How Commsor Boost Team-Building Efforts and Cultivate a More Inclusive Remote Workplace

Commsor, a fully remote company with 47 employees spread across the globe, works remote full time. For many employees, they had never met their coworkers or seen them face-to-face. The digital age has allowed for seamless remote working which has enabled companies like Commsor to work diligently and effectively despite never seeing each other. However, there is something that phones and screens just can’t fully replicate. That is the human connection that can be so beneficial especially for teammates and coworkers.

With Retreat, Commsor was able to provide that extra benefit to its remote employees. Retreat allowed the company to plan a company retreat that enabled employees to meet in person, get to know one another, and build bonds that are essential when working with peers.

As a result, Commsor employees left the retreat feeling refreshed, energized, and more excited than ever to work for Commsor and with their Commsor colleagues. Employees reported feeling more productive, excited, and connected after leaving the retreat. Ultimately, this improves a company’s employee retention and employee happiness rate. Remote or not, these are 2 major factors that every company needs to consider in this digital age.

The Fully Remote Experience

Commsor have organized their corporate offsite in October 2022. Glenda Gataleta, the company's Global People Ops Partner, raved over the experience provided while going into detail about the dynamics of the full-stack community company. Commsor builds various products and offers services for companies of all sizes that would like to operate in a community-led way. The goal is to provide a platform offering valuable community-related insights that enable companies to build better connections that strengthen their reach and help them relate with their audiences.

When asked about the experience of working for a fully remote company, Glenda Gataleta said, "It's very exciting to work in a fully remote company within the software industry. There's always something new to learn in a fast-paced environment that requires creativity to solve problems. But, even when working remotely, we're essentially still working together."

Dealing with daily tasks while working on building from the ground up and collaborating with co-workers from different countries may be slightly challenging, but it's something Glenda and her peers don't mind. Instead, they appreciate the diversity and inclusion that Commsor has to offer, knowing that bringing in fresh perspectives of people from all walks of life can lead to better results. The remote workplace currently has employees from different countries across the globe, including South America and Australia. And while this means there's a learning process involved, especially when working with people from different cultures and backgrounds, it's the kind of experience everyone can look forward to and enjoy.

Commsor Reaps the Benefits of Retreat’s Innovative Retreat-Ready Solutions

Glenda makes it clear that Commsor understands the benefits of remote work, which is why the company hires talented professionals from anywhere in the world. Of course, the only drawback is the lack of human connection from not seeing co-workers daily. But, with the opportunity to plan a corporate retreat as often as they'd like with help from Retreat, employees working for the same organization have a chance to connect like never before through fun and exciting team-building activities.

Naturally, when you're working with people day in and day out, you will experience the urge of wanting to get to know them better. Curiosity gets the best of you, and you start to wonder what these people are like behind the screen because you've never had the opportunity to see them in person before. Retreat aims to change that by providing a solution to companies like Commsor that help them connect with their colleagues on an entirely new level. By sending out a team survey, creating a proposal, booking a trip, and getting team members to travel together, employees would finally have the opportunity to see one another in real life.

Glenda says, "Seeing people in real life who you would typically only see behind the screen creates an exciting opportunity for cross-collaboration. You can enjoy team-building activities and get creative, which left us on a high note. By the time we returned to our daily work lives, we were all happy, uplifted, and more motivated in the remote workplace than before."

And that's precisely what Retreat's goal has always been – to assist remote companies in cultivating an inclusive and collaborative culture that supports efforts, boosts productivity rates, and encourages employees to work better together. After all, when employees can collaborate cohesively, morale will be at an all-time high, which is naturally good for business.

By getting together in person at the Intercontinental Lisbon, Commsor's employees got to see each other face-to-face, learn more about one another, and make lasting memories that have left a positive imprint on them. According to Glenda, the experience was one that made such a difference for a few reasons. She says, "By setting up this fun retreat, it became more evident than ever that what we're doing is real, and it's not just software that you don't see. There are people behind what we've created."

With Lisbon quickly becoming a major tech hub spot, the Commsor's employees agreed that participating in a retreat in the area made the most sense. The whole idea behind the corporate retreat was to encourage individuals to meet one another, collaborate, and talk while having genuine fun in real life. It was an escape from the screens that led to developing real human connections that can improve workflow for years to come.

In fact, the company enjoyed the experience so much that they're looking forward to attending another corporate retreat next year. "Gathering together gave us a real sense of belonging. Everyone could feel like they were a part of the community," shared Glenda. "We've always had a tea room channel on Slack where we say our good mornings, but the interactions are much different and far more enhanced now that we've had the retreat. We look forward to engaging in conversation with one another even more since we've come back from Lisbon with new banter."

By driving the idea of corporate retreats forward for fully remote companies like Commsor, it's easier than ever to help employees get to know one another and build a sense of trust that benefits the organization. The only downfall to a remote workplace is a lack of human connection. However, with opportunities to receive help planning the most enjoyable corporate retreats full of team-building activities and socialization opportunities, this is no longer such a concern.