lead to out-of-the-box strategies! Think financial plans on the lawns, growth strategies at the dining table, and marketing decisions in the pool! Getting out, taking a breath of fresh air and stepping out of one’s comfort zone will push your team to think beyond the regular.
What better way to get the best ice breakers ideas going than on the lawns of the stunning SaffronStays Raanwaara and Aranya Vilaas, Kamshet? With 10 individual cottages, the team gets ample personal space in between all the bonding and brainstorming activities. There’s also plenty of board games like carrom, table tennis and outdoor activities to keep everyone occupied.
2. Welcoming The New Team
Think of the time you joined a new job – settling in, understanding your peers and your superiors, hanging out by the water cooler or coffee machine to know the team better, and slowly making a space for your voice in the team. New workplaces mean new work, as well as new teammates, new groups, new policies. Imagine having to imbibe a company’s culture without being immersed in it at all. Sounds foreign, doesn’t it? Most new joinees in the last few years have not had a face-to-face interaction with the team, and with no corporate outing on the cards, the comfort level that team members share has been thrown off tremendously. A team outing helps everyone across hierarchy bond well.
SaffronStays Kairos Zeus and Kairos Athena in Karjat are a cluster of homes that are great for larger groups and the bonding that can happen over fun activities with everyone from work. There is so much to see and do here, post completion of work. This is a great place to sit together, work and brainstorm, and connect with each other face-to-face without the intervention of screens and questionable internet connections but just quiet to put together critical thoughts. Experience Greek-style living in adjoining pool villas, enjoy multi-cuisine spreads and avail camping and outdoor activities that make this a coming together of work and pleasure.
3. Rewarding Those Who Have Stood By The Company
The last 20 months have been nothing short of a whirlwind for most companies. While some organisations had wind beneath their wings, many organisations had to struggle to keep up and stay afloat. To every employee that helped your company get to where it is now, it is time to say thank you – for the patience, for the new routine, and for serving way beyond their KPIs and KRAs. Many companies would like to show gratitude to their employees for their exceptional service during the coronavirus pandemic.
Given the hybrid model of working that many companies are following post-Covid, a stay at SaffronStays Misty Mountains with 4 cozy cottages in Pali makes for a great offsite break with work colleagues. Hosting upto 50 people, there are separate areas for business meetings and work catchups, and a pool with a massive lawn to unwind in.
4. Regroup. Relax. Rise.
“If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” —Banksy
Let’s be honest – Managing a WFH schedule is not a walk in the park; it requires calculated time management, honest expectation setting and disciplined trust amongst colleagues. The fine line between work-life balance, the ever-looming stress of COVID-19, the general sense of uncertainty and the constant struggle to make it through the pandemic while working for 8-14 hours a day has resulted in countless employees feeling burnt out. Taking a digital detox and a serious break from screen life has been known to boost employees productivity. Corporate outings and personal outings should be added to the To-Do List this quarter.
For day events like conferences and board meetings, you can plan a trip to SaffronStays Serene Retreat in Alibaug. A short drive away from Mumbai, this is an ideal place to have those serious meetings, and after that unwind and catch greenery around, experience farm life, enjoy bonfires and barbeques or just catch up with colleagues for some chitchat and fun.
5. Expanding Mindsets and Increasing Productivity
Isolation is what everyone of us has been experiencing offlate, but as humans who thrive on connection, it is not a very comfortable space to be in for long. Connecting as peers and colleagues in office, not just helps in bettering work but also maximises productivity, keeps us happier and helps us learn new tasks and expands our minds to new ideas. All of this is lost or deprived in enforced WFH. Offsite travels and retreats help employees engage with colleagues and peers in an informal setting, gathering perspectives that might have otherwise been got through travels.
Corporate offsites can be a success when every employee finds their own space and kinds of activities they like, while also getting the important work out of the way. SaffronStays Sundowner in Karjat is an 8-bedroom private pool villa very close to Mumbai that is secluded and surrounds you with mountains and greenery. Have your meetings in the large banquet hall overlooking the hills, unwind in the pool outside or just hike to the Umroli Waterfalls- 35 minutes away or visit the Katwan Mountain View Point, just 20 minutes away.
For more private villas for corporate outings, for big and small teams, click HERE.
