Tips on Planning a Fun Small Business Retreat After COVID

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After over a year of battling the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is finally getting back to business. This makes it the perfect opportunity to plan a small business retreat for your staff to bring everyone together and start looking ahead. Here are five tips for planning a successful small business retreat in a post-COVID-19 world.

Plan a Getaway

With more people starting to get the itch to travel again, this is a fabulous excuse to take your staff out for a getaway. There are a number of places that make it easy and convenient to host a business retreat.

For example, consider renting one of the premium Gatlinburg cabins to accommodate your group. You will love the stunning natural setting of this location, providing loads of inspiration as you brainstorm ways to improve your business. With available cabins in a variety of sizes, it is also easy to find the right fit for your staff.

Take Precautions

Just because the virus is starting to get under control, it does not mean that you can abandon all COVID-19 protocols. It is important to still take the proper precautions to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Encouraging all attendees to get vaccinated before attending the retreat is the best thing that you can do to prevent the spread of the virus. Perhaps you want to set up a vaccination clinic at your worksite to facilitate this endeavor? Other good measures include ensuring that there is plenty of hand sanitizer on hand and having masks available for people who may have forgotten to bring some along.

Consider Food and Drink Carefully

In a world where the COVID-19 virus is still present, it is a good idea to consider your food and drink options carefully. This is probably not the best time to dive back into a buffet setup for your meal options.

Many caterers now offer individually packaged meals to make it easier to feed your attendees without the worry of contamination. Individually wrapped breakfast sandwiches and pastries, boxed lunches, and plated dinners are all good ideas to consider when planning the food for your retreat.

Take it Outside

The good news is that summer is on the way, making it easier to plan as much of your retreat as possible outdoors. This naturally reduces the risk of COVID-19 while allowing you to take advantage of the weather this season.

Spending time outside will also naturally boost everyone's creative juices, delivering more inspiration as you look ahead to the future of your organization. It is also easier to plan socially distanced activities when you are outside. Good ideas include a golf outing, a scavenger hunt, an outdoor movie night, or lawn games such as croquet and cornhole.

Plan Activities to Reconnect

There is a good chance that many of your staff have been working from home over the last year. This makes it important to plan activities at your event that will help them to reconnect with their coworkers.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that everyone will be able to jump back into the social aspect of work after so much time out of these settings. For this reason, it is a good idea to start the retreat with some icebreakers. This will also be helpful to the new staff members that may have been brought on board since the pandemic began.

Conclusion

A business retreat is an excellent way to bring your staff together and plan for what lies ahead. By following these tips, you will pull off a great event in a post-COVID-19 setting.