Are you going to organize a company trip? Read these 10 points to get the most out of your trip!

 

1) What is the purpose of the company trip?

Company travel can be so many things; Kick-off, reward trip for good work, Christmas party, motivational trip to promote better work in the future, to learn something new (course/professional content/conference), visit other companies in the same industry to get inspiration or team building to bond the employees closer together and promote cooperation.

If you define a purpose for the trip, it is much easier to see whether activities, events and plans fit in.

2) Who will be involved?

What kind of group is going on the trip? It is often easier to hit the mark for everyone if there are 8 male bricklayers in their 30s who are going on a company trip together than a large company with employees of all age groups where everyone can come along. In the case of larger and very mixed groups, you must have a wider range of activities and set the list quite high for accommodation and facilities in general.

Make sure that the rules for who can join are completely clear. A company with many extra helpers may choose not to take them on a trip, so it is important that this is absolutely clear to all employees. Also think about new employees who have not started work yet or employees who are about to quit or may be on leave.

If any of the participants have special challenges, take this into account in the planning, whether it concerns a handicap or an alcohol problem. It is not unproblematic to go on a trip with an employee who you know is struggling with the latest.

3) When should you go on a company trip?

A kick-off should take place at the start of the season, autumn and spring are probably the most common periods, but it depends on the individual industry.

Make sure you schedule the trip on days with minimal activity so that as many people as possible (preferably everyone!) can join the trip. In some companies, it may be a good idea to put the Christmas table in January, because it is quieter then (in addition, it is usually easier to get good prices then...) Consider that the employees probably have a life outside of work. It is difficult to get people with families on trips that go into the school holidays or small farmers in the middle of lambing.

Set the date well in advance and give people a clear registration deadline. At this point, the trip should be clearly defined so that everyone knows what they are going to and can say yes or no to joining.

4) What is the budget?

What will it cost? Set up an approximate budget. It makes the trip easier to plan for you and you will get much clearer offers from relevant suppliers of activities and accommodation. It's easy to think "we'll do it as cheaply as possible" and end up with a much more expensive trip than expected because the boundaries were unclear.

Think through what will be included for the participants in advance; travel, food, accommodation, activities, drinks etc and what they may have to pay themselves. This must be communicated clearly to those who will be participating before registration.

5) What kind of company trip should it be?

Kick-off: Should be inspirational and contain some elements of team building. Kick-offs often have challenging activities to make the participants challenge themselves and activities that get people to know each other better and promote cooperation.

Academic tour: Enter courses, lectures, seminars, perhaps some suppliers or customers have something to contribute, visit a company in the same industry. It doesn't have to be advanced to be effective.

Christmas party: Usually requires Christmas food and alcohol. Add an exciting activity and perhaps an overnight stay to make it something out of the ordinary.

Reward trip: Here you are very free, but the employees should be pampered in one form or another, for example with exciting experiences, luxurious accommodation, spa, wine tasting, food experiences and generally a bit of luxury.

Show-off tour: If the goal is to make something bigger, cooler, tougher and more expensive than the neighbor, then you have to take it seriously and do something different from everyone else. It can be big and expensive and violent, but with good partners and a little creativity you can also do a lot of hard work on a slightly more limited budget.

6) Academic content on company trips

If the trip is to include some professional content such as courses, meetings, lectures, workshops etc. then think through what you need. An informal meeting in a small business can be held around the lunch table in a cafe, a room with a projector/screen can be used for many sensible things and perhaps you can visit someone who can teach and inspire. How long should one spend on the professional, is that the main goal of the trip or an alibi to make the accountant happy?

7) Requirements for facilities

What is actually required for this group? Are you going to spend the night in a luxury hotel or in a tent, do you want to cook yourself or eat in a gourmet restaurant? Young and adventurous employees can be very happy with an action-packed day in nature and overnight accommodation in lavvo, while requirements for standard tend to increase with age and the larger and more varied the group is.

8) Travel time

If you are going away, take the travel time into account. On a trip/flight abroad, travel time to the airport and all the waiting that goes with it must be taken into account. Do you need a car where you are going or is it better to travel all together by bus or train? Can you make something out of the trip, include an interesting stop, a meal, an experience?

9) Accommodation on a company trip

Don't underestimate the accommodation. If you live in a central place with a lot of life and excitement nearby, it is easy for the company to break up after dinner when someone is going out, someone wants to stay, someone has discovered that there are lots of ladies in the neighboring hotel and some just want to go to their room.

If it is important to keep the group together, it can be an advantage to live somewhere where you are completely to yourself, whether it is in a mountain lodge or a large cabin far from everyone else.

10) Activities for company trip

Include some exciting activities to reward and motivate the employees and to promote collaboration. Team building can be many things, from classic team building activities to tougher challenges such as rafting, excursions such as dog sledding or doing something together for a good cause.

To get the best possible benefit from the activities, they should contain something that you have to do together or as a team, not just activities where you compete individually against each other.

Tell the activity provider what kind of group you are and ask for tips on what suits you, most are very good at choosing the right activities for groups.

GOOD BUSINESS!