5 Reasons why 2026 is the year for nature-based, unplugged team offsites
It started in Covid. A quick adaptation to remote work, a leap in technology for Zoom meetings, and a loss in human connection and team cohesion. Now, 6 years later, companies and individuals are still recalibrating and adapting to such a significant business cultural shift. Today, leaders are seeking to bring back the core that any high-functioning team craves: connection, collaboration, and creativity.
In 2026, teams are taking on a whole new energy with “offsites”, and Tacktics is here to deliver. Long gone are the days of endless hours indoors, powerpoints, office games (we’ve all done before), and rigid board room meetings. Trends show companies are consistently moving away from traditional corporate gatherings and are actively seeking immersive, purpose-driven experiences to build and rejuvenate their teams.
More and more companies are successfully finding this in nature-based, unplugged offsites that are intentional, experiential, and actively prioritize authenticity and connection. But why is this so effective? And how do these offsites achieve such profound results?
Teams are needing restorative breaks from “digital overload”
“Digital Tool Fatigue” is quickly getting a name for itself, and is a quiet and overlooked problem that erodes teams from the foundation up. Undermining team collaboration, employee well-being and productivity, this digital burden is not necessarily ‘new’, but experts deem it to have significantly worsened since AI entered the workplace. Lokalise took 1,000 U.S. professionals across 11 different industries in an effort to uncover the effect this fatigue has on team collaboration, well-being, and overall productivity. They found that:
79% of employees say their company hasn’t taken any action to reduce tool fatigue
60% of workers feel pressured to respond to notifications even after hours
Over half of workers (56%) say tool fatigue, like toggling, alerts and redundant platforms negatively affect their work each week
Over half of employees say their collaboration suffers because of disjointed tech stacks
Nature is an widely known antidote to this. Endless studies show spending time in nature restores focus and balances the human brain’s chemicals, unlocking creativity and clarity for strategic thinking.
2. Enhance Team Innovation & Creativity
Traditional conference rooms simply can’t compete when it comes to an inspiring venue for your team offsite. Forbes displays many articles and studies explaining how outdoor retreats/offsites actively increase creative problem solving, and allow individuals to rethink assumptions. Effective outdoor and unplugged team experiences allow the team to unlock fresh perspectives, directly elevating team collaboration and morale long-term.
3. Unplug to strengthen trust, communication, and collaboration
I think everyone can agree that trust, communication, and collaboration fall into the high-priority list for team health. They’re not just posters on the office wall or quotes you say in the Zoom calls. These foundational attributes require consistent maintenance and intentional effort to foster healthy teams. Note the extra importance of this in the age of ‘digital fatigue’, which is quietly but actively eroding this foundation daily.
Offsites that bring your team physically together and minimize distractions help teams connect deeply and build physiological safety. Meaningful, in-person conversations continue to feed human connection that each team member requires. Common challenges faced together versus individual daily tasks at the computer builds trust and collaboration. Facilitated, professional experiences with these objectives create long lasting positive impact on the team, and therefore, the company.
4. Natural Settings Support Well-Being & Reduce Burn-Out
Key goals for forward thinking companies include: improve mood, reduce stress, and boost well-being of team members. By making employee morale a priority, the company greatly benefits on every level, especially the bottom-line. Get your team in nature and all will fall into place. The human body responds in remarkable ways when we put it outside, especially if it is used to spending significant hours indoors. Burn-out is a real problem in today’s corporate world, and an expensive one for companies. Employee turn-over makes a dent in the bottom line, not to mention all the other levels of impact that ripples through organisations. Most of the time, by prioritizing employee morale, turnover can be mitigated and avoided all together. In return, we see high-functioning teams and individuals operating at full capacity, working effectively and enjoying their day-to-day.
5. Reinforce Big-Picture Alignment and team growth
Future thinking with present day investment. Your success down the road as a team and/or company starts today. By placing teams in unplugged outdoor settings, we see them think long-term and align around shared purpose. Outdoor offsites give room for reflection and clarity on goals outside daily tasks. Furthermore, choosing this framework of offsite encourages deep thinking and fresh perspectives, directly elevating strategic planning.
If you’re looking for a team retreat/offsite for 2026 and are looking to have it be nature-based, unplugged, and built on immersive and purpose-driven experiences, Tacktics Galena is the place to go. For more information, you can view our corporates or retreats page and let’s plan your perfect outdoor offsite!