It’s offsite team building time: Make sure you do it right

Written by:  Harvey Schachter, December 17, 2007 at 6:26 AM EST

January is often a time for offsite meetings aimed at team building and leadership development, but too often the noble intentions get derailed. Stephen Parker, a senior vice-president at BlessingWhite consultancy, highlights six pitfalls

Not prepared

Too often urgency overrides preparation, as a CEO insists on tackling a key issue immediately, often within two weeks.

The HR officials may have been waiting for years to get the executive to invest in her team and are thrilled they have a convert, but the issue gets stapled onto an already overcrowded offsite agenda. The lack of preparation means stakeholders aren’t properly consulted in advance so the facilitator enters blind.

And, oh yes, the sponsor, who desperately wanted the session, has been inaccessible since the original brief meeting.

Don’t Engage Emotionally

Leadership is personal, and must begin with inward reflection.

But that involves risk, for the participants and the facilitator, and needs time for trust to be forged. Too often, the team doesn’t have enough time or will, and just goes through the motions.

Overexuberant CEO

Most offsites begin with the leader urging everyone to “speak up!”

But it’s easy for a CEO to mistake his vehemence for leadership, and fail to keep his forceful personality in check.

“While he believes that he is exhorting everyone to join in with candour, the group hears a threatening ultimatum. Intimidated, they close up, the CEO becomes frustrated, and the situation becomes worse,” Mr. Parker writes in Leadership Excellence.

Awkward Issues Avoided

Few senior leaders consider how their personal qualities or their team’s behaviour might affect performance.

But to be effective, the offsite must discuss the undiscussables – the awkward issues and bad behaviour impeding team effectiveness.

Trendy Triumphs

Excited about the latest business bestseller, the CEO fixates everyone’s attention on that book, and the result is superficial discussion.

Instead, hold a candid discussion of the outcomes you want and the time-tested ways to get there. Don’t ride the waves of trends.

Unreceptive Culture

Leadership development will fail if your culture is not receptive to change. If the culture, for example, punishes risk taking or rewards the same behaviours that need changing, your efforts will be wasted unless those cultural mindsets are altered.