What time of the year to organise a company retreat?

Following our series of articles on the most popular questions regarding retreats, this time we tackle another big question – when is the right season to organize a company retreat? To put it briefly, spring and autumn are the most popular options for most of our clients, but the answer is not so simple.

Summer, and why it doesn’t always work

In the northern hemisphere, organizing a retreat in the summer is anything but simple:

All of these factors taken into consideration, summer is far from ideal for organizing a retreat.

Spring is much laxer when it comes to obligations, but bear in mind that lots of people have weddings during spring, and if someone’s invited as a guest, they can’t skip so easily.

No items found.

Winter might be an option

Strategically, January and February are good months to organize a retreat. As it’s the beginning of the year, your team members will be fresh and relaxed right after New Year and Christmas.

For an e-commerce business or an agency, these are two of the best months as teams can settle down and revisit their strategy for the upcoming year.

At Surf Office, our recommended retreat location for the winter is Gran Canaria. The reasons are simple. First of all, it doesn’t matter if it’s winter in Europe, you can kick back and enjoy the beach life. Second, it’s just an amazing place to be.

From our own experience

At Surf Office, our most popular months are May, June, September and October. However, we’ve hosted retreats in pretty much every month of the year.

If sun is what you’re after, you can get some sunny and fairly warm weather in late autumn (October and November) and early spring (March and April).

This is for locations such as Lisbon, Ericeira, Barcelona, Malaga and Mallorca.

From experience with our clients, rain can happen during these times. However, as you’re there to get work done and not as a regular tourist, you can simply structure the retreat to do more work when it rains and reschedule your fun activities for when the weather’s all back to normal.

Organize your retreat with Surf Office

Whether you’ll choose autumn or spring – you need a trusty partner to set up the ideal retreat. At Surf Office, we’ll take care of the organization, while you can sit back and enjoy the retreat to the fullest.

No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
budget retreat spreadsheet

Retreat Budget Spreadsheet

Are you organising a company retreat and want to make sure you have all the costs under the control?

Get a copy of our free Budget Calculator spreadsheet.

Get a copy

Interviews with more “newly-remote” companies:

WeTransfer switching to partial remote working

WeTransfer switching to partial remote working

“We are not working from home. We are at home trying to make it work.” For most companies around the world trying to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, this quote probably feels pretty relatable as everyone adjusts to the sudden shift to working from home. Shared by Gwen Burbidge, the Head of HR at WeTransfer, these…

Skift’s Insights and Experiences About Switching to Remote Work

Skift’s Insights and Experiences About Switching to Remote Work

During these times, many companies are switching to remote work. You may have heard that large companies, like Twitter, Shopify, and Slack are doing so, but we’re also seeing this shift with smaller companies, startups, and digital agencies as well. Perhaps this transition was already in the pipeline, or maybe COVID-19 was the catalyst. Either…

How digital product studio Pixelmatters transformed from office to remote

How digital product studio Pixelmatters transformed from office to remote

By now, you’ve probably heard the news that large companies like Twitter, Shopify and Slack are “going remote”. And recently, we’re hearing more and more stories about smaller companies, startups, and digital agencies doing the same. What were their motivations? What challenges do they face during this transition? How do they see their future? We…

How a proptech startup REalyse switched from a London office to remote work

How a proptech startup REalyse switched from a London office to remote work

By now, you’ve probably heard the news that large companies like Twitter, Shopify and Slack are “going remote”. And recently, we’re hearing more and more stories about smaller companies, startups, and digital agencies doing the same. What were their motivations? What challenges do they face during this transition? How do they see their future? We…

FREE COURSE

How to plan your first company retreat

Get for free

With knowledge collected from:

free course partners logos

free course

How to plan your first company retreat

With knowledge collected from:
surfoffice in press logossurfoffice in press logos

Organize your next company retreat with Surf Office

500+ retreats organized ● 10 years of experience ● 110+ retreat locations
Get a quote