Conducting offsite meetings (those that are away from the office and boardroom) is an effective way of keeping your employees interested, motivated and relaxed, as they leave the hum-drum of telephones, emails and human traffic. Many offsite occasions also include activities as part of the team building initiative. However, these can go very wrong if you do not plan them properly.
Here are some secrets to success for effective off-site events:
Choose the right venue
Choose a place that presents your employees with a different environment to the one in which they work. So, if your office is a modern, high-tech one situated in the heart of the CBD, rather take them to a peaceful, naturally beautiful place, where their entire psyche will be different. This will stimulate different thoughts, ideas and parts of their personalities.
Set clear objectives
Your employees need to know what they are doing and why. If the objective of this event is not clear, you will have a group of bored and / or frustrated people, which will be completely counter-productive.
Do not surprise people
For everyone to be able to participate and enjoy the event, it is important that they are aware of what to expect. They may even feel betrayed or hurt if you decide to surprise them, particularly if their expected day on the beach turns into a nightmarish exercise drill, for example.
Be reasonable with your schedule
Do not try to squeeze as many activities into one day as possible. Quality definitely overrides quantity in terms of offsite meetings and activities. Do not let your event run into the evening or during the times that people want to spend with their family. Respect their privacy and their right to a personal life. Also, be careful not to expect too much from people in terms of their physical capabilities. Not everyone can swim the rapids, climb sheer cliff faces or hang over a gorge.
Allow for privacy
Ensure that you are not sharing a site or venue with another company or event. This limits how excited or enthusiastic your group can get, or you could be distracted by other revellers that are not conducting business affairs themselves. Allow your staff members to feel comfortable and at ease in their surroundings.
Combine work and play
To keep everyone motivated and interested, introduce fun and variation into the meeting or event. Do not simply transport employees to another location just to be swamped by speeches and presentations. Rather, engage them, allow them to laugh, and encourage a sense of open communication and fun.
Hire professional speakers
If possible, it is imperative that you use only good, professional speakers. They should be dynamic, engaging and interesting, offering information and guidance from a different perspective. By having such a speaker present at an offsite meeting, you are enforcing the idea that you have broken away from the everyday routine and are making an effort to create a favourable environment for innovation and creativity.
Follow up
After your offsite event, be sure to conduct a scheduled follow-up with the team involved to see what they got out of it, how they benefited, how they plan to implement various strategies, and so on. This will give you a good idea of how to improve or tailor future events and will reaffirm to your staff how important they are to you.
Image Courtesy of Morningside Inn
