All-hands-on for remote collaboration
Building team culture and tackling strategy at a remote retreat
In October 2021, Territory began planning a retreat for the World Wildlife Fund’s Freshwater and Food (F&F) initiative. The plan was to create an “intense experience” in January to energize the F&F team, have fun and build relationships, engage and elevate strategic components of their work, and flex team culture—values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors shared by the attendees.
No sweat for the Territory team—multi-focus experience designs are some of our most rewarding projects. The global pandemic had other plans though. In December, a new wave of COVID-19 emerged, and retreat participants were expressing concern. At Territory, we’re no stranger to working remotely, but hosting an engaging and insightful event over Zoom for 140 people across time zones and continents presented a fresh challenge for our veteran team. Nevertheless, we’re always ready to meet teams where they are and boldly face the unknown with our clients. This was no different.
The ideal outcomes of this retreat were to:
- Revisit current strategic initiatives to ensure they are “fit for purpose” in the current social, environmental, and economic environment—and tie into the WWF vision.
- Align on goals and objectives for 2022.
- Gain clarity on roles and responsibilities for planned activities.
- Hold team and culture-building activities, enjoy shared experiences that are memorable and fun, and build team alignment and commitment.
- Continue to refine and build the work culture environment—particularly following the impact of COVID-19.
The Territory team worked with presenters to ensure they would be asking the right questions to facilitate the desired conversation. Decisions such as how breakout groups should be determined, who should lead breakout groups, the size and length of the groups all had to be decided in conjunction with the WWF team ahead of time.
We also counseled each session leader and presenter to ensure the goals and agenda made sense and were achievable in the unique context of a remote retreat. Finally, all presentations were reviewed, iterated, and revised with Territory experts.
Then, the team planned and designed an online environment worthy of hosting a multi-day event, which consultant Jeremy Varo-Haub deftly executed.
The retreat
Territory opted to use MURAL, a trusted partner, to build a series of boards designed to focus and capture the work of breakout teams during each session. The MURAL ecosystem consisted of 48 meticulously designed and curated boards that made collaboration as intuitive as a retreat in a physical space. To prevent attendees from getting lost amongst the many MURAL boards, they were able to click into their specific MURAL from the main schedule and access a separate board for their breakout group. With ease, they could leave notes, ask questions, and save every idea for future use with only three clicks. The resulting experience was clear, fun, and efficient.
The outcome
In addition, Matt Adams, one of our founding partners and head of creative, was running 3 sketchboards during the sessions. Jeremy and Matt don’t do anything half-heartedly, so the retreat was thoroughly researched and planned, and interactive drawing and live sketches were included to help keep participants engaged.
In the end, despite the unexpected shift to a virtual setting, the retreat was a resounding success. The F&F team engaged deeply with the content, collaborated effectively in breakout sessions, and built stronger connections, all within the carefully crafted MURAL environment. By adapting our approach and leveraging digital tools, we were able to deliver an experience that not only met but exceeded the team’s expectations.
“This was honestly one of the best retreats I’ve participated in. Amazing that it was virtual.”
– Workshop attendee
“I didn’t get Zoom fatigue and felt energized, even late at night. I think that speaks volumes!”
– Workshop attendee
Explore more
