Janet works for a large insurance company as a group manager. She was having a conversation with Larry, the human resources consultant for the company. "We don't work together as a team!", she complained. "Nobody cares about anybody else's problems much less try to help each other or share information. Everyone just seems to do their own thing! What we need is a team building offsite!" Janet and Larry discussed the problems further to come up with a solution. They came up with the idea of having a two-day offsite for the team and to make the idea more attractive, holding it at resort only a couple hours away from work. Janet wanted to have the offsite as soon as possible to quickly address these problems with the other employees, and so it was scheduled it for later in the month. Larry worked at double the pace to put together a full agenda with icebreakers, trust-building exercises, and brainstorming sessions on how everybody could work together better as a team.



During day one of the offsite only half of Janet's team was there. The other half were on an important project that needed to get done by the end of the week. The half that were there did the activities politely but thought they were too touchy-feely. They knew it was because Janet was trying to force team building. The brainstorming sessions showed promise but no one even took notes. In the end, the team saw the offsite as a failure.

This may sound like a huge exaggeration to some, but to others it reminds them of an offsite they planned themselves or attended. Offsites are very successful in providing the means for helping the team to focus on business problem solving, fine-tuning strategies and coming up with totally new approaches for doing things. An important side result of offsites is that the real team-building that happens while trying to solve different business problems. When an offsite is done well, it will help to create better teams that work better together, thus accomplishing more when addressing business issues. When an offsite is done poorly, the team members will view it as a waste of time which reflects poorly on your leadership abilities.

What is the best way to host successful offsites that build rapport and facilitate team building? Here are a few basic suggestions:

Identify a specific objective for the offsite. This should be a clearly defined organizational purpose for the event. Possible goals include defining financial goals for the proceeding fiscal year, account management for primary customers, or brainstorming for solutions to a problematic business situation. If the objective is merely "Team Building," the members are very likely to consider the offsite to be a waste of their time without any concrete value. Tacitly encourage the development of real team building through the stated goal of finding a solution for a problem or defining the organization's future.

Provide plenty of time for networking - Give ample time during the day and evening for the team to have snacks, enjoy beverages, and just talk about whatever strikes them. Team building starts with building relationships, and building relationships starts with getting to know each other. Allow for networking time to be free and unscripted and let the team enjoy some casual conversation with each other.

A critical mistake to avoid is hosting the offsite while deadlines are coming due and everyone's burning the midnight oil to meet them. If you make this mistake, team members will be distracted by checking email, or making and taking important phone calls. Instead, schedule this important event during a lull in the business rush. In the business world, there may never be a best time to organize offsite activities, but try to avoid the worst time, when organizational members are already working frantically.

Consider an overnight event. Some of the most productive offsite work can result when the group eats together, relaxes over a couple of drinks, and talks late into the night brainstorming about potential ideas or considering solutions to serious company problems. In these productive late night sessions, colleagues could engage in productive conversations and discuss new ideas or organizational problems. Most importantly, however, colleagues are able to build rapport, which forms a strong foundation for excellent teamwork.

In my experience with offsites, one of the things that frustrates me the most is that the great ideas which came from the offsite are never implemented, since there was never any follow-up. We'll need to take action with a follow-up plan to keep the excitement going. This includes dates, tasks and owners to ensure that the ideas we brainstorm will actually get implemented. We have to create and use a follow-up plan so that the team doesn't perceive the whole offsite as a waste of their time.