Imagine this: You return from a 3 day start-up retreat, it was a great success. You’ve come away with loads of learnings, the team feels energised and engaged. You are all using new terminology, developed organically while you were away together. You even notice that people are attending after-work drinks more regularly.
Only one problem, the attendance. Some key people weren’t able to make it to the away-day and now they are playing catch up. Those learning opportunities, those moments of getting to know their colleagues, those ideas that they needed to input in order to buy into the strategy, they’ve passed by.
So, what can you do to get everyone to your next team offsite? Here are some ideas:
The most common reason for people missing an offsite is a diary clash, normally a pre-booked holiday. To give offsites a fighting chance of getting a full house you need to put them in the diary at least 6 months in advance.
Ideally, you should decide on the cadence of your offsites in q4 of the previous year. Ask people if there are any dates they cannot do, then, get all the offsites blocked out in the calendar in one go. If they need to change closer to the time, then so be it, but hopefully this allows your team to consider your offsites when making other plans.
You’ve decided that offsites are a key lever to building your business, now you need to make this clear to your team. From job advertisements and interviews, through to general business planning and resource allocation.
For example, if you have a quarterly offsite, it is wise to not schedule 360 feedback forms to be submitted during the same week. We all know that both of these activities take up time. You need to send a clear message that offsites are important and to be prioritised by the business.
For some people overnight stays with people they don’t know can be worrying. Here are some things that you can do to help alleviate anxiety:
Vary where you hold your offsite, not only does this keep things interesting but making the same people travel miles can get tiring. Also, I have seen that people love it when you host the offsite in the place that they call home. They are keen to offer up suggestions for where to eat, sleep, have fun and will help you co-host the offsite while it’s running. Win- Win!
Even if the last one was a roaring success, it’s important to reflect after each offsite and make changes every time. Some of the changes will stick, some won’t. That’s ok. Like all internal processes and events they need to evolve and change as your company does.
In the case of someone not enjoying the last one, they might not make the effort to come again. They might even tell their colleagues it’s not worth it. If you forget to gather feedback, then it’s not too late to identify anyone who didn’t have a good time. You can then make changes if necessary, and communicate these changes.
This is most applicable for your whole team offsites. From the location, the travel, activities and the vibe created. It’s a lot of work, but if done properly they will become something that people will not only attend but look forward to.
If you are going to do it, do it properly! I love the saying “Done is better than perfect” but in this case, you are responsible for the collective mood of a large group of people for multiple days. Don’t underestimate what neither it takes nor the potential of a truly great offsite.
I hope these points help you realise that there are loads of actions you can take to get more people to attend your offsites. If you have any other ideas, please share them!
