How to Hold a Successful Off-site Meeting

Company meetings held away from the office can be very motivating. An off-site meeting can revitalize employees, build team spirit, and get the creative juices flowing. An off-site meeting is one of the best ways to generate new enthusiasm, discuss new ideas, and build a renewed commitment to organizational goals.

Getting away from the dynamics of a workplace setting can give people the opportunity to communicate in ways that they might not back at the office. Specific issues can be addressed and focused on without the interruptions that routinely come up at the home office. In addition, people can engage in team-building activities and have the kind of fun that creates a lasting sense of unity and camaraderie.

Planning is Key

An off-site meeting should be more than a bonding experience. It should be an opportunity for solving problems, generating new ideas, and helping employees grow. Planning and preparation will improve the odds that an off-site meeting will achieve the desired objectives.

Answers to a few simple questions will help you to start planning. What needs to be presented and/ or discussed and why? Is it time for presenting big picture strategy or for making concrete decisions? The answers to these questions will help you to formulate objectives. The objectives will help in the development of the agenda.

Some of the most common objectives for off-site meetings include:

• Review past performance to consider what the team has done well and areas in which performance could be improved.
• Discuss and debate any challenges the organization is currently facing.
• Develop strategic plans for the future.
• Clarify roles and responsibilities.
• Announce major changes in an organization
• Team-building.

Develop an agenda which covers the topic areas you need to cover. Once the agenda has been produced, it should be fairly obvious who should attend. One mistake that planners sometimes make is having people at the meeting who really don’t need to be there. Make sure the list of attendees aligns with your objectives.

Plan the day carefully. Decide whether you want the day to be a working event, a laid-back retreat, or a program combining the two. Everyone needs a break at some point. As you plan, remember that it’s good to give people some time to think about the issues being addressed at the meeting. If possible, it’s also good to build some fun into the day.

In advance of the event, create a detailed schedule of what needs to happen and when so that everything will be ready on the day of the meeting. Work backwards from your event date. Plan ahead for lead time on the production of any printed materials, shipping times for any needed deliveries, and anything else that needs to be taken care of before the meeting day.

At the appropriate time, distribute a pre-retreat agenda to inform people of the objectives for the off-site meeting. If employees need to be familiar with a book or other material before the meeting, let them know so they can be up to speed on the day of the meeting.

Meeting Space

In addition to good planning, the meeting space is a key to success for an off-site meeting. Naturally, the location should be convenient. For a day meeting, it should be away from the office, but not too far away. As you check out potential meeting places, you’ll want to make certain that you get space which meets all of your requirements for a large auditorium as well as smaller rooms for breakout sessions. Here are some additional considerations.

• Is the area where you’ll be having meals suitable?
• Is the kitchen space adequate for your caterer to stage meals?
• Are there enough bathrooms and are they well maintained?
• Is there any outdoor space where people can get out for a breath of fresh air between sessions?
• Is there ample convenient free parking? People who attend will really appreciate that.
• Does the location have adequate technology to meet your requirements?

The Day of the Meeting

The following suggestions are from the Harvard Business Review.

Set the ground rules. An off-site meeting should be a safe space. Participants at the meeting should be confident that they can speak freely. There should be no fear of reprisal.  Participants should feel  confident that what is said at the off-site is for the team alone, and that there won’t be repercussions back at the office due to anything that may have been said.

Gather anonymous input and suggestions. Some team members may have great ideas that may be challenging to a colleague or leader. Soliciting anonymous suggestions can give them the opportunity to present those without pointing the finger at anyone. An outside facilitator can be helpful in this regard, since he or she can be objective in addressing sensitive issues.

End the meeting well. Near the end of the meeting, ask yourself and your team whether or not you have achieved the goals of the meeting. Here are a few sample questions.

• Have we achieved our goals during this meeting?
• Have we found ways to improve our processes and outcomes?
• Did we create a more effective system for communication and collaboration?
• Were the speakers and presentations effective?

After the Meeting

Schedule the follow-up. One common complaint about off-site meetings is that there is no follow-up, or the follow-up is insufficient. Scheduling a follow-up after the initial off-site meeting can help ensure that the team stays focused on whatever issues were addressed.

Check out The Conference Center at The Thrasher-Horne Center for your next off-site meeting.

Many of Northeast Florida’s leading organizations have held their off-site meetings at the Thrasher-Horne Center. The Conference Center has 6200 square feet of meeting space that can be configured in many different ways. Meeting space at the Conference Center is available for half-days as well as full days at very reasonable rates and non-profits are eligible for a discount. There’s ample free parking and a kitchen designed for the staging of meals by catering staff. And of course, the Conference Center is fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology to meet the requirements of any organization.

The Conference Center also has several features that other facilities do not have. There are beautiful grounds where meeting participants can take a walk without feeling unsafe the way they might at a downtown hotel. The Conference Center also has art galleries where people can walk around. Many people find art very stimulating for their thinking. Finally, the Conference Center has access to the Thrasher-Horne Center Cabaret Theatre complete with adjustable table-top seating. If your event is going to feature a comedian, hypnotist, live musicians, or other performer, the Cabaret would be perfect.  

In this article, I’ve written about The Conference Center at Thrasher-Horne Center. The Conference Center has excellent meeting spaces, ample free parking, and state-of-the-art technology. There are also beautiful grounds and art galleries for attendees to enjoy.

If you have any questions or would like to arrange a personal tour, please call (904) 276-6836.

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