Pictured L to R: Crissy, Alma, Reena and Ken on a river cruise at the 2021 retreat.
For the past 11 years, we have been traveling as a company to Canyon River Ranch between Ellensburg and Yakima for our annual retreat. We started “retreating” almost 15 years ago when we spent time in Leavenworth, then Hood Canal, and even a “staycation” in Tacoma, but we’ve spent the lion’s share of time gathering on the shores of the Yakima River in a secluded spot where we could focus as a team.
At retreats past we’ve had “Fierce Conversations,” we’ve established a roadmap for WordPress work, worked on our Mission and Vision and worked to define our culture.
As we begin to celebrate SiteCrafting’s 25th year in business, we are once again taking time to unplug and focus on the three R’s of Retreat.
- Rejoice. We are busy, and thus don’t spend a lot of time celebrating success. We rarely look back on the distance we’ve traveled or the heights we’ve climbed. Celebrating together is a key component of building a sustainable culture. We often use post-project launch time as a way to seek improvement in processes and communication. This is critical, however, it’s also just as important to celebrate successes. To identify where team members went above and beyond (which is common) and see how our shared efforts had a positive impact on our clients and community.
- Refocus. Retreats are a great time to set strategy. We are able to connect — far from the daily work and the distance that remote or out of the office team members experience. This time together, allows us to seek the big picture, to chart a course for what’s next. It is our intention to use retreat time to set the plan for the coming year. It reminds us to bring along what worked well and chart a new course of action to ensure the coming year is full of success.
- Reconnect. Great companies are built by great people. Our culture is key to our success and sustainability. Time away to celebrate our relationships with each other as human beings with a shared commitment to our company and clients is part of what makes retreat so special. It’s learning that our teammates have skills beyond the work we do on a daily basis. It’s spending time in spontaneous conversations where trust and relationships are built. We care about each other as people. Our retreat is a time to build those relationships.
2023 will mark 25 years of SiteCrafting. As we prepare to celebrate this milestone, we know that it’s more important than ever to keep our batteries charged and our relationships strong.
Retreats are a place where we can recommit to each other as we move forward toward whatever is next at SiteCrafting.
