5 incredible strategies for hosting a successful virtual team offsite

Even though we may not meet physically and have fun while discussing interesting topics like we used to, we can still replicate this experience in a digital world through a virtual team offsite. And while it may be less costly and daunting to organize than its physical counterpart, a virtual offsite still needs some level of strategic planning and team involvement. Here’s how to bring your remote team together virtually to have fun and build personal relationships.

Plan and set team intentions

Put down a detailed plan outlining logistics, time frame, financial commitment, and the roles of moderators and participants. This step should also include a session for teams to brainstorm about the experiences they would love to have and the activities worth their time. For teams organizing a virtual offsite for the first time, there’s a lot of moving pieces, so it’s advisable to seek input and suggestions from a professional virtual event organizer.

Build your virtual team offsite around carefully selected themes

A virtual team offsite can last anywhere from two days to over a week, depending on the team's goals. It helps to set a theme or goal for the schedule of events in order to direct the flow and rhythm of the activities. When defining themes, they should be broad enough to touch on many of the aspects that your employees care about and focused enough to help achieve their goals. For example, you can alternate activities from mental health to interpersonal relationships, or from brainstorming to professional goals.

Give team members the freedom to exhibit their skills

It’s clear that a virtual team offsite can’t achieve its goals without proper planning and moderation, but regulating every single hour can also take the fun out of the offsite. Thus, there needs to be a balance. A great idea is to give employees the freedom to showcase a talent they have through special sessions, whether that is a passion for making art, drawing, playing the guitar, or DJing. While this is fun, it also gives the entire team an opportunity to learn more about one another beyond work.

Infuse fun activities into every activity

The goal of a virtual team offsite is to have fun. This should be paramount regardless of the activities you choose because, without the fun, it wouldn’t be any different from the normal everyday zoom meetings. Whether you’re hosting a virtual trivia, an online gaming competition, or a virtual tour of historical sites, it should help employees unplug themselves from work.

Leave room for feedback from participants

Since virtual events are here to stay, it’s now more important than ever before to gather feedback from every participant at the end of every session. What did participants like or not like about the event? What improvements do they think you should add to the event? Constructive feedback from participants helps shape future activities for the better.

Plan ahead and infuse fun activities to guarantee a successful team offsite

Organizing a virtual team offsite requires more planning, strategies, and team involvement than our usual video calls. Thus, the activities that work in our daily virtual stand-ups or the weekly Zoom meetings aren’t guaranteed to work here. Therefore, every remote company needs that extra spice like virtual trivia or competitive mini-games to make a virtual team offsite exciting and uplifting.