These team meetings that help set goals and priorities for the year ahead can be overwhelming.
There's tons of networking to do, lots to learn and digest, and the pace can be maddening.
A few tips:
1. Set a clear intention for the offsite. Maybe there's an initiative whose sponsor you want to corner and quiz. Or, you might have a personal goal to stretch into asking a question in the general session, or alternatively to hang back more and listen. Maybe set one personal and one work goal.
2. Pace yourself. Note how much you can reasonably do and still be crisp and present for all you choose to do. If you're nodding off while the leader's reviewing key points, that extra social time or round of golf might have pushed you too far.
3. Follow up afterwards with all your new contacts. Find organic ways to reach out to all your new contacts within a week or so. Keep the connection fresh (they met lots of people too.) You never know when those connections might be valuable later on and a quick connection now, will help you remember them (and they remember you.)
4. Take some time a couple days later to assess your key learnings and your action plan for after the offsite. Many times great things happen, and we let go the opportunities by returning to our regular routine. Make the time away from the office count.
There's a lot of good that can come from these hours or days away from the office. Protect the good momentum often generated in these meetings by showing good follow up. These can be a platform your your personal career growth. But, only if you fully engage in the process. No need here, to reinforce what behavior to skip at the office parties. I will say though, watch the alcohol.
Even so, try to have fun. You're there with people--and there's so much we can learn from each other and our varied experiences and lives. We spend most of our time at work, so take the time in pause from the routine work, to invest in connecting with these folks who're also navigating through the adventure we call life.
There's tons of networking to do, lots to learn and digest, and the pace can be maddening.
A few tips:
1. Set a clear intention for the offsite. Maybe there's an initiative whose sponsor you want to corner and quiz. Or, you might have a personal goal to stretch into asking a question in the general session, or alternatively to hang back more and listen. Maybe set one personal and one work goal.
2. Pace yourself. Note how much you can reasonably do and still be crisp and present for all you choose to do. If you're nodding off while the leader's reviewing key points, that extra social time or round of golf might have pushed you too far.
3. Follow up afterwards with all your new contacts. Find organic ways to reach out to all your new contacts within a week or so. Keep the connection fresh (they met lots of people too.) You never know when those connections might be valuable later on and a quick connection now, will help you remember them (and they remember you.)
4. Take some time a couple days later to assess your key learnings and your action plan for after the offsite. Many times great things happen, and we let go the opportunities by returning to our regular routine. Make the time away from the office count.
There's a lot of good that can come from these hours or days away from the office. Protect the good momentum often generated in these meetings by showing good follow up. These can be a platform your your personal career growth. But, only if you fully engage in the process. No need here, to reinforce what behavior to skip at the office parties. I will say though, watch the alcohol.
Even so, try to have fun. You're there with people--and there's so much we can learn from each other and our varied experiences and lives. We spend most of our time at work, so take the time in pause from the routine work, to invest in connecting with these folks who're also navigating through the adventure we call life.
Comments