Step 1: Invite all voices to be heard
Similar to fostering an engaging environment during effective remote meetings, when attending an offsite in-person, it’s important to create space for introverts who may hesitate to speak up for fear of interrupting. Whether you’re leading an offsite session or contributing as a participant, be mindful to pause and intentionally ask, “Has everyone who wants to contribute had a chance to do so?” Dropbox research found that 71% of offsite attendees felt more connected to their team after attending the offsite. Making sure that more voices are heard should boost that sense of connection.
Step 2: Provide alternate opportunities for contributions
We’ve all attended meetings where we have felt left out of the central conversation due to a lack of context or opportunities to speak. This is exactly what we want to avoid at offsites and why we should apply virtual collaboration best practices even when meeting in-person. Doing so paves the way for progress to continue after the offsite or in-person gathering has ended. When leading a meeting, consider the following tactics:
- Use virtual tools: Ensure you are using virtual tools (Paper, Miro) to capture notes and brainstorms. By anchoring an in-person collaboration session to a shared document, this allows you to invite all participants to easily join in the session, and it also opens the door for more contributions after the session has wrapped.
- Provide context ahead of time: Request input via a pre-read, so attendees can come to the session fully prepared and ready to share their thoughts.
- Assign a meeting effectiveness lead: Ensure all team members are engaged and able to contribute to the discussion by monitoring the room, watching for raised hands, and asking for feedback.
- Schedule breakouts: Attendees may feel safer and more comfortable sharing ideas in a smaller, closed environment. Consider scheduling breakout sessions to support more open group discussions.
- Create space to build trust: Consider activities to build attendee rapport, like sharing something about themselves that wouldn’t typically surface in more formal business meetings.
- Adopt a learning mindset: Request feedback from attendees via a post-offsite survey, and action recommendations when planning your next offsite.
Step 3: Build in breaks
Just as The Pomodoro Technique creates a healthy rhythm for addressing virtual work and rest, it’s important to build intentional breaks and to share a clear schedule and agenda in advance of the offsite. By providing attendees with visibility into session and break times, they will be able to plan around their energy levels, handle personal matters, and catch up on other work during break times, allowing them to be more present during sessions and free to focus on the task in front of them.
