Off-Site Insights

Tired of all the boardroom meetings? Try this: Take the meetings off-site,
and feel the difference. The corporate world is increasingly looking at off-site
facilities to conduct various meetings that were usually confined in the
boardrooms. The concept may not be new but the trend surely is visible in the
corporate world.

Be it employee training or strategy planning meetings, the results are very
different when it is held at a location other than the office. Take for
instance, our own company: CyberMedia, with over 450 employees, has been
conducting many off-site meetings for each of its divisions, simply because the
management at CyberMedia feels meeting in a new environment can be just what the
team needs. It helps in taking out the best in the employee as well as helps in
honing their problem-solving and communication skills.

Off-site meeting are good way of getting the best out of employees. CyberMedia team at one such off-site meet

Agreeing to the popularity of this practice, Chetan Shah, Director, Xpress
Computers, said that the practice of holding off-site meetings is a growing
trend noticed in the past couple of years, “But it is not always feasible for a
mid-sized company with limited budgets to experiment with such practice.”

What if, such workshops become a tool to enhance productivity, or even
develop business? Ask Nixon PJ, CEO, SLV Corporation, a company actively into
corporate events and conference coordination. According to him, off-site
workshops are excellent way to bring new ideas to a group. “They can be as short
as an afternoon or extend to a three-day retreat. The result is lot of new
insights which would not have been possible in the traditional setting of an
in-house conference room,” he said.

Why off-site?

An atmosphere away from the stress of the office, leads to more creative
thinking by the participants. Since attendees are away from their hectic
schedules, they can become more creative and begin to think innovative.
According G Balakrishna, Director, Ontrack Solutions, the major advantage of
conducting an off-site meeting is that attendees are cut off from the rest of
the world. “This allows them to concentrate on the purpose of the meet.”

Briefly tipped, there are three reasons why companies look at off-site
meetings:

• One is away from the usual distractions of an on-site meeting
• It encourages attendees to be creative and productive in a relaxed
  environment
• It focuses on the development of the employees and the company.

But never do an off-site meeting just because it is a trend that is picking
up or because your competitor is doing it.

For some companies off-site meetings have become a routine. More of off-site
meetings may not serve the purpose. To mix business with pleasure is important
to keep the meetings lively. But even more important is to get the right mix of
both business and fun. And here comes the role of an expert. An expert can be an
internal person from the HR department or for that matter, anyone in the company
with the prior experience of holding an off-site meeting, or just outsource it
to an off-site conference coordinator.

Way to go about

Getting the right person to organize an important off-site meeting helps the
company meet its return on investment (RoI). Conducting an off-site meeting is
not as easy as it may sound. But, with the right approach it can be made
effective and smooth. Based on the feedback from various HR specialist, here are
few things that have to be planned before conducting an off-site meeting:

First and foremost, assess the need for an off-site meeting. It could be a
training workshop, or a people development workshop or a strategy-planning meet.
Try and answer if the off-site meet will serve the purpose of distraction-free
session, induce attendees to be creative, and develop employees and the company.
If the answer to all these are yes, go ahead with it.

Once the purpose of

the meeting is defined, the responsibility momentarily shifts to the HR
department for getting the right person to do the coordination. A single point
of contact helps in arranging the entire event. The HR has the option to get a
third-party coordinator to look after the overall logistics or put one of the
team members with prior experience to do the job.

Next is to come-up with the list of people who should be attending the same.
Each and every individual attending the meeting will have a role to play, which
is supposed to serve the purpose of the meeting. Another important aspect is to
make sure that each person attending the meeting is not doing at the cost of
something very important at work. Starting from the travel arrangements to the
booking of the off-site location. Travel plans have to be such that employees
fly in from various locations without losing much of the office time.

Conference coordinator

Next is the role of the coordinator (either internal or external) to takeover
for the overall arrangements. Many companies plan their off-site meeting at the
last minutes and it becomes difficult for the HR or administration department to
smoothly arrange the logistics. In such a scenario the best would be to hire
event or conference coordinators to do the entire logistics. They are good at it
simply because they are experienced in taking care of the details of all kinds
of meetings including banquets.

Look for a complete package

The coordinators should be in a position to come-up with feasible locations to
conduct the meetings. Looking at the trend of off-site meetings, many resorts at
exotic locations have begun to offer complete package for corporate meetings. It
is a good idea to strike one such deal that is convenient in all respect. In
short, look for a meeting place where the employees can gain from the
atmosphere.

Comfort and convenience

An inevitable part for any business now is the Internet and phone connectivity.
Ensure its presence, unless one wants to completely cut-off from business and
the world outside. There was an instance of one company selecting a remote
location where even cell-phone signal could not reach. Better avoid such a place
so that one remains accessible during emergencies.

If the meeting requires more than a day's stay, ensure availability and
comfort of the stay for attendees. Also find out about the presence of other
corporate meetings being held at the same time in the same or adjoining venue to
avoid a possible distraction that may arise. Do not forget to make the catering
arrangement as per the participants taste. Taking care of individual taste is
difficult but can be arranged if that fits the company's budget.

Last but not the least, plan the off-site meeting within the planned budget
and justify its RoI at the planning stage.

Challenges companies encounter

While companies are beginning to adopt off-site meeting as productive means to
develop its people, it has some pitfalls too. “Often off-site meetings eat-up
lot of time in arranging it. This can be overcome with the help of third-party
coordinators, but small companies find it difficult to fit a third-party
coordinator within their budget, thus spending a lot of time arranging it,” said
Vijetha Chaturvedi, Assistant Manager, Andromeda.

Another challenge that companies face is with some employees, who encounter
problems adjusting to a new environment. “These are people who are more
comfortable in an atmosphere more familiar to them, such as a training area
located on-site at their place of business. A feeling of uncertainty
unconsciously cut off their receptiveness to new ideas, thus decreasing the
amount of information they can take in during training,” added Chaturvedi.

Conducting an off-site meeting and getting the presence of all the important
people from the organization at the same time is also another difficult task.
Especially, smaller companies have such problems since they would not like to
disturb their everyday functioning.

All said and done, the advantages of having an off-site meeting are
continuously inducing many to invite their employees to exotic locations and
stretch their mental muscles.

NELSON JOHNY