As the remote workforce continues to grow companies are eager to have IRL meetups.
After planning a number of in in person meetups where we have gathered 50+ team members from all around the world, here is everything you need to know ->
Pre Meetup
1. Choose an owner to plan the meetup 🙋♀️ Although the planning will be a team effort, as everything is, it is important to have a single person that is delegating and is the one accountable for the success of the meetup.
2. Setup a to-do board of everything that needs to get done ✔️ Many people will be involved in making the meetup a success. It is important to have a single place where all to-do's live with a clear owner.
Here is an example of the to-do board I have used in the past, built in Notion.
3. Send out a poll with your team with a variety of dates for the meetup 🗓 Although it is not always possible to have every single person attend it is important that a large majority is available.
4. Choose the location 🌎 It is important to consider the following when choosing a location:
Team members country of residence
Visa requirements
Local holidays
5. Budget 💸 It is essential that you project the budget and along the way add in actual cost to ensure that things stay on budget as you continue to plan.
6. Provide your team with a budget policy and virtual credit cards 💳 We use Ramp which easily allows us to set a policy that is specific to our meetup, making it easy to track budget and segment policies by team member location (ex. Person located 10+ hours from destination can book a first class ticket)
7. Create a flight tracker 🧳
8. Get Insurance 💪 This is definitely not the most exciting aspect of planning but it is key element that should be done regardless of location, number of people or plans.
9. Set Guidelines 🏁 and share them with everyone attending. This should cover:
Social media guidelines and posting policy
Rules around alcohol and drug consumption
Rules around leaving the premises where the meetup is taking place
Point of contact to reach out to if team is ever uncomfortable
10. Create a reimbursement policy 💳
Plane wifi
Phone data/service
11. Plan meals 🍽
12. Plan daily itinerary 🗓
During Meetup
1.Confirm arrivals + ground transportation 🚗 Whether you have coordinated ground transportation or have your team calling their own, it is important to confirm their arrival.
2. Share the daily itinerary ⏭ To ensure that everyone attends mandatory events + activities it is important to share the itinerary daily via your teams method of communication.
Post Meetup
1. Send a post meetup survey 📫 The results of this survey should be used to improve and shape meetups in the future. Examples of questions to include are:
What was the biggest thing you gained from the retreat?
What is one thing you would do differently for the next retreat?
Was there anything you were expecting to do during the retreat that did not happen?
