Virtual work retreats are the newest trend among companies who are desperately trying to encourage connection among their employees in a world that feels so disconnected.
But will more virtual work help solve the problem? That depends. If you try to just recreate what you would normally do in a virtual format, it probably will fall flat. At REEL Experiences, we’ve spent time developing an engaging and more personal virtual work retreat based around something that is both fun and meaningful: movies. Here’s how it’s different from the standard virtual work retreat.
Making virtual work retreats feel more human
When you have a team that works in different locations and maybe even different time zones, it’s hard for them to feel connected. You don’t get those break room chats about what your coworkers did over the weekend or see the new outfit your coworker saved just for a special presentation. There’s an element of humanity that leaves us with the virtual world.
If you’re hoping to connect, you have to do so with something that is universally accessible. That’s why we build connections through movies. During the pandemic, we might not be doing much but many people are watching more movies on Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, or whatever streaming platform they can find. There have even been plenty of jokes about getting to the end of Netflix with how much we’ve all been watching. Movies are something we all go to when we want to relax, learn something meaningful, or be transported to another world. That’s what makes them a great thing to talk about when you want more personal connections.
Everyone has their favorite movies. Those tried and true classics that we come back to time and time again. Those movies that we make sure our friends have seen before because they were so impactful on our own lives. Sharing your favorite movies through a REEL Experience reveals a bit about your own humanity that coworkers might not be getting these days.
Breaking up the monotony of Zoom meetings
If your virtual work retreat feels like a longer Zoom meeting, you’re missing the point. We want to break up the monotony of Zoom meetings. Sure, we still use Zoom but we also incorporate an app, breakout rooms, fun effects, movie trailers, and more.
Instead of just looking at the normal Zoom grid, we give more variety so that people can engage in new ways and feel like this retreat is different from their normal day-to-day meetings.
Why we’re anti-team-building
REEL Experiences is not team-building. We’re adamant that team-building is too shallow to explain what we do. The typical team-building experience might include an element of bonding or spending time together but that’s hard to force in a trip to a bowling alley or trust falls. Often, people who are friends will still stick together and even if you do find out something new about a coworker, it might just be a surface-level fact.
We teach meaningful lessons through movies, reveal part of your own personality, and even educate on diversity. We see ourselves as a step above team-building. It’s more about the emotional intelligence and self-awareness of your team. We want each member of your team to be the best, most authentic version of themselves, and a low-pressure way to reveal that is through films.
Transforming your team dynamics from ‘me’ to ‘we’
When teams are already working remotely in their own homes, it can be easy to feel separate. Each employee works at their own desk and only connects with coworkers through emails or meetings. It starts to feel like everyone on the team is an individual ‘me’ instead of working together as a ‘we.’
That’s the problem that our virtual work retreats help solve. We want to bring back that connection that was lost when life went remote. After all, if your team isn’t functioning as a unit, that can be detrimental to productivity, creativity, and overall work satisfaction.
Our need for connection, especially now
If you don’t get it by now, we’re all about REEL connections. 2020 took a lot of that away. We’re mostly isolated and we don’t get to know our colleagues in the way that we used to. People who used to hate small talk, are craving it now.
A virtual work retreat is time that your team can spend connecting again. It’s a reset button for teams that have spent too long apart or a way to integrate new team members who never had a chance to engage with the rest of the team one-on-one. It’s something we all need right now but you can’t just phone it in with a cheesy team-building exercise. You need a REEL Experience if you’re looking for a REEL connection.
