Planning Corporate Away Days and Getting it Right

Team building through corporate away days are popular events. They are more than fun days with everyone letting their hair down and getting to know the real person inside. That sort of thing may happen to some extent, but it should never be the main focus.

One of the first things to plan for on corporate away days is a definite strategy. There has to be well defined goals to accomplish. A foundation has to be set that everyone understands. The objectives need to be fully measurable. With a solid strategy in place the event becomes a task, or series of tasks, that have to be completed in order to achieve the overall goals.

Don't try to achieve too much in one day. If the corporate away days are spread over a weekend there will be more time to do everything. However, it is usually the case that events overrun. Allow for this. It's better to have team members sitting around for 20 minutes discussing the weather than to have them getting halfway through an event and having to stop because time ran out.

Involve team members in the design of the corporate away days. Ask for their feedback, what they would like to see happen, or how they would like to have events structured. This makes the whole event a cooperative effort. It has a better chance of gaining commitment, and it helps to engage the team members better.

Someone has to facilitate the activities. This needs to be someone whom the other members trust and respect. It needs to be someone who has good organisational abilities, someone who is fair minded, and someone who is committed to the intended outcome.

When the dust settles and everyone goes off home, when next month comes around and the corporate away days become a hazy memory, this might be a good time to do it all over again. Reinforcing the team building strategy by having regular corporate away days is something that works. The team members quickly understand that it's a kind of training they will go through at regular intervals. They will also get better as time goes on.

Corporate away days are not to be left at the place where the event took place. They are exercises to be learned from, and that's where the follow up reports come in. By analysing the results of corporate away days the strengths and weaknesses of a team can be ascertained. Then something needs to be done about them. That's the power of following up.

Corporate away days become essential training when they are strategically thought out and properly executed. They have to be more than a workers bonding day. That will probably happen, but as a by-product of the intended result, not as the main focus.

Corporate away days have the potential to teach management so much they don't know about their employees. The data can be utilised to increase production and efficiency, and this can be achieved while producing happier, more engaged loyal and committed team members.