Workation – How to implement and what to look out for?
Time for a time (out) together
Plans, goals, strategies for the future and the question of how to assess the current situation are occupying decision-makers and teams – a good time for a joint work (time out), a good moment for a team workation.
What is a workation / team workation?
Workation is a term made up of the English words for work and vacation. A workation is a form of working vacation or vacation with a work component and is primarily suitable for digital or remote work.
In contrast to working from home and traditional remote working, the quality of the location as a vacation spot and the link between working time and recovery time there should be noted.
Simply put, a team workation is a workation that is carried out as a team. Here, a working vacation stay is planned and carried out together as a team beyond personal vacation times. The focus is on using the event as a team-building measure and the opportunity to focus on internal/strategic topics beyond everyday work and the usual working environment.
The stay can be divided into the following activity segments:
- Managing the necessary day-to-day business
- Development of targeted workation topics
- Team-building measures and activities
Just as with the workation, it is of central importance in a team workation that it is agreed in advance which activities have which space and what priority they have.
Team work: Yes, but how?
To ensure that the team collaboration is successful, it is worth starting your own internal project. The following points should be explained together in order to answer important questions in advance and create acceptance for the format:
- Why do we want to do a team workation?
- What is the goal of our team work?
- How will we be able to put this into practice?
- When and where will the team workation take place?
- What dependencies and overlaps exist?
- What does it take?
Why do we want to carry out a team workation?
As already described at the beginning, a team workation can be a beneficial impulse for the team. It is therefore particularly important to describe the initial situation and motivation in advance. These descriptions (e.g.: we spend 75% of our days in meetings with customers, so our internal time together is often far too short) also help to talk about the expectations of the workation.
What is the aim of a workation?
Along with the expectations, the goals that are to be achieved in or thanks to a team collaboration must also be specified. Particular attention should be paid to work segmentation. It is essential to determine in advance whether, for example, strategic issues are the main focus during the team workation or whether the primary aim is to inspire team spirit.
It is important to mention at this point: The continuation of current customer projects/campaigns and day-to-day business must of course be guaranteed.
How will we put this into practice?
Once the decision has been made on how to divide the time between strategy, team spirit and day-to-day business, the first big step has been taken.
It is advisable to draw up a rough plan for the duration of the stay and the individual days. For example, it should be determined in advance on which days the strategy workshops and when the team activities will take place. A look at current customer projects and the usual daily routine of each team member helps to create a rough structure plan.
It is essential that one or more responsible persons are appointed to organize the team work and that they are given sufficient time for the comprehensive tasks. . Those responsible take care of location scouting, rough time and theme planning and the budget.
When and where will the team workation take place?
Probably the most important point when planning a team workshop is when it will take place. It is also essential to define how long and on which days of the week (e.g. Wednesday to Sunday) it will take place. It can also be helpful to define a period of time during which everyone’s participation is desired (e.g. from Thursday to Saturday).
All team members must schedule team work into their private diaries as early as possible so that all private appointments (e.g. sports events) and childcare can be arranged.
The question of where the team workation should take place is not easy to answer. It depends on various factors and, of course, on the budget. We have always looked for our own accommodation based on the following factors:
- Number of participants
- How many people will be present?
- One bedroom per person is required
- The more people, the larger the lounge and dining areas
- Accessibility of the accommodation
- How easily and in what time can the accommodation be reached
- Arrival and departure should be as easy as possible for all participants at all times.
- This is against the background that not all participants will be present for the entire duration of their stay.
- Activities and environment
- What activities can be undertaken in the vicinity of the accommodation?
- Which activities can be organized at the accommodation (e.g.: workshop on the terrace, table tennis tournament, barbecue evening, etc.)?
- Special demands on the accommodation
- Are pets allowed?
- Is the accommodation barrier-free?
What dependencies and overlaps exist?
In connection with the timing of the team work, it must be clarified in advance what dependencies exist with other teams, customers or suppliers. It may well be that another team is dependent on our availability at that time or that suppliers or customers require the presence of individuals. In any case, it must be ensured that crucial business obligations can be met, but also that the workation period is kept as free of interruptions as possible.
What does it take?
A time frame and a planning team are needed, that much is clear. It is also obvious that a location is needed. The planning team can and should take care of the rough planning, but the exact content needs to be worked out by other team members.
So what is actually needed (not an exhaustive list):
- Rough plan for the entire duration of your stay
- Priority definition of how the time duration is divided into the 3 activity segments
- What strategic issues are we tackling and how are we doing this?
- Who prepares these strategy sessions?
- Do we need external support for this (perhaps a coach)?
- What team activities do we undertake and who plans them?
- How do we organize and coordinate the continuation of current projects?
Administrative questions that need to be clarified:
- Arrival and departure
- How do we travel to/from?
- Which car pools do we make?
- What is eaten during the entire stay and who takes care of it?
- Determination and clarification of working hours
- Do all days and activities (incl. meals, excursions, time off, etc.) count as working time?
- How are working hours handled in the evening and at weekends?
- A budget must be defined and should include at least the following points:
- Accommodation
- Activities
- Food
- Arrival/Departure
- Cleaning
What should I pay particular attention to?
We have learned several lessons from our own workations and team workations at Teamhero, which we would like to share with you here:
- Food
- Internet
- Room layout
- Me-Time
Organization of the meal
It is a significant advantage and increases efficiency during team work if a meal plan is drawn up in advance. We not only determine what is to be eaten on which day. We also determine which people (practically a team of two) are responsible for preparing the respective menus. The two-person team is also responsible for breakfast and snacks on the day of cooking. As it is known how many people will be present on each day, the required quantity can be easily planned.
Our bonus tip for an extra time-saving effect: Have all your groceries delivered directly to your accommodation in advance.
Internet and co
It is highly recommended to clarify the performance of the internet connection in advance. The network performance must be of sufficient quality so that day-to-day business can be maintained and, for example, video calls can take place as usual. Remember, in simple vacation accommodation you may not have the same bandwidth as in your fully equipped office.
Room layout
It is also advisable to obtain a room and layout plan of the location in advance so that it can be determined in which rooms you can work together and where you can work individually and in peace. When allocating the rooms, it is also essential to clarify whether the Internet (especially the WLAN) works well in the respective rooms.
Breaks and me-time
As the name suggests, you spend a lot of time together in the group during the entire team workation. However, each team member also has their own needs and sometimes needs more, sometimes less rest or simply time for themselves. It is therefore advisable to plan certain block times for me-time into the weekly schedule. This allows all participants to organize their time as they wish.
Our bonus: Your Workation Template
At Teamhero, we have designed and planned the team workout that has already taken place as well as the upcoming team workout at the end of October with a detailed plan. Because we are convinced of the effectiveness of a team workation and know that it is even greater thanks to good planning, we would like to make our planning template available to you.
