How Is the Annual Offsite Different This Year?
Labor Day means the end of summer and also the start of offsite season. Plan the meetings, book the venues, and then head off for a day to a week (typically) of deep conversations about the year to come and maybe a little fun, too.
As I work with clients on their offsites, I have been thinking about what we have been through these past few years … and what might be different about the offsites this year. Productive offsites revolve around a few well-chosen questions. Here are suggestions for this point in time:
How are we doing? This might sound both vague and touchy feely, but it’s important. We’re coming up on four years since the start of COVID. Of course, a lot of normalcy has returned, but they were tough years, many people suffered losses in different forms, and COVID has left some lasting marks. And now we’re in an uncertain, recession-ish economy. Create space for people to show up as their true selves so they can do their best work.
What’s outdated? Turning to more of a business focus, I have heard from many clients that they need a big “step back” discussion to account for all the changes the last four years. Many organizations have just been trying to stay afloat, with little room to take a systematic inventory of the changes … and to determine what old assumptions, practices, and structures deserve to be challenged.
What would be exciting? Building from the second question, I see many organizations that want to do something BOLD: they want to respond strategically to new circumstances and opportunities. They’re fatigued from several years in a reactive mode. They want more than incremental change; they want changes that (while thoughtful) also ENERGIZE their people.
In short, I caution against heading into this year’s offsite on autopilot. This is a unique time, and your team probably has unique needs.
If you want to talk about an upcoming offsite, just click here.