Off-Site Management Retreat Made Easy
It’s time for your team to get away and focus on one project at a time.
The last thing you want to think about is “how much guacamole do we buy for 15 people?”
I was tasked with preparing the space and stocking the fridges for a DIY management retreat weekend for a local company.
Guest Count - 15 adults
Dietary Restrictions - “Let’s try to keep meals healthy so we don’t get tired mid-day”
Timeline - We gained access to the property on Friday afternoon with guests arriving that evening. Check out was Sunday at 11am.
Special Requests - Whiteboards and adapters to hook up laptops to TVs in the house.
After confirming the menu, it was time for a Costco run. It was my goal to stock the fridges with food and drinks that were easy to find when they were needed.
In my opinion, there is an art to properly stocking a fridge. Yes, there are the obvious ways to stock a fridge. Veggies in the crisper. Condiments in the door. But when you’re only at a house for a weekend with multiple chefs in the kitchen, you have to look at this canvas that is a fridge in a different way. It’s all about planning the timeline of what people will be looking for and when.
The guests were arriving at the house in the evening. After a day of traveling, the first things they would want were snacks and maybe some chilled beer. Tortilla chips and fruits were left on the counter with beers and taco dip placed at eye level in the fridge. The next meal was dinner #1. Those supplies were located behind the taco dip.
Because breakfast time can be a contentious time for a large group, I wanted to make it as easy as possible for both morning-people and not-morning-people. There was plenty of coffee already placed next to the coffee pot along with sugar and creamer packets. Yogurts and berries were in the fridge along with the non-dairy milks. For those guests who were late-risers, we made sure that there were plenty of morning pastries ready to grab on their way to sliding into the first brainstorming session.
Make-your-own sandwich bar for lunch might seem boring for some, but we jazzed it up with interesting breads and spreads. Pair those with chips, dips, and a sweet treat of chocolate covered mangos… It’s a pretty great mid-day meal.
This group was full of cooks, so their dinners consisted of charcuterie appetizers and grilling out. The house had all the grilling tools so my job was to make sure they had the meats and proper seasonings. I even made sure there were supplies for keeping leftovers. I heard there were some really great breakfast sandwiches made the next day with the steaks from the night before.
This weekend away was so rewarding to prep for. I don’t think my trunk has ever experienced that much La Croix or craft beer. It was a pleasure working with this group and I can’t wait for their next off-site.
