Setting aside time for a team retreat is crucial for boosting morale, employee engagement, and workplace culture. While there’s always the cost of employee time, event planning can also be expensive.
Here are five tips on how you can organize an affordable team retreat:
Tip #1: Find a Free or Low-Cost Venue
Consider hosting the retreat at your own home. Or, if you have a team member with access to a condo building or community space, you might use their amenities room. You can also book a free space at your local library or community center. If you can offer something in exchange, like trade with an organization that has a nice office space, that’s another option. For example, one of our clients, a Performing Arts Center, traded tickets for office space to host their retreat.
Tip #2: Cook a Meal
Prepare a meal yourself instead of catering. This not only saves money but can also be a fun team-building activity. At CuriosityBased, we had a pizza-making competition that everyone enjoyed.
Tip #3: Use In-House Facilitation
Instead of hiring an outside facilitator, ask team members if anyone wants to lead different parts of the retreat. This approach helps build leadership skills and empowers team members. If you’re still considering whether to hire an outside facilitator, check out our video on Self-facilitate or Hire a Facilitator? 10 Key Questions to Guide Your Decision
Tip #4: Get a Volunteer Facilitator
You might be surprised by who’s willing to volunteer their time to facilitate your retreat. Volunteers could be looking to practice their skills, fulfill pro bono hours, or earn a good testimonial. Julie used to offer facilitation services for free early in her career when she was learning.
Tip #5: Use AI to Take Notes
Leverage technology to handle note-taking, so you don’t have to hire someone or assign a team member to the task. Make technology work for you.
These tips are geared towards in-person retreats. If you’re considering an online retreat, you can save even more money. For more guidance, check out our video on In-Person or Online Retreat: Making the Choice.
We hope you find these tips useful! If you found this video helpful, please like and share it.
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