A Guide to Off-site Leadership and Management Events

There are four basic areas to get right when planning your Awayday. Good planning in these areas will guarantee a high impact, productive day.

1. For Who?

The first question to answer is who will be the target of this off site? This will help you get maximum return on your investment. When considering who will attend, here are some typical audience groupings:

Leadership teams (top teams)
Management teams
Functional/department groups
Project teams
Customer groups
Supplier groups
Business partners

Each and every group of attendees will have their own unique needs and issues to resolve during their time off site. Set their expectations early and find out what they want from the day. Most important of all discover what needs to change about this group by the time they leave.

2. Where?

Research and experience shows that people are more productive and focused if they are taken out of their normal environment. Bringing your team to an area of outstanding natural beauty immediately sets them thinking differently. Ensure you create a space for you and your team to think. "Off the grid".literally if that is what you need. Select your venue carefully. Here are some considerations:

Distance from your location and logistics of travel. Will the full group travel together or make individual arrangements? The Peak District is less than 90 minutes from all the major surrounding cities or Leeds, Derby, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, Nottingham, Liverpool and even Birmingham.

Accommodation for an over night stay or just make it a one day event.
Cuisine as part of the experience from local sustainable sources.
Access to wireless and mobile networks (or not) at your venue
Do you want a themed location to reinforce the key messages and event agenda?
Relaxation options, during or at the end of the Awayday
Informed choices on all these items will help you maximise attendance, sell the Awayday internally and contribute to a productive event for all.

3. What?

What will be the focus of the off site? What business topics and priorities will drive the experience for the participants who come? There are three critical things to consider when creating the agenda for your Awayday.

Learning: the content the audience will see and engage with during the event. This can be topic content such as competitor information or best practice leadership behaviors. Or data from your own organization that can be used to inform and educate the group.

Solving: the business issue or leadership challenge that managers/ attendees need to resolve. For example,

- Exploring strategy options;
- Deciding investment priorities;
- Improving employee engagement;
- Evaluating new market opportunities.

These are all examples of business critical issues that leadership teams bring to their retreat for resolution. What is yours?

Reinforcing: the activities or theme you will use to reinforce the learning of participants. Matching activities that help your managers engage with the content they need to learn and the business issue they need to solve.

Top Tip: The goal is to design an agenda that is not "death by Powerpoint". Rather, an interactive, highly challenging day that brings real issues to the table and gets beyond the politics and rhetoric of life in the office.

4. How
The process and facilitation skills needed to make your day a success should not be left to chance.

Plan before hand how each hour will be spent, with a good mix of thinking activities, personal time, group discussion and informal open time.
Use your facilitation skills to create a ‘safe place’ where attendees can challenge one another and be challenged.
Most important of all, do not over pack the agenda with long presentations.
Issue pre-work that contains relevant reading participants must complete before they arrive. This allows more time for discussion and action during the Awayday.
Toggle the agenda between solving the business topic and personal reflection what it means for their own priorities, plans and behavior.

Taking a leadership or management teams off site can still retain an element of fun and relaxation together. The prize is to use the informal setting and venue surroundings to crack open a business problem and generate break through thinking on critical issue your organization is facing. Along the way, a good facilitation process will help them take away a few critical learning personally.

Working with a professional ‘one stop shop’ who can help you to organise your event, from choosing a venue, selecting the right professional help, right down to organising indoor or outdoor activities specially tailored to your business needs, can make all the difference. Peak Awayday are centrally based in the beautiful Peak District, Derbyshire, and can provide the resources to make sure your event is a success. They offer a series of packages tailored to suit your needs. You can contact Peak Awayday on 01538 304470, email info@peakawayday.co.uk or visit www.peakawayday.co.uk to discuss your requirements.