What makes a company offsite productive and not just another expensive mini-vacation with name tags? In this episode of Less Busy Lab, Moah and Alex pull back the curtain on more than a decade of running offsites and hackathons for their now remote team.

From a castle in Mill Valley with more Greco-Roman statues than employees to a bioluminescent kayaking adventure, they share real stories of what went right, what went wrong, and the research-backed reasons offsites make teams more creative, connected, and collaborative.

You’ll hear why brainstorming after lunch is scientifically smarter, how silly icebreakers (like “Your plane crash-landed on a desert island. What would you pack?”) build psychological safety, and how offsites can increase collaboration by over 20%. Plus, learn their practical hacks for planning a great retreat, like why natural light matters and how to verify Airbnb Wi-Fi before you arrive.

Whether you’re organizing your first team retreat or wondering if you should attend an optional off-site, this episode will leave you with fresh ideas, science-based takeaways, and at least make it something you don’t dread.

Links from the show!

Babson/Dartmouth study: attendees received ~23.5% more new incoming collaboration ties after an offsite than non‑attendees https://faculty.tuck.dartmouth.edu/images/uploads/faculty/adam-kleinbaum/RewiringTheOrgNetwork.pdf

Microsoft’s 61,000‑employee study on collaboration time https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/the-effects-of-remote-work-on-collaboration-among-information-workers/

Organizations now average 2.6 offsite events annually: Emburse https://www.emburse.com/resources/the-state-of-corporate-offsites-2025

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