Should you host (or attend) offsites? What the research says

Even back in the olden days when we all went into the office five days a week, many companies held offsites, bringing people together in a location away from the office. The idea was to provide an opportunity for people to interact in a different setting to accomplish a variety of goals. Some offsites were primarily social, intended to build camaraderie and a sense of company loyalty. Others were focused on goals like addressing specific strategic challenges, introducing significant innovations, or developing team rules of engagement among a newly constructed team.

Now, with many employees continuing to work remotely all or part of the time, offsites are often designed to bring people together who have never met in person. New employees get more exposure to the company culture, information is shared in a more interactive way, and new interpersonal networks may be formed.

These are all good goals, but do the offsites really provide value? After all, they’re usually expensive. Even the stingy offsite I once attended, where we were housed three to a room in a college dorm, still cost the firm plenty in travel expenses, housing, food, and entertainment. An additional cost is the lost work productivity from all the people who are at the offsite instead of at their desks. 

What one firm’s data reveals about offsites and collaboration

A recent study in Strategic Management Journal by Madeline Kneeland and Adam Kleinbaum attempted to answer this question. The study tracked data from a large American law firm, looking at who attended the firm’s annual offsites from 2005-2012 and what projects they worked on before and after the offsite. The researchers focused on whether the offsites led to new collaborations between the lawyers. Here’s what they found:

• Lawyers who attended the offsites sent more requests for new collaborations after the offsite than they had before. 

• Lawyers who had not attended the offsites also increased the number of their requests for new collaborations. The authors speculated that perhaps the fact that the firm had held an offsite communicated to all the employees that collaboration was a valued behavior in their culture. 

• (This is the one I find most interesting.) Lawyers who had not attended the offsite were less likely to receive requests for new collaborations.

Here are my takeaways. First, these data are of limited usefulness because they are from pre-pandemic times and may not apply today. Having said that, the data suggest that in-person interactions make employees more visible to each other and therefore more likely to be invited to collaborate. 

My advice? If your firm’s success depends on frequent collaboration, offsites are probably a good idea. And if you have an opportunity to attend your firm’s offsite, go! Visibility is one of the keys to professional success. (Check out my article “High Visibility, Low Maintenance.”) 

In fact, don’t wait for the offsite. Take advantage of any opportunities for in-person contact. Chances are they will benefit both you and your firm.

If you're navigating leadership challenges in a changing workplace, reach out to Gail Golden to learn more.