Offsites

Note: we also do subteam offsites focused on work. This doc is just about our semiannual all-company offsites.

The primary purpose is to get to know your teammates on a personal level. Remote work is great, but there’s no substitute for in-person socializing. Offsites are our chance to connect in a way that we can’t online.

Many teammates will tell you how they felt much closer to their coworkers after their first offsite. Offsites transform your working relationships by building increased levels of connection and trust, and that carries over to the virtual world when we all return home.

Team bonding happens in a few ways:

Offsites are a great opportunity to align on important company initiatives. There are two hours of presentations during each of the first two full days of the offsite. Everyone is expected to show up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed so don’t party too hard the nights before.

The presentations will typically cover whatever we think is most pertinent for everyone to know. Depending on your role, some information may already be familiar, but for many, it will be new. We try to get a variety of presenters from many departments to give a flavor of what’s happening across the company.

On Thursday morning, we split into subteams to do work. Team leaders decide how to best use the time, and are responsible for planning the agenda.

Offsites are the time to celebrate our wins. Let’s enjoy the ride.

It’s expected you’ll work less during the week to accommodate group activities and socializing. With your manager’s input, you’re responsible for determining what the appropriate workload is. Make sure to communicate with teammates and external parties if they will be impacted.

Depending on your role, there may be certain responsibilities that you can’t or shouldn’t delay. For example, external-facing teams like Sales, Success, and Support need to take calls and respond to inquiries. That might mean you’ll be unable to attend certain activities, unfortunately.

If you’ve already been to an offsite, you know. For new folks, here’s what to expect:

How do we choose where to hold the offsite?

We look at a few cities in parallel with specific venues in mind. We consider convenience, weather, price, walkability, neighborhood, vibe, event space, and more.

Then, via a highly scientific method, we choose the one with the highest awesomeness-to-suffering ratio, where suffering measures travel times, jet lag, costs, etc. We’re willing to endure more pain for better locations.

The best way to influence the selection of future destinations is to provide thoughtful feedback after each offsite. We review feedback closely and consider it in future planning.

When will we announce the next offsite?

Immediately after we have a signed contract with the hotel. Our goal is to provide at least 6 months advance notice.

Can you travel around the offsite?

A number of folks have traveled immediately before or after offsites to visit nearby cities and countries. We want to continue allowing this, but we have to be mindful of the total number of people doing it. We’re unwilling to sacrifice multiple weeks of productivity for a single offsite.

If you’d like to take time off, you should submit a request to your manager well in advance. Your manager may say no, especially if other teammates also request time off. It’s best not to book additional travel until you’ve received permission.

Managers – it is your responsibility to make sure that your team is appropriately staffed around the offsite. You will likely have to decline some vacation requests.

You can also, of course, travel if you maintain your normal work schedule. Like, actually though – you will be held to this.

As for expensing, Tremendous will cover the cost up to what the route without additional travel would have been. Any incremental cost is yours.

If I can’t attend, is there a way to participate remotely?

We want to make offsites inclusive even for folks who can’t attend. That means we’ll record or live broadcast all presentations and loop you in via Zoom for team-specific meetings.

The social events are tougher, unfortunately. To protect our reputations, we won’t be streaming karaoke.

Why no +1s?

They’re lovely. We know. But they’re not invited for a few reasons:

Exceptions

If you’re traveling with a +1 immediately after the offsite, they can stay in your room on the last night. Company events like meals are exclusively for Tremendous folks, but your +1 is welcome to mingle with the team otherwise.

If personal circumstances make your attendance challenging without a +1 (e.g. you have a very young child), please let us know.

How can you contribute?

We love that folks are eager to contribute to offsites and Tremendous culture. We’re thinking of ways to formalize this, but for now, here are the best ways to have an impact: