How to Run a Leadership Offsite That Actually Changes Things
Most offsites produce a good dinner and a forgotten flipchart. The design choices that make one change how a team works.
By Maia Lafortezza, Founder and managing partner , 1 min read
Most offsites produce a good dinner and a forgotten flipchart. A few design choices change that. Most offsites produce a good dinner and a forgotten flipchart. The design choices that make one change how a team works.
Decide what must be decided
Circulate three questions the team must answer by the end of the offsite, with pre-reading that frames the options. Discussion without a decision to make tends to drift into updates.
Follow up within a week
Send a one-page summary of decisions, owners and dates within five working days and review it at the next leadership meeting. The follow-up is where offsites either change how the team works or quietly fade.
How we apply this with clients
In client work this usually becomes one priority on the quarterly plan, with a named owner and a measure the leadership team reviews every month. Our leadership partners start with a short diagnostic of where the business is today, then agree the smallest change that will make a visible difference within ninety days.
Key takeaways
- Agree three decisions the offsite must make.
- Send pre-reading that frames the options.
- Publish owners and dates within a week.
Want to apply this in your business? Book a discovery call with a Maia Lafortezza partner.
Maia Lafortezza
Maia Lafortezza founded the firm in 2019 after nearly two decades across corporate finance, strategy consulting and operations. She began her career in transaction advisory, led growth and operating-model projects for mid-market and family-owned companies, and then served as chief operating officer of a European industrial group through a period of rapid expansion. Today she leads the firm's strategy and leadership practices, advises founders and boards directly, and writes on operating models, decision rights and building companies that last. She works in English, Italian and French.
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