Gathering your team together again: five tips for your first offsite

It was a sunny Tuesday morning in June and as I drove the 45 miles to the hotel in Sonning-on-Thames, I was filled with excitement and expectation. It was going to be a special day, a day of firsts. It was Day One of our very first in-person offsite for my team. So - because of Covid - it was the first time where everybody would gather in one place, and even the first time I’d be meeting some of my team members. This was the moment I’d been waiting for for so long.

It’s a scene being played out in many other organisations and teams right now as leaders are organising in-person offsites, team retreats and awaydays - important events we’ve been missing over these last two years.

Such gatherings present us with critical opportunities. They provide the opportunity to recalibrate, build team spirit and nurture organisational culture. They can help teams become aligned with where the company’s heading, as well as getting everyone energised for the journey ahead.

At the same time, we acknowledge the world has changed. Whether due to budget considerations or wanting to tread more lightly on the planet, colleagues won’t be flying as much as before. Offsites will be less frequent than pre-Covid. Yet in an environment where hybrid working remains the norm, for the short term at least, these gatherings might be the only chance for colleagues to see each other in person. So if it’s not a regular occurrence, it had better be good!

With that in mind, there was a lot at stake. In the run up to the event I had lots of questions running through my mind, such as how do we transition from a Teams-based culture to in-person and how do we make everybody feel included?

I was delighted that my three-day offsite went well, in large part due to the foresight and planning that happened beforehand. Our budget also got us thinking creatively about how to deliver maximum impact within our constraints. I have the wonderful working group - put together by my team - to thank for that. This group was made entirely of volunteers. They were instrumental in everything from setting the agenda to choosing the topics and deciding how to approach them. I’m so grateful to this hugely talented group whose efforts made my vision for the event a reality.

Here are five lessons borne out of my experience in June that I’d like to share in the hope they’ll be of use when preparing for your own team gatherings:

1. Be clear about your goals. After two years of no in-person events it was tempting to put too much on the agenda. So I set just three achievable actions for the event. I wanted it: 1) to build connections between colleagues; 2) allow learning in an immersive way; and 3) to be fun. Limiting the outcomes to three and being crystal clear about my goals helped me stay focused.
2. Be intentional about including everybody. The challenge most teams have is to make sure everyone feels included. There were colleagues I’d had many in-person interactions with as well as others I was meeting for the very first time. I made sure to check in with these colleagues regularly. For another couple of my team, I’d promised them that when a particularly demanding project was over, we’d have a celebratory glass of wine together. It was a lovely moment when we could finally do that over dinner on the first evening.
3. Embrace team members who aren’t in the room. Ideally, we’d love everyone to be there in person. In reality we had one colleague who wasn’t able to join us at the venue. To mitigate this, we instigated a buddy system. Each day a different team member was appointed as the buddy. They were our colleague’s eyes and ears as we interacted with them over Teams. They’d ensure she was connected on their phone or laptop and was able to participate in discussion. The buddy would fill them in on anything they’d missed. On a number of occasions over the three days we put her - the laptop or tablet that connected to her - on the sofa. We even took a team selfie with our remote colleague on screen! We did everything we could to help her feel included. Afterwards our colleague fed back that while she missed out on the full experience, she always felt part of things.
4. Create opportunities for sharing stories. I’ve witnessed the benefits when teams get together to share personal stories at work - it acts as a fast-track to get to know each other better. So in one of the sessions I asked my team members to share a favourite piece of writing and tell a story about it. I was humbled by how open and honest people were. We learned so much about one other. During another session I introduced an ice-breaker “I’m the only person in the room who….” It revealed some lovely glimpses we didn’t know about each other from being a black belt in judo to fascinating career trajectories. These activities created meaningful bonds between colleagues that will last into the future.
5. Create the chance for play. I know that when learning’s fun, it’s a lot more engaging. In one session colleagues were asked to present ideas. Points were awarded not only on the idea itself, but also on how it was presented. Props and giant foam board shapes were available - the more visually creative people were, the more points they accrued! It really encouraged playfulness, trying different things and going outside their comfort zones.?In another session a group of actors helped us with an improvised storytelling exercise where we got into groups to create a 3D picture postcard. These activities provided plenty of stand-out moments, we had fun, we learned a lot at the same time.

As I arrived home at the end of the three days, I felt euphoric about how incredible it had been. The offsite was a much needed gathering, an awakening and reset for my team. It was wonderful to see the messages and photographs flooding into our WhatsApp group as colleagues returned to their own homes or headed to the airport, full of excitement and energy about what they’d experienced. “A great cocktail of fun, work, empathy, creativity,” read one message. It was yet another goose bumps moment, one of many, during a very emotional few days.

The challenge is to make sure we keep the flame alive, and nurture that special bond.

So how about you? If you’re a leader who has organised your first team offsite since the pandemic, or is about to, I’d love to know what you’d add to my list of eight. Let me know your ideas for keeping the energy flowing!

And finally, I’d like to give a big thank you to my team for leaning in and taking the lead: Camilla Jarvall, Cordula Knueppel, Corinne Muller, Gabriel Solomon, Ivan Rejon, John Kokkinis, Lisa Daniels, Marko Jovanovic, Patrick Blankers, Rebecca Little, Stephen Willmore, Sunny Misun Jo and Tatyana Oberemova. All content and delivery was down to this special group of people who did a brilliant job in making such a successful event!