Team Away Days are a great concept but often they go wrong. Not because they were a bad idea, but because they weren’t successfully planned.
In essence, a team Away Day is simply a case of taking a number of people away from the workplace, ideally to a different location so that they can focus on something other than the day to day.
Put like that, it doesn’t sound so hard, does it?
In fact, there are lots of different moving parts to an Away Day that all need to slot into place for the time taken away to work well.
Remember, you are taking people away from their work for a whole day (or maybe more) so you really want it to count. It needs to be worth the time and effort.
To get the most from all being together, think beyond a nice venue and decent lunch. Although as someone who has partaken of many different lunches, cakes and biscuits, and varying quality of teas and coffees in many many different venues, I can tell you that good catering definitely helps!
Our top points to consider about how to plan a team Away Day
Why do you want to plan a team Away Day in the first place?
You may have a reminder in your diary to organise your annual team Away Day.
But do you really need an Away Day?
Whether you hold regular team Away Days, or they happen ad hoc, knowing why you are doing them is key.
If you are unsure why you want to plan a team Away Day and you are bringing people together simply because your diary tells you too, then you are somewhat missing out on the point of an Away Day. Remind yourself, or spend some time working out what it is you want from the day before you move forwards.
Is this your Away Day more about setting goals, creating plans or solving problems?
Or is the focus on the team itself and helping to strengthen internal communication and build trust?
You can get away with not having a precise definition at the outset, but do be more specific than “because you think you should”. People get fatigued by too many away days, so make them worthwhile.
Who needs to be involved?
Knowing what you want from the team Away Day will help you decide who needs to be there. Once you have a good idea of the ‘who’, the other details will be easier to figure out.
It is important to consider whose input you need when planning your team Away Day in the first place. Be clear who will make the decisions on what you do with your Away Day.
You might want to ask your whole team, or different representatives within your organisation what they want from a team Away Day. You can then feed this into your planning. Alternatively, a couple of team leaders could make the decisions and a wider canvassing of ideas may not be necessary.
You should also consider whether any pre-work will be required. As part of this, you’ll need to decide who you will send this to and what you are going to do with that work. You may for example send out some questionnaires or some information to help people start thinking about in advance. Or to find out what they are thinking before the team away day.
When?
This is often the hard part! Ensuring that the people who really do need to be there are available at the same time can be a logistical nightmare. Sometimes you may need to be flexible about who absolutely needs to be there, and who you would like to be there. Think about the broad goals for your Away Day and how these relate to the people able to attend.
Once you’ve established what the team Away Day is for, who should be there and when it should be held, you have the logistics to think about. The logistics begin with deciding where to hold the Away Day.
Venue
There are many things to look for in a venue, and many of them you might not have considered. Ideally you will have a facilitator in place before you book a venue. The facilitator will be able to use their extensive experience and contacts to help you to find the best fit. They will guide you through thinking about the space, room layout and suitability, and to see how this corresponds to your plans for the day.
They will also help you with something quite intangible but nonetheless actually quite important when you plan a team Away Day, and that is the venue vibe. Does the venue have the right feel for your team and what you want them to achieve? Funky spaces and quirky decor are great if that fits your team and can help with creativity and comfort.
But a busy or vibrant aesthetic can also be distracting for some people. Cool venues can cost a lot of money. Assess the cost benefit with the people in your team and consider what sort of venue would work best.
Do you want to look like you are splashing the cash for a great Away Day? Would you prefer to save it for something else that will be appreciated by your team? If your team Away Day is needed due to a recent round of redundancies, taking staff to an expensive venue might be considered tone deaf and result in a less happy team.
As always, being clear on the reasons for the Away Day and knowing and understanding your team will help you book a venue which they might appreciate more.
Should you consider a facilitator when you plan your team Away Day?
You might be undecided about whether to engage a facilitator to run your Away Day. After all, you know your team well, and feel you could probably handle the various aspects of the event yourself or at least in house.
Then again, there are many beneficial reasons for engaging a facilitator not least, the simple fact that facilitators are Away Day experts! They will work with you to create an engaging process with a focus on the outcomes you need, and ensure nothing is forgotten. They make sure the time and money taken to create a team Away Day are excellent value.
When should you engage a facilitator?
From a facilitator perspective, it is always helpful if you contact us as soon as possible. Unless it is a complete emergency, the day after tomorrow is unlikely to get you the facilitator you want! Several weeks is nice, a couple of months is even better. It takes time to develop a bespoke plan for a team Away Day. A good proportion of the cost of hiring a facilitator is not the “feet on the ground” facilitating time, but the planning time needed beforehand.
Facilitators will help you hone your objectives so you know exactly what you need from your team Away Day. They then create a process with a range of different activities all flowing together to take your team where they need to go, and to achieve concrete objectives. They will work with you to think about your participants and the kinds of things they will like too – do you want a bit of fun woven in, some creative activities and some time to be playful? Or do you need something much more focused with some critical decisions to be made and tough topics to be discussed?
All these things take time. The sooner you bring a facilitator into the process, the better the result for you and your team. One of the biggest benefits is the peace of mind you get from handing over to someone who understands.
What next if you need to plan a team Away Day?
The reality is that many of the things needed to plan an Away Day don’t happen in a linear fashion. You may have a venue booked and but still be deciding who should be there when you contact a facilitator. Planning a successful team Away Day is often not a perfect process as things may shift and change with your and your team and the environment you work in. People may drop out, priorities can change, and your objectives may shift. But take some time to think about some of these key points outlined above, and you will be off to a good start.
If you feel you need more support successfully planning your next team Away Day, get in touch – we can help right from the start!