Planning a Strategic Offsite – What Kind of Event Does Your Team Really Need?
The First Step: Be Clear on What You Want & Need
Before selecting a team event, before choosing an activity, before picking a theme, before deciding on a location, or any other detail, it’s essential first to define, with specificity, what you truly need.
The most successful team & leadership development off-sites are customized to solve real challenges, to drive meaningful learning & growth, and to achieve valuable post event outcomes.
People often start focused on fun or entertainment or activities, but what you need more than anything else is results.
A great event isn’t just about having fun—it should be engaging, purposeful, and impactful and deliver specific outcomes upon return to work.
Three Core Aspects of a Team Event
1️⃣ Training & Development (necessary and critical to your results): Teaching the most powerful and necessary skills, tools, and strategies that improve performance, leadership, and teamwork and drive the specific results you need upon return to work.
2️⃣ Engagement & Activity (the packaging for an engaging training event): A fun, interactive experience that brings your team together and creates a powerful learning environment.
3️⃣ Charity & Giving Back (optional but helpful and beneficial): The fulfillment of making a difference (e.g., a Bike Build Event or philanthropic challenge). Can strengthen the emotional engagement and impact of your event and giving always serves.
Every team event ideally should include all three, but the balance depends on your goals. The most important ingredients have to go in FIRST – the training and development. Start with the WHY – your goals – and the right event will naturally follow.
How to Choose the Right Event in 3 Steps
To select the right event for your team, follow these key steps:
1️⃣ Determine Your Goals. Understand the challenges or opportunities you want to address.
2️⃣ Find an Expert Partner. Choose a provider with the expertise to deliver real results.
3️⃣ Budget appropriately for Results and Let Them Design the Event around Your Goals. The right expert will tailor an event to maximize impact and ROI – being effective and efficient while ensuring to include the skills, tools, insights, emotions, strategies. And ultimately what is needed to drive your results.
🔴 Caution: 🔴
Starting with an activity or a theme is what most people do. But the most successful events start with goals. The activity or theme are just the packaging an expert trainer wraps around the learning, growth and development to make it fun, entertaining and engaging.
Step 1: Clarify Your Goals – What Do You Want to Achieve?
A great team event isn’t just about fixing problems—it’s about unlocking potential, strengthening culture, and setting your team up for success.
So you want to do both!
Figure out all of your current problems with the team AND clarify all of your current goals and opportunities for success.
THINGS TO IMPROVE:
Common Team Problems
What Best Describes Your Current Pains?
Leadership Problems & Lack of Direction
🔴 Are your leaders struggling to inspire, guide, and develop their teams?
🔴 Do team members feel disconnected from leadership, causing disengagement?
🔴 Is there a lack of clear direction?
🔴 Are your managers overwhelmed, due to poor delegation and unclear priorities?
🔴 Is there a lack of leadership at different levels, leaving employees without strong role models?
Why It Matters – The Impact of Strong Leadership especially in times of Change
Great leadership isn’t just about making decisions—it’s about setting the tone for the entire organization. Strong leaders motivate teams, drive performance, and create a culture of trust and accountability. Leaders help those they lead achieve results!
- Without strong leadership: Employees disengage, projects stall, and confusion spreads.
- WITH strong leadership: Your team performs better, communicates clearly, and executes efficiently.
🔹 Real-World Impact: Multiple studies confirm that companies with highly effective leadership teams are 13x more likely to outperform their competitors.
✅ Solution: Partner with a leadership expert to deliver training in emotional intelligence, decision-making, strategic thinking, and coaching skills.
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Poor Communication & Misalignment
🔴 Are misunderstandings causing frustration and mistakes?
🔴 Do employees struggle to provide or receive constructive feedback?
🔴 Is a lack of clear expectations leading to inefficiencies and delays?
🔴 Are different departments or teams struggling to align and collaborate effectively?
Why It Matters – The True Cost of Miscommunication
Poor communication wastes time and money. Studies show that public companies lose an average of $62.4 million per year due to miscommunication. The losses are staggering in private companies as well.
- Without clear communication: Team members work in silos, duplicate efforts, and fail to deliver results efficiently.
- WITH strong communication: Projects move faster, collaboration improves, and workplace stress decreases- ultimately driving more efficient results.
🔹 Real-World Impact: 86% of employees and executives cite lack of collaboration and ineffective communication as the primary causes of workplace failures.
✅ Solution: Engage an expert facilitator to help your team improve learn to communicate, persuade and influence effectively as well as resolving conflicts and ensuring effective cross-functional collaboration.
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Low Adaptability & Resistance to Change
🔴 Is your team ready to evolve in a world where AI will permeate every aspect of life and business?
🔴 Do you want your team to be more adaptable to change and uncertainty?
🔴 Is your industry – like all industries – evolving rapidly, requiring quick learning and flexibility?
🔴 Would your employees benefit from strategies to manage stress and challenges?
🔴 Do you want to foster a culture of innovation and problem-solving?
Why It Matters – Thriving vs. Struggling in a Changing World
The pace of change is faster than ever, and teams that struggle to adapt quickly fall behind. The most successful organizations are those that embrace change, pivot when necessary, and continue to innovate.
- Without adaptability: Companies get stuck in outdated processes and fail to meet shifting demands leading to failure and loss.
- WITH adaptability: Teams stay ahead of competitors, find creative solutions, and thrive even in uncertainty – flexing and changing rapidly to stay ahead of the curve.
🔹 Real-World Impact: 76% of executives say their organizations’ success depends on workforce adaptability.
✅ Solution: Choose an expert in resilience training who can equip your team with tools to embrace change, stay proactive, and overcome any obstacle.
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Burnout, Turnover & Employee Disengagement
🔴 Are employees just “going through the motions” rather than bringing energy and passion?
🔴 Is your team feeling disconnected from their work and lacking enthusiasm?
🔴 Have recent organizational changes left your team feeling uncertain or unmotivated?
🔴 Is burnout causing high turnover and low morale?
Why It Matters – The True Cost of Employee Burnout and Turnover
Burnout isn’t just about feeling tired—it leads to high turnover, low productivity, and financial losses. Companies with highly engaged employees see 21% higher profitability.
- Without engagement: Employees leave, costing companies thousands in rehiring and lost productivity.
- WITH engagement: Teams are energized, proactive, and committed to success – which they achieve.
🔹 Real-World Impact: Organizations with disengaged employees see 60% more errors and defects compared to highly engaged teams.
✅ Solution: Work with a facilitator who specializes in engagement and motivation to unleash the potential within your team and ensure maximum results.
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Team Conflict & Dysfunction
🔴 Do team members struggle to work together productively?
🔴 Is office politics, gossip, or negativity creating a toxic work environment?
🔴 Are there silos preventing effective teamwork across departments?
🔴 Are there tensions or unresolved issues causing friction between employees?
Why It Matters – The Cost of Workplace Conflict & Dysfunction
Unresolved conflict kills productivity and creates a toxic work culture. Studies show that employees spend an average of 2.8 hours per week dealing with workplace conflict—costing U.S. businesses $359 billion annually.
- Without conflict resolution: Teams experience higher stress, reduced cooperation, and lower output.
- WITH conflict resolution: Teams develop trust, psychological safety, and a culture of mutual respect.
🔹 Real-World Impact: High-trust organizations outperform low-trust organizations by 286% in total return to shareholders.
✅ Solution: Hire a team-development specialist to help strengthen trust, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution skills and ensure you have a team that is aligned and focused on success.
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THINGS TO CREATE
Common Team Goals
What Do You Want an Need to Achieve?
Stronger Leadership & Inspiring Team Culture
🔵 Do you want to cultivate leaders who inspire, engage, and motivate their teams?
🔵 Would you like your managers to become more effective at coaching and empowering employees?
🔵 Do you want to create a culture where people take ownership and accountability?
🔵 Would developing leadership skills across all levels help your company grow and succeed?
Why This Matters: The Power of Leadership
Leadership effectiveness is one of the strongest predictors of organizational success. Studies show that strong leaders increase company performance by 20-30% by fostering better communication, decision-making, and accountability. Conversely, poor leadership is the number one driver of disengagement and turnover.
📌 Real-World Impact: Research from Harvard Business Review found that companies with effective leadership development programs experience 114% higher sales growth and 71% higher profitability than those without. This demonstrates that companies investing in leadership see measurable business benefits.
✅ Solution: Find a training partner with deep leadership expertise who can provide your team with practical, hands-on leadership training that develops key skills like managing focus, emotions, influence, coaching, strategic thinking, and decision-making.
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Enhanced Communication & Collaboration
🔵 Would your team benefit from learning how to communicate more clearly and effectively?
🔵 Do you want to reduce misunderstandings and improve the flow and accuracy of information?
🔵 Would strengthening listening skills and emotional intelligence create a more cohesive team?
🔵 Do you want to foster open and honest conversations that drive innovation and trust?
Why This Matters: Communication is the Key to High-Performing Teams
A study by MIT found that communication patterns are the most critical factor in predicting team success—more so than individual intelligence or experience. Teams that communicate frequently and clearly collaborate better, solve problems faster, and experience less stress.
📌 Real-World Impact: Research published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior found that companies with strong internal communication practices are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their competitors. Effective communication fosters trust, speeds up decision-making, and reduces costly misunderstandings.
✅ Solution: Work with a facilitator who is an expert who can train your team in the keys to commuication, persuasion and influence as well as conflict resolution and emotional intelligence.
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Building Trust & Strengthening Team Bonds
🔵 Do you want to create deeper connections between team members?
🔵 Would stronger trust and camaraderie help your team collaborate more effectively?
🔵 Do you want to eliminate silos and create a more unified team culture?
🔵 Would improving relationships between departments make work more enjoyable and efficient?
Why This Matters: Trust is the Foundation of High-Performing Teams
Several studies found that employees in high-trust organizations are 76% more engaged and 50% more productive than those in low-trust environments. Without trust, teams struggle with collaboration, information-sharing, and innovation.
📌 Real-World Impact: A Google study on team effectiveness found that psychological safety (the ability to take risks and be vulnerable without fear) was the #1 predictor of successful teams. High-trust environments allow employees to share ideas freely, solve problems collaboratively, and build stronger workplace relationships.
✅ Solution: Choose an event partner who specializes in trust-building experiences and can design activities that break down barriers, build deep rapport, and create true interdependence. Trust is the key to success in your team. Learn how to build it and how to prevent it from being lost.
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Boosting Team Engagement & Motivation
🔵 Would you like employees to feel more invested in the company’s success?
🔵 Do you want to energize your team and reignite their passion for their work?
🔵 Do you want to boost morale and create a more positive workplace atmosphere?
🔵 Would a high-energy experience help your team reconnect and refocus on their goals?
Why This Matters: Engagement Drives Performance & Retention
Employee engagement isn’t just a “nice to have” – it’s a major driver of business success. Gallup research found that highly engaged teams are 21% more productive and 59% less likely to leave their jobs.
📌 Real-World Impact: Studies in positive psychology have shown that employees who feel a strong sense of connection and purpose at work are happier, healthier, and more productive. Engaged employees are more innovative, perform better under pressure, and stay with companies longer.
✅ Solution: Hire an expert facilitator who understands team motivation and engagement. This is as important as Trust in ensuring your team drives the results you need. Engaged, present, enthusiastic and inspired team members outperform exponentially.
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Developing Resilience & Thriving Through Change
🔵 Is your team facing rapid change, and you want them to embrace it instead of resisting it?
🔵 Would learning resilience strategies help your team stay focused and adaptable?
🔵 Do you want to equip employees with problem-solving skills to handle uncertainty?
🔵 Would your organization benefit from a team that views challenges as opportunities?
🔵 Do you want your team to feel unstoppable in the face of any change or challenge?
Why This Matters: Adaptability is the #1 Predictor of Long-Term Success
The World Economic Forum lists resilience and adaptability as two of the top skills for the future workplace. Research also found that companies that invest in resilience training see a 30% improvement in employee well-being and productivity.
📌 Real-World Impact: A study by the American Psychological Association found that employees with high resilience levels experience 60% less burnout and are 30% more engaged in their work. Resilience training not only reduces stress but also improves problem-solving, adaptability, and overall job performance.
✅ Solution: Find a training expert who can help your team actually become more resilient, and adaptable by overcoming obstacles and challenges in real time and learning the keys to human function, motivation and emotions. Resilience is a mental and emotional strength that can be built.
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Creating a Purpose-Driven, Impactful Experience
🔵 Do you want to bring your team together in a way that is both meaningful and fun?
🔵 Would your employees appreciate an experience that gives back to the community?
🔵 Do you want to create a moment of shared joy and fulfillment that lasts beyond the event?
🔵 Would a purpose-driven experience help reinforce company values and social responsibility?
Why This Matters: Purpose Creates Loyalty & Long-Term Success
Research found that employees who find meaning in their work are 3X more likely to stay with their company and are 50% more productive. Teams that engage in purpose-driven activities build stronger bonds and experience higher job satisfaction.
📌 Real-World Impact: A study published in the Journal of Corporate Responsibility found that employees who participated in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives were 42% more likely to describe their workplace as a “great place to work.” Giving back fosters emotional connection and builds long-term workplace culture.
✅ Solution: Select a partner who can incorporate purpose and meaning into your event. The right provider will help your team connect their work to a larger mission, create a shared emotional experience, and leave a lasting impact—both within your company and in the community.
Step 2: Choose the Right Expert to Deliver Your Results
Once you’ve identified your team’s key goals, problems and challenges, the next step is choosing a training provider who has the expertise to deliver real, lasting results.
✔ Prioritize expertise over simple activities. A true team and leadership development expert provides solutions, not just entertainment.
✔ Ask for customization around your specific goals and outcomes. Your event should be tailored to address your specific team challenges.
✔ Look for interactive, hands-on training. Teams learn best through experiences that reinforce key concepts.
✔ Choose a proven expert provider. Find someone with a track record of success who has unparalleled expertise in peak performance psychology and who provides real world concrete tools, skills, insights, emotions, abilities, and strategies to drive the results you need.
Make the smart decision to pay for exceptional skill, experience and expertise and you get exceptional results. Top experts are worth their weight in gold because they can do what no one else can and produce results no one else can.
Step 3: Budget Appropriately for Your Outcomes and Trust your Expert Partner to Drive Results
An expert with decades of experience will ensure your event is designed with all of the skills, tools, insights, and strategies to drive the outcomes you need. Once we have established your goals and learning content, you can choose a theme that appeals to you, if you like, to make the event that much better.
A well designed, results focused event will pay for itself exponentially upon your return to work.
New skills. New abilities. Problems solved. Goals achieved. Reach your goals more quickly. Be more effective & efficient. Be more productive. Drive more revenues or cost savings. Improve engagement, reduce turnover and improve team work satisfaction. Drive better results, better products, better services for your clients. More growth, more profits, more success.
Final Thoughts: Take Action & Book Your Event Now!
Problems grow in time. Opportunities shrink in time.
The sooner your team has the new skills, the sooner you will use them to make real world impact.
To recap:
🔹 Step 1: Identify your challenges & goals.
🔹 Step 2: Choose an EXPERT to provide your training event
🔹 Step 3: Allocate appropriate budget to ensure real ROI – pay for expertise because it will take you farther faster and will pay for itself exponentially.
🔹 Step 4: Book your event, watch your team transform and see your goals become reality!
Take Action Today – Your Results Starts Now!
📞 Call us today: 1-800-446-4742
📧 Email us: info@professionalteambuilding.com
🌐 Visit us online: www.professionalteambuilding.com
