How Strategic Offsites are Different from Team Building

I meet many folks who lead teams, and when I tell them I do strategic offsite programming and facilitation, the typical response is, "So, you create team-building exercises?" - not exactly.

It's understandable that games and ice-breakers come to mind - they are generally what has been offered to teams going offsite. While they may help folks get to know one another, they aren't strategic.

Strategic programming focuses on the things that are likely running through members' minds when doing a trust fall or ropes course - they think, "We should really be working on how we communicate with clients." Space is often not made during these activities to discuss the reality at work.

Strategic facilitation focuses on creating a safe and productive space to discuss the hard stuff. Instead of building a learning session where we discuss concepts in the abstract, we discuss them as they exist for you and help people feel comfortable expressing their perspectives.

By discussing topics that matter in a productive environment, your team can leverage the time you spend together to make progress on your future.

While there is room for team-building exercises at your company offsite, I recommend you make space to discuss what matters most and create space to produce the most representative, valid, shared understanding of what's going on. This way, you'll have actionable items for the future and relevant topics to check in on at your next offsite.

I say offsites are a place to start the conversation on the hard things; they help you build the language you need to continue the conversation once you are back at work.

Something to consider if you plan to make the investment to be together.