An essay by John Melonakos
Corporate Retreats
As an early startup, we did not have budget for fancy corporate retreats. We were also too busy to break away. I regret we didn’t make the time and do inexpensive retreats.
Last year we did our first mini overnight retreat and it was awesome. This year I hope to go bigger with the retreat and break away for 2-3 nights to a nice location. I want to make it an annual opportunity for employees and families to gather together and enjoy quality time together.
Being in Georgia, there are very convenient and great options:
- Florida beach houses
- Caribbean cruises
- Mexico resorts
- Cabins in the Appalachian mountains
Retreats are great times to build culture and camaraderie among team members.
Does your startup do corporate retreats? Where have you gone? What time of the year do you do retreats?
From the conversation
Comments preserved from the original post.
lance
Barnsley Gardens, Calloway, and Stone Mountain are all close enough to Atlanta to make for a short drive but far enough away to get out of the city. I recommend doing them twice a year in cadence with strategic priority management http://blog.weatherby.net/2013/12/managing-with-strategic-priorities.html.
melonakos
In reply to an earlier comment
Thanks for the recommendation! We do quarterly planning meetings off site. It might be nice to try some of those places for those day-long meetings.