When I started the social dining table, our 3,000 square foot loft at DC was messy in the best way. The Sonos playlist curated by the most productive sales rep of the week, a open office where it blends into one another, with tables on wheels meaning anyone can move anywhere.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that, like the environment we created, our innovative culture also fueled our innovative culture.
Remote and hybrid work will stay here today. Most companies do not force RTOs and do not have good reasons. Productivity remains almost the same, and employee preferences can greatly affect remoteness.
But it’s nervous: while the output looks good on paper, it’s innovative (especially the kind that requires quick feedback and creative tension when people aren’t in the same room).
In other words, it is easier to innovate when people feel connected and belonging.
Innovation gap in remote work
A recent McKinsey paper supports this: “Remote workers need additional leadership support, including guidance and guardrails for the tasks at hand, but also need to get buys or funds from other leaders.” When people are in the same space, ideas naturally conflict. It’s hard to improvise on zoom. Leader real-time coaching, this is something you can’t do in slackness.
So, how can remote leading companies innovate without dragging back to the office?
Situation as a strategy
An unreasonable answer is to bring together teams whose work requires innovation. Not an office or retreat-style reward, but a purposefully designed off-site.
Further, by making team building retreats and strategic planning Offsites a core part of your operational model – not that good, not rewards, but outings, but basic tools for connectivity and innovation. As a core part of the corporate quarterly pace.
The remote people do a great job, not just to boost morale, but to create psychological security, enhance organizational commitment, and inspire creativity and innovation.
How to design a moving needle
Too much cookies cut: Arrive at the hotel, eat in the local restaurant, meet in the sultry function room, and spend happy hours in the bar. This tired model was flushed and repeated for three days. Then repeat in the second year.
These “slants” fail to realize that the goal is not to entertain your team, but to empower them.
I suggest the following three design principles:
1. Start with the hospitality.
A successful retreat creates a sense of belonging. To get to this state faster, participants need to be welcomed in the environment they belong to. They need to feel real warmth in the way they treat them.
To do this, make sure the party is located in a relatively easy-to-reach destination and the community it is in is safe. As long as everyone has their own private room, the venue can be small in order to have some level of professional intimacy form.
2. Drink alcohol.
Alcohol is exclusive (because some don’t drink), dangerous (because some people are non-professional), distracting (because people move the focus elsewhere), and ineffective (because people with hangovers can’t perform).
Rather than usually wanting participants to form a happy hour for bonds, consider using thoughtful questions to foster conversations like whether you can learn any topics that you know nothing about, what would that be, and why? Such questions are not just about helping people know each other. They open a deeper connection for people who share the same interests.
3. Design retreat.
It’s the same without a single place. Even if you have the same precise procedures, current events, weather, attendee emotions, etc., such as results such as off-site may be affected. That’s why every party needs to be planned only.
After considering your goals, intentionally retreat to the company and add activities and experiences that can help you reach your goals. If the design sprint is on the agenda, take the team to improvise workshops to activate creativity. Similarly, if you are working on an annual plan, start the retreat with sound meditation to bring everyone together.
Face-to-face time does not need to be constant, but it needs to be calculated. A good retreat can complete a few months of virtual synchronization. It provides a time and place for the team to gather around a common goal and make them feel like they belong to them.
Dan Berger is the founder of the cluster and the author of the authoritative guide to Mission: Finding Attribution.
