WHY ORGANIZE OFFSITES? AND WHY IS IT SO HARD?
Starting with Why
Understanding Offsites through Customer Jobs, Gains & Pains
Let's use the Value Proposition Canvas to look at offsites:
- What outcome are they after? → Gains
- What are our customers trying to do? → Customer Jobs
- What challenges are they experiencing? → Pains
To help build a better understanding of offsite, here are the recurring themes that have emerged from our experience designing and delivering offsites.
We are almost sharing the below reluctantly as it does not replace proper discovery and it must not be the starting point. Indeed, you want to ask open questions to the team, not box them in one of the categories we outline below, we'd lose too much insight.
We are almost sharing the below reluctantly as it does not replace proper discovery and it must not be the starting point. Indeed, you want to ask open questions to the team, not box them in one of the categories we outline below, we'd lose too much insight.
Why organize offsites?
3 Gains Teams seek: Engagement, Alignment & Trust
Most employees (77%) worldwide are not "engaged" at work (better in the US at 68%), most organizations (74%) score low on Trust, and most knowledge workers (48%) do not understand how their day-to-day work contributes to broader goals.
Is your organization an outlier?
These concepts are intertwined. We separate them to facilitate understanding & action.
Is your organization an outlier?
- Are people actively engaged with their work or simply putting in their time?
- Are you all rowing in the same direction? Is it the right direction?
- How much do you trust your Team? How much do they trust you? How transparent are you about your intentions, strengths, and needs?
These concepts are intertwined. We separate them to facilitate understanding & action.
Are people actively engaged with their work or simply putting in their time?
Team member Engagement refers to a professional’s motivation, commitment, and better: enthusiasm to perform high-quality work and contribute to the Team's success. We prefer the term "Inspiration" but it is not yet commonly used.
Engaged employees exemplify eagerness to perform well, accomplish their tasks, and positively impact the organization. On the other side, you have the "not engaged" (aka the quiet quitters, 6 in 10 workers, putting time but not much energy or passion) and the actively disengaged (resentful, they act out their unhappiness, spread negativity).
Relevant Resources: Gallup Engagement, The How Report from How Institute (Dov Seidman), Back-of-an-envelope calculations on Forbes, Gallup 2000-2022 Engagement data, Gallup Q12® Meta-Analysis, Gallup on Leadership Engagement.
Team member Engagement refers to a professional’s motivation, commitment, and better: enthusiasm to perform high-quality work and contribute to the Team's success. We prefer the term "Inspiration" but it is not yet commonly used.
Engaged employees exemplify eagerness to perform well, accomplish their tasks, and positively impact the organization. On the other side, you have the "not engaged" (aka the quiet quitters, 6 in 10 workers, putting time but not much energy or passion) and the actively disengaged (resentful, they act out their unhappiness, spread negativity).
Relevant Resources: Gallup Engagement, The How Report from How Institute (Dov Seidman), Back-of-an-envelope calculations on Forbes, Gallup 2000-2022 Engagement data, Gallup Q12® Meta-Analysis, Gallup on Leadership Engagement.
Are we all rowing in the same direction? Is it the right direction?
Alignment refers to the team members' convergence in action towards the same purpose. There is alignment when people share a common understanding of the problem, commit to one joint plan, and act synergistically.
We talked about actively disengaged employees, but there are engaged employees who did not get the right direction and are wasting precious effort in directions that will not serve the organization or themselves, not because of bad intent, but because communication is not easy. Beyond alignment on goals, it is alignment on purpose. Improvement in employees' connection with the purpose of their organization correlates with reduced turnover and increased profitability.
Research by Bain & Company concludes that if a satisfied employee’s productivity level is 100%, an engaged employee’s level is 144%, but the productivity level of an employee who is truly inspired by the purpose of their employer is a whopping 225%.
“Speed is irrelevant if you are going in the wrong direction.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Relevant Resources: Anatomy of Work, Why Projects Fail, Gallup Purpose Article, Bain & Company 2015 in HBR.
Alignment refers to the team members' convergence in action towards the same purpose. There is alignment when people share a common understanding of the problem, commit to one joint plan, and act synergistically.
We talked about actively disengaged employees, but there are engaged employees who did not get the right direction and are wasting precious effort in directions that will not serve the organization or themselves, not because of bad intent, but because communication is not easy. Beyond alignment on goals, it is alignment on purpose. Improvement in employees' connection with the purpose of their organization correlates with reduced turnover and increased profitability.
Research by Bain & Company concludes that if a satisfied employee’s productivity level is 100%, an engaged employee’s level is 144%, but the productivity level of an employee who is truly inspired by the purpose of their employer is a whopping 225%.
“Speed is irrelevant if you are going in the wrong direction.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Relevant Resources: Anatomy of Work, Why Projects Fail, Gallup Purpose Article, Bain & Company 2015 in HBR.
How much do I trust my Team? How much do they trust me? How transparent are we about our intentions, strengths, and needs?
Trust refers to how open Team Members are to one another: how comfortable they are to be vulnerable, and share their truth, share work, and risk together.
Individually, it means building credibility through integrity, intent, capability, and results.
Interpersonally, it boils down to talking courageously and compassionately, walking the talk, and repairing when breaching trust.
Relevant Resources: Speed of Trust (Stephen MR Covey), The How Report from How Institute (Dov Seidman), PwC 2023 Trust Survey.
Trust refers to how open Team Members are to one another: how comfortable they are to be vulnerable, and share their truth, share work, and risk together.
Individually, it means building credibility through integrity, intent, capability, and results.
Interpersonally, it boils down to talking courageously and compassionately, walking the talk, and repairing when breaching trust.
Relevant Resources: Speed of Trust (Stephen MR Covey), The How Report from How Institute (Dov Seidman), PwC 2023 Trust Survey.
See the following visual representation:
If you represent each team member as a vector,
- Engagement is the Magnitude,
- Alignment, the Direction, and
- Trust, the Links between these vectors.
Just in case, here are a few numbers (call us for storytelling if the below is too dry):
Ultimate Outcomes:
Productivity KPIs:
People Operations Outcomes:
Industry-specific KPIs:
Also,
Higher Character (a component of Trust) = 8X in Long-Term Orientation (vs being animated only by short-term goals), 6X in Resilience (responding effectively to dramatic changes), 8X in Good decision Making (Effective, Rapid, Aligned decisions at all levels) (How Report 2022)
Higher Trust = 32X in Risk Taking, 11X in Innovation, and 6X in Performance
Higher Trust = Lower Cost & Higher Speed: (Speed of Trust)
(See above the links to the sources for each data point in the expandable menu detailing Engagement, Alignment & Trust)
Ultimate Outcomes:
- Higher Profitability: +23% (according to Gallup 2022)
- Higher Quality: +41% (Gallup 2022)
- Higher Customer Loyalty (Repeat & NPS) +10% (Gallup 2022)
Productivity KPIs:
- Higher Sales Productivity: +18% (Gallup 2022)
- Higher Production Productivity: +14% (Gallup 2022)
People Operations Outcomes:
- Lower Absenteeism: -81% (Gallup 2022)
- Lower Turnover: -18% for high-turnover organizations (Gallup 2022), -43% for low-turnover organizations (Gallup 2022)
- Higher Team Member Wellbeing: +66% (Gallup 2022)
- Higher organizational citizenship: +13% (Gallup 2022)
Industry-specific KPIs:
- Lower number of safety incidents: -64% (Gallup 2022)
- Lower number of patient safety incidents: -58% (Gallup 2022)
- Lower Shrinkage: -28% (Gallup 2022)
Also,
Higher Character (a component of Trust) = 8X in Long-Term Orientation (vs being animated only by short-term goals), 6X in Resilience (responding effectively to dramatic changes), 8X in Good decision Making (Effective, Rapid, Aligned decisions at all levels) (How Report 2022)
Higher Trust = 32X in Risk Taking, 11X in Innovation, and 6X in Performance
Higher Trust = Lower Cost & Higher Speed: (Speed of Trust)
(See above the links to the sources for each data point in the expandable menu detailing Engagement, Alignment & Trust)
What Teams seek to do during offsites.
We have ranked the 10 common Customer Jobs based on the importance for our customers:
TOP 5:
Gain: High trust, particularly for key relationships.
Customer Job: We learn the recipe for Trust and are each given the opportunity to be vulnerable (to trust & to be trusted).
Focus: i/we
Key insights
Customer Job: We learn the recipe for Trust and are each given the opportunity to be vulnerable (to trust & to be trusted).
Focus: i/we
Key insights
Gain: We truly know each other (intentions, strengths & needs).
Customer Job: We better know each other and the group: who we are and who we want to be.
Focus: i/we
Key insights
Customer Job: We better know each other and the group: who we are and who we want to be.
Focus: i/we
Key insights
Gain: Each & every one is committed to one common vision.
Customer Job: We go from insight to action through inspiration & commitment.
Focus: it
Key insights
Customer Job: We go from insight to action through inspiration & commitment.
Focus: it
Key insights
Gain: Collaboration is more effective, faster/efficient & pleasant.
Customer Job: We identify/design & practice the collaboration we want.
Focus: we/it
Key insights
Customer Job: We identify/design & practice the collaboration we want.
Focus: we/it
Key insights
Gain: The Team is energized and ready for more. Bring it on!
Customer Job: We recharge our batteries and create space to be more resilient when need be.
Focus: i/we
Key insights
Customer Job: We recharge our batteries and create space to be more resilient when need be.
Focus: i/we
Key insights
AND ALSO:
Gain: We're clear on our values & what behaviors they mean.
Customer Job: We celebrate what we want to see more of, and who leads the way.
Focus: i/we/it
Key insights
Customer Job: We celebrate what we want to see more of, and who leads the way.
Focus: i/we/it
Key insights
Gain: We explored innovative paths, beyond current operations.
Customer Job: We expand beyond past ideas & actions: exploring new topics & perspectives.
Focus: it
Key insights
Customer Job: We expand beyond past ideas & actions: exploring new topics & perspectives.
Focus: it
Key insights
Gain: We have a data-driven ranking of priorities: "yes" & "nos"
Customer Job: We analyze and prioritize to channel our resources in the right direction.
Focus: it
Key insights
Customer Job: We analyze and prioritize to channel our resources in the right direction.
Focus: it
Key insights
Gain: We have everything we need to perform at our best.
Customer Job: We launch new systems & upskill (practice) to be more impactful towards our goals.
Focus: i/we/it
Key insights
Customer Job: We launch new systems & upskill (practice) to be more impactful towards our goals.
Focus: i/we/it
Key insights
Gain: We have important deliverables to show for the offsite.
Customer Job: We incubate and accelerate initiatives by delivering important pieces of work.
Focus: it
Key insights
Customer Job: We incubate and accelerate initiatives by delivering important pieces of work.
Focus: it
Key insights
Why are offsites so challenging?
The 6 Pains of organizing offsites.
Our methodology, the space we have designed, and our services address every single one of these:
Offsites generate high expectations, but many of them fall short and fail to convert hope into trust. Sometimes the experience itself is disappointing, other times it is great but there is little follow-through. It is hard for Teams to focus the offsite on a few impactful yet realistic goals, deliver them, and measure and link the results to the ultimate outcomes we seek (quality, cost-saving, innovation, speed, etc.).
Because of physical logistics, team retreats are a massive investment: both financial & environmental. In addition to this base cost of gathering the Team, much is needed for the Organization to be impacted the way you intend. Offsites can also disrupt regular work schedules, causing potential productivity losses or work backlog before and after the event. The offsite days and the preparation time represent an opportunity cost.
Engaging each and every participant is a difficult task:
- Offsites can be received with Resistance, Skepticism, or Cynicism. It is important to earn everyone's trust ahead of time so the offsite flows better.
- How can we give space to each and every participant? Some people are always engaged, on stage. How can we share the mic with those we hear rarely?
- We are all different in terms of needs, skills, and preferences. How can we satisfy each participant's needs so that the offsite is for them too? (personal sensitivity, not just cultural sensitivity)
- Offsites can be received with Resistance, Skepticism, or Cynicism. It is important to earn everyone's trust ahead of time so the offsite flows better.
- How can we give space to each and every participant? Some people are always engaged, on stage. How can we share the mic with those we hear rarely?
- We are all different in terms of needs, skills, and preferences. How can we satisfy each participant's needs so that the offsite is for them too? (personal sensitivity, not just cultural sensitivity)
There is no clear, simple, or easy path to a successful offsite. It is hard to coordinate the logistics, the people, and the content/performance to deliver an impactful experience. It is hard to manage participants' expectations and maintain effective communication during the offsite.
Loads already on everyone's plate, and no one has time to take care of the offsite. Who's going to design, prepare, deliver, and integrate the offsite? And who has the skills to organize the offsite? Often we do not have planners or facilitators we can count on internally, and most of the professionals supporting offsites take care of the Logistics, and not of the business, team, and individual transformation.
It is hard to find a location that meets all the requirements for the offsite, particularly one that supports both productivity (connectivity & technology, ergonomic furniture, and the right space distribution) and deep transformation (a safe/nurturing space, exotic/liminal, with the state hacking amenities for the whole group) at an affordable price.
TRUST OURSELVES
Here is the typical sequence:
0- What does Trust mean for you? (in terms of Benefits, Features)
1- What are our current levels of Trust? What are the key relationships where Trust needs to improve?
2- What opportunities can we give each person so they build Trust with the Group? (them trusting the group and the group trusting them)
3- How do we help people notice how it feels, how we behave and practice Trust in better ways?
4- What are the resulting levels of Trust?
Trust requires authenticity on both the vulnerable/sharing and receiving sides. On the vulnerable/sharing side, preliminary individual self discovery is necessary. On the receiving side, it is an act of balancing courage (being oneself) and compassion (taking care of others' feelings). A shares their Truth, B receives it and responds to it in their own unique way, so B ends up sharing their truth too, and A will receive it...
0- What does Trust mean for you? (in terms of Benefits, Features)
1- What are our current levels of Trust? What are the key relationships where Trust needs to improve?
2- What opportunities can we give each person so they build Trust with the Group? (them trusting the group and the group trusting them)
3- How do we help people notice how it feels, how we behave and practice Trust in better ways?
4- What are the resulting levels of Trust?
Trust requires authenticity on both the vulnerable/sharing and receiving sides. On the vulnerable/sharing side, preliminary individual self discovery is necessary. On the receiving side, it is an act of balancing courage (being oneself) and compassion (taking care of others' feelings). A shares their Truth, B receives it and responds to it in their own unique way, so B ends up sharing their truth too, and A will receive it...
KNOW OURSELVES
Self, Peer & Group Discovery: It is about understanding who/what we are, as individuals, teams, an organization, an ecosystem:
- Who we want to be (Goal) versus who we... are most of the time (Reality).
- What do we need (get) and what can we contribute (give)?
- Who we say we are versus how we are perceived by others (in our blindspot) versus the objective/quantified data that has accumulated.
- How clear & relevant are the results of past self-discovery to the current group? Think both in terms of spirit and form. (How many individuals were involved in this self-discovery exercise? How aligned were they?)
- How embodied are the results of past self-discovery? (Who is truly living our values: walking the talk)
- How biased is our feedback from "others" and the quantified data?
It is not enough to identify what we want (Goals),
- How do you rank them? What comes first when you need to choose?
- How committed are we to our Goals? How do we allocate our resources/power? (is it aligned with our ranking?)
- How realistic are we with our Goal?
- Who we want to be (Goal) versus who we... are most of the time (Reality).
- What do we need (get) and what can we contribute (give)?
- Who we say we are versus how we are perceived by others (in our blindspot) versus the objective/quantified data that has accumulated.
- How clear & relevant are the results of past self-discovery to the current group? Think both in terms of spirit and form. (How many individuals were involved in this self-discovery exercise? How aligned were they?)
- How embodied are the results of past self-discovery? (Who is truly living our values: walking the talk)
- How biased is our feedback from "others" and the quantified data?
It is not enough to identify what we want (Goals),
- How do you rank them? What comes first when you need to choose?
- How committed are we to our Goals? How do we allocate our resources/power? (is it aligned with our ranking?)
- How realistic are we with our Goal?
INSPIRE & COMMIT
- Have we heard, steelmanned, and integrated everyone's perspective? Has everyone felt heard?
- Have we prioritized a way forward through a data-driven process?
- What's the story that inspires us to gather and take action? (A narrative that shows the expected impact: what’s possible if we do take action and what’s at risk if we don’t. A compelling speech that acknowledges the paths we have discarded, why (pros and cons), and when we will revisit this decision.)
- Has each and every one committed? (Some will agree and commit, others will disagree and commit. Silence DOES NOT mean Consent.)
- Have we prioritized a way forward through a data-driven process?
- What's the story that inspires us to gather and take action? (A narrative that shows the expected impact: what’s possible if we do take action and what’s at risk if we don’t. A compelling speech that acknowledges the paths we have discarded, why (pros and cons), and when we will revisit this decision.)
- Has each and every one committed? (Some will agree and commit, others will disagree and commit. Silence DOES NOT mean Consent.)
IMPROVE COLLABORATION
For the team to get to new levels of collaboration post-offsite. Improved collaboration will help the team have more impact.
- Identify: What kind of collaboration do we want? (to support our purpose/impact) What does it mean specifically in terms of online communication? Meetings? Specific behaviors we expect across the board?
- Design: How can we shape the ways we collaborate? What systems and processes can support the chosen collaboration?
- Practice: Which meetings can we perform? (analyze/reflect upon & re-run improved) Which specific skills and situations do we want to practice?
- Identify: What kind of collaboration do we want? (to support our purpose/impact) What does it mean specifically in terms of online communication? Meetings? Specific behaviors we expect across the board?
- Design: How can we shape the ways we collaborate? What systems and processes can support the chosen collaboration?
- Practice: Which meetings can we perform? (analyze/reflect upon & re-run improved) Which specific skills and situations do we want to practice?
ENERGIZE
- What is the current energy level of each individual in the Team? (Have we accumulated any debt that we need to pay back? Do we need to build resilience for what's to come?)
- How good are the team's energy & state management skills?
- How good are the team's energy & state management skills?
CELEBRATE
- What values are most important now? (Ideally, focus on 1 value only)
- What associated behaviors do we want to celebrate?
- Who has modelled our values?
- How do we celebrate these values, associated behaviors and people? (award ceremony, air time, roles)
- What associated behaviors do we want to celebrate?
- Who has modelled our values?
- How do we celebrate these values, associated behaviors and people? (award ceremony, air time, roles)
GAIN PERSPECTIVE
- What is the actual problem?
- What are the potential solutions?
- What new topics do we want to explore?
- What existing topics from new perspectives? (different functions, thinking hats, past decisions under today's light, inviting or modeling new stakeholders)
- Who do we want to hear from? What do we want to know from them? And, how do we avoid influencing them?
- What are the potential solutions?
- What new topics do we want to explore?
- What existing topics from new perspectives? (different functions, thinking hats, past decisions under today's light, inviting or modeling new stakeholders)
- Who do we want to hear from? What do we want to know from them? And, how do we avoid influencing them?
FOCUS
- What matters most? (prioritizing the problems, or components of the problem)
- What is the context? (local and ecosystem, past and present)
- How do the solutions rank? (costs/resourcing, benefits/outcome/impact, risks/2nd&3rd order consequences)
- How do we make the #1 solution happen? (early plan)
- What is the context? (local and ecosystem, past and present)
- How do the solutions rank? (costs/resourcing, benefits/outcome/impact, risks/2nd&3rd order consequences)
- How do we make the #1 solution happen? (early plan)
TOOL UP
- What new system would benefit from a launch at the offsite?
- What skills/situations do we need to practice?
- What skills/situations do we need to practice?
GET THINGS DONE
- What important piece of work can we deliver during the offsite?
- What would benefit from everyone's contribution?
- What would benefit from everyone's contribution?
i = PERSONAL
Focus is on the individual, personal level.
we = RELATIONSHIPS
Focus is on the relationships, the network(s).
There are different levels: 1:1, intra-team, across "tribes" (engineers vs non eng., past companies, etc.), x-team, organization, leadership-reportees, ownership-employees, business ecosystem (incl. clients, partners...), broader ecosystem (up to Earth).
There are different levels: 1:1, intra-team, across "tribes" (engineers vs non eng., past companies, etc.), x-team, organization, leadership-reportees, ownership-employees, business ecosystem (incl. clients, partners...), broader ecosystem (up to Earth).
it = BUSINESS/INITIATIVES
Focus is on the purpose, results, projects, initiatives, tasks, deliverables...
74% of organizations score low on Trust
According to the 2016 How Report from the How Institute (Dov Seidman),
- 74% of organizations score low,
- 17% medium
- 9% high
Engaged employees are the minority at less than one in four.
According to the Gallup 2000-2022 Engagement data, 2022 Annual Employee Engagement is at:
- 23% globally,
- and slightly higher in the US at 32%...
Unclear objectives...
Here: The 2021 Anatomy of Work Index, which surveyed over 10,000 knowledge workers, found that less than half of all employees understood how their day-to-day work contributed to broader goals.
A little more connection to the mission/purpose goes a long way.
Gallup research shows that just a 10% improvement in employees' connection with the mission or purpose of their organization leads to an 8.1% decrease in turnover and a 4.4% increase in profitability.