Article: How to Host the Ultimate Onsite Meeting

THE DO’S

Do: Have a Clear Business Objective

Employees should arrive at your onsite knowing exactly what's on the agenda and why.

Goals for your team meeting should be specific and tangible. Reinforce your objectives by highlighting each one in your breakout sessions, discussions, and presentations.

EXAMPLE: If you want to work on collaboration, avoid single-person presentations. Instead, ask teams to come together and present ideas collectively. The topic is less important than the exercise of working together.

Do: Take Time for Important Housekeeping

A number of your newer employees may have never seen the inside of your building, especially if they were hired during the pandemic. With everyone onsite, you have the opportunity to check off some important (and fun) housekeeping activities like the following:

• Offer professional headshots. This activity is a great way to provide an additional benefit to new and veteran employees.

• Give the grand tour. A proper tour makes offsite teams feel less like they are intruding. Your office is “home base,” and individuals should feel confident when navigating headquarters.

• Make introductions. Remote workers may seldom be in the same room as C-suite executives. If high-visibility leaders are onsite, introduce them to your team. 
  

• Celebrate success. A proper pat on the back is difficult to give remotely. Take the opportunity to honor hard work, give shoutouts, and present awards, in person.

TIP: The above all serve well as opening activities.

Do: Encourage Remote Participation

In the age of the Anywhere Economy, onsite meetings should be accessible from anywhere. 

We get it, you’re hosting an onsite to get everyone together, in person. Unfortunately, that might not be feasible for everyone. Assuming you’ve already invested in video collaboration tools, use them to ensure everyone has an equal seat at the table. 

Here’s how you can configure your space for a hybrid meeting:

• Have multiple screens
  Use one screen to constantly show your virtual attendees and a secondary screen for meeting-related content such as graphs, videos, and powerpoint presentations.

• Arrange desks for video
  Arrange desks and cameras so that everyone can be seen in the frame. If virtual attendees need to see both the speaker and participants simultaneously, use an additional camera.

• Provide clearer views
  A front of room camera is great for breakout sessions, but a video bar mounted to a mobile cart is better for open spaces. Consider how the activity in the room will look and sound to remote attendees so you can ensure a more equitable experience for everyone.

• Capture audio
  Place additional mics strategically around the room so virtual attendees can follow conversations. This will also help block out environmental noise and background chatter.

• Prepare for technical difficulties
  Work with your IT team ahead of time to avoid common tech hang ups like Wi-Fi connectivity and video system deployment.

THE DON’TS

Don’t: Relinquish Authority

Try not to step outside your role of “boss” to be “one with the team.” Your team will look to you for guidance during the onsite just as they rely on your leadership in business.

Use your position as leader to manage and guide meeting activities, model participation, and promote engagement. 

Don’t: Include Competitive Team Building

What’s worse than mandatory fun? Mandatory competition in the name of fun. 

Competitive team building has no place in the corporate workplace. You can create cohesion and connection without pitting one employee against another.

Team-building activities that create togetherness:

• Humanitarian efforts (building a house)

• Cooking a meal together, and enjoying it as a group (may need to be done in small groups) 

• Escape room activities where everyone must work together to solve a problem or work out a puzzle

Competitive team-building activities to avoid:

• Go-kart racing 

• Laser tag

• Paintball 

• Olympic style games (tug-o-war / relay races)

Your mantra for your team onsite should be “all for one” not “one against all.”

The Optimal Onsite is Planned with Purpose

“An optimal onsite is a mix of programming split between inspiration, team fun, and collaboration and planning, in about equal parts.” – Hayley Nelson, Global Head of B2B Marketing, Logitech 

Planning a successful onsite is doable if you plan with purpose and set intentional goals. 

Cassie LaMere is the founder of Cassie LaMere Events, an agency that has planned team meetings for fortune 500 companies. According to Cassie, a well-planned onsite is a great opportunity to reinforce brand standards and ideas.

“Your team will likely post about their experience on social media, so treat this as an opportunity to reach current and future customers as well as potential new hires,” she says. “Plus, an intentional onsite is a great time for your team to build more meaningful connections, whether they are joining in real life or virtually.”

This is your opportunity to bring everyone together — and back to the office. Whether you’ve reimagined your space or not, it’s your chance to welcome your team home. It’s a time for you to connect with new employees, celebrate great work, and steer your team forward.