All the emotions of a company retreat
I’ve been trying to write a post about how to plan and/or enjoy company retreats, and haven’t made much progress. I’m taking a moment to think through all of the feels that came out of that week.
Denial
The retreat is still X week(s) away. We have time to figure out Y.
Rinse and repeat until the day of. :P
Anxiety
I’m about to run into four other coworkers at the airport. I’m gonna go brush my teeth and wash my face in the airplane bathroom.
Relief
Said coworkers all came in from Australia (30+ hours of travel time). I won’t be the smelliest one!
Awkwardness
Greetings. I always default to a handshake, but some people go in for the hug. Hugs are fine for me, but I don’t want to mess with my own default.
Accomplishment
Seeing everyone together at dinner the first night of the retreat. They’re chatting and getting to know each other. This is my favorite moment — so much so that I’m likely on the verge of tears.
Inspiration
After our first day of presentations from the CEO, COO, and Marketing team, I’m reminded why I joined in the first place and am excited to be a part of all this.
Overload
Several small logistical mistakes start piling up. I feel pretty shitty about it, but…
Surprise
The show must go on, and it does. And surprisingly, most everyone seems to be having a positive experience.
Gratitude
When I forget about something, my teammates are there to pick it up. Having a team means so much to me, especially during this week.
Tension
While always thinking about what’s next on the agenda, or some undone task, I often had a hard time relaxing during activities or free-time.
Connection
I made a point of talking to every single person there, at the very least for short introduction. For folks that I work more closely with, I kept a list (like a weirdo) and made sure we found at least 5 minutes to have a chat. Beyond that, I’d always sit with different folks at meals. I’m thankful for these connections!
Motivation
I learned about projects our teams are working on and what’s been going well. I also sat in on discussions of where things weren’t so good, but there was opportunity to talk through them and move forward together.
I’m coming away from it all with energy to start the projects we talked about or that were sparked from these conversations. I’m motivated by what I learned and am supported by folks I was able to connect with IRL.
But before I get to all that, I’m gonna sleep for days :)
Thanks for reading through! I wanted to write a silly post about all the feels from my first retreat at The Help Scout Team. I plan on getting into more of the details in another post soon. In the mean time, I’d love to hear about your own experiences at a company retreat!
