Soaring to Success: Glide's Unforgettable Offsite Journey

Glide, a platform enabling mobile app creation from spreadsheets, partnered with Retreat, an offsite planning service, for their all-hands offsite in Toronto in October 2023. Retreat, known for crafting tailored offsite experiences, meticulously planned every aspect of the event. From venue selection to team-building activities, Retreat's expertise ensured a memorable and productive retreat. This customer story highlights how the collaboration between Glide and Retreat contributed to the offsite's success. The event fostered team cohesion, creativity, and strategic alignment.

Glide leveraged Retreat's planning and execution to create an environment conducive to meaningful discussions and idea generation. The offsite left a lasting impact on the team, motivating them to achieve new levels of productivity and collaboration. This transformative journey showcases the invaluable role Retreat played in optimizing the offsite and creating an extraordinary experience for Glide.

Why did you choose Toronto as the destination for your retreat?

We decided on Toronto for our fall 2022 retreat due to several factors. Firstly, we had a few team members who were unable to obtain visas for travel to the United States. We wanted to ensure we stayed within the North American timezone for the retreat, and Toronto was the next most convenient option after the US. Additionally, we have team members based in Canada, making Toronto a logical choice. The majority of our team was able to attend, and the city provided a vibrant and exciting backdrop for our activities. Interestingly, more than 80% of the attendees had never been to Toronto before, which added an extra level of enthusiasm to the trip.

That's great. I noticed there was an activity involving axe throwing in one of the pictures.

Yes, that was part of our closing event. On the last Friday of the retreat, we visited a fantastic venue that offered escape rooms and, yes, axe throwing. It was a unique and enjoyable experience. Personally, I wouldn't typically seek out such activities on my own, but it served as a fun icebreaker for the team. Given our heavy reliance on screens and our professional context, it was refreshing to engage in a facilitated activity that added an element of excitement and variety.

Wonderful. What was the primary objective of this retreat?

In Toronto, our primary goal was to foster team bonding. As our interactions are primarily limited to screens and devices, meeting in person allowed us to deepen our team culture and build stronger connections. There are countless moments of understanding and appreciation that arise during face-to-face interactions, which contribute to a more holistic understanding of Glide. Additionally, we aimed to use the retreat as an opportunity for extended meetings, aligning further on our engineering operations, development, and design. The retreat also facilitated cross-fertilization between different teams, promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing.

How do you assess the achievements of the offsite?

I believe it was a real success. We received excellent feedback from the team, and we gained valuable insights to enhance future retreats. It was an effective way for team members to connect and bond, especially for recent hires who had the opportunity to meet and get to know the rest of the team. As our team continues to grow, it becomes more challenging to have in-depth conversations with every individual, as we could during our early stages. Therefore, I consider the offsite to be highly effective in achieving its objectives.

Did you have any specific KPIs or OKRs for the offsite?

My main key performance indicator (KPI) was team member satisfaction. As the head of operations at Glide, I wear many hats. Retreat allows me to wear the hat of “Offsite Planner” while also hanging that hat up at times to manage the other necessary work to keep everything running smoothly at my company.

 For our offsite experience, creating the right balance between relaxed connection and hyper-powred connection is a challenge!  Ensuring the comfort and satisfaction of team members was essential, whether it was setting up meeting rooms, arranging food, handling audio-visual and technical requirements or facilitating memorable and fun opportunities for recreation and connection. I was incredibly grateful to have the assistance of Retreat in managing these aspects because, in addition to my other daily responsibilities, managing everything in an unfamiliar city and negotiating with hotels and caterers would have been challenging. Retreat's support was truly invaluable.

How has Retreat assisted you?

Oh, it was incredibly helpful, especially when it came to finding the venue. Selecting the right venue can be time-consuming and challenging due to the diverse preferences within the team. Some team members prefer a location with numerous activities nearby, while others prefer a more relaxed environment. Retreat helped me strike a balance in terms of price, location, and on-site amenities. Finding the venue is often the most stressful part of retreat planning. Once that is secured, we can move on to the next steps with confidence. Retreat also provided assistance in navigating catering options and offered recommendations for various events in the area. Additionally, their provision of high-quality photography was a great bonus.

How can we improve our service for clients?

One of my main suggestions would be to enhance the app and make the app experience more seamless. I believe that's a significant area where Retreat can grow, by incorporating more functionality into the app. While I understand that Retreat primarily serves tech companies, I'm the least technical person on my team. So I always hope that the app meets the standards set by my engineers and designers. For me, as an administrator, having a smoother app experience would be fantastic. Additionally, as we expand our operations at Glide, I'm excited to hire more support for our operations team. Having the ability to grant permissions and ensure everything is in order before sending it to our team for feedback would be helpful. Sometimes, there were minor issues with the app being sent to my team members before I had a chance to communicate important information about the retreat. Continuously improving the app will greatly benefit us.

Thank you for your feedback. We are actively working on developing a mobile app that will be more useful for your upcoming all-hands event next year.