Succesful Offsite Meetings – One Diversified Clear Line”
An effective off-site meeting bonds team members by helping to aid communication, it grows your executive’s awareness of the larger picture and promotes your company culture. It allows you to address issues within your company, introduce or promote new concepts and products, acquaint your employees, and take a break from the office to reflect, unite, and confirm your company values.
You have defined the mission, vision, and values for your meeting and you have chosen your venue, invitees, and hotel and meeting needs with or without our help now it is time to bring it all together.
To begin – A welcome party, drink or dinner
Your team members have just arrived. They’ve checked in and spent some time relaxing or taking in their new surroundings, they may recognize team members from previous meetings or online office meetings and most likely many of them may be unfamiliar with each other.
To set the pace for a positive atmosphere during your meetings, opening the event with a leisure activity that is not too strenuous is a great idea and this is best done with a welcome party, standing buffet, or icebreaker dinner that allows team members to move freely and interact with each other.
A welcome party
Adding a welcome party or cocktail to your event as an introduction to the meeting(s) is a valuable approach to kick-start your meeting off to success. A welcome party is a perfect occasion to hand you invitees gifts that will emphasize what the event is about. You may choose to serve alcohol or mocktails or both.
Let us create the atmosphere for your event with visuals consisting of projected images, possibly a DJ, or a light show. All can help emphasize your company’s aims and set the trail for your meeting objectives
Standing buffet with entertainment
A standing buffet is another good way to welcome your guests and have them mingle. Combine your buffet with entertainment and a welcome speech that will give members a conversation starter
Include an icebreaker dinner
An icebreaker dinner is a perfect low-demanding activity that includes entertainment as well as collaboration from your invitees. These activities make it easy for team members to communicate with each other, and have fun with each other and it can help sharpen the motives of your meeting and work towards its goal in relaxed surroundings.
Break your meeting days
Meetings require concentration and are demanding of all who take part. Good planning is key to any successful meeting. Make sure you target the objectives and manage time so that you can create a functioning and to-the-point agenda.
Offsite Meetings are more demanding than the usual work at the office as participants are expected to process vigorous amounts of information and possibly demanding subjects in a limited time frame, therefore alternative activities are necessary to clear the minds and relax the bodies of the partakers. These breaks in the meeting rhythm also help your participants process the meeting in a useful manner.
Have coffee breaks between shorter meetings is a must. A lengthy lunch is advisable. an early end followed by an activity is a must. Take this opportunity to team build or tour.
Transfer your team to the city or the countryside. Alternate active activities with relaxing activities. End each day with a pleasant dinner away from the hotel.
Your final day
Your meetings have finished successfully now comes the thanking day. Make it memorable!
Now it’s time to go all out. This should be the night for the best food be it a Gala dinner dance or a restaurant in exclusivity, a beach picnic and party, or a dance event. This is the time for award ceremonies and letting off steam. Make this your day to thank your team for taking part, to solidify the meaningful relations they have created with each other back at their offices, and to keep the meeting in their memories so they will take their rejuvenated collaborative culture and their newly established collaborations back to the office to endure a long time.
Offsite meetings do work and when done with care will multiply the investment made!