The organiser's checklist for strategy workshops and leadership awaydays

Who organises a strategy workshop or leadership awayday?

Usually an executive assistant, personal assistant, office manager, HR manager or head of people, on behalf of the MD or CEO who sponsors the day. The sponsor owns the purpose. The organiser owns everything that can stop the purpose happening, which in practice is most of what determines whether the day works.

What goes wrong on the day?

Rarely the agenda. A cold room. A projector that will not connect to the facilitator's laptop. A ninety-minute lunch in a restaurant across the car park. A phone signal good enough that half the room keeps working through the morning. Every one of those is preventable, and every one is somebody's job before the day rather than a problem to solve on it.

Planning countdown for a strategy workshop or leadership awayday

How do you choose a venue for a strategy workshop or leadership awayday?

• Genuinely off site. The meeting room upstairs is not a leadership awayday.
• Under an hour's travel for most people, or make it residential.
• Daylight. A room with windows does more for the last two hours than anything on the agenda.
• Exclusive use of the room for the whole day, including set-up and clear-down.
• Ask what else is in the building. A wedding, a building site or a bar next door will cost you.
• Confirm who controls heating and air conditioning, and get a named contact for the day.

What room layout works for a strategy workshop or leadership awayday?

Ask the facilitator before booking. Cabaret, horseshoe and boardroom produce different conversations and are not interchangeable. A boardroom table puts everyone in their usual seat with their usual view of each other, which is what the day is supposed to escape.

• Get written confirmation that furniture can be moved. Venues say yes on the phone and no on the morning.
• Check wall space and whether blu-tack or magnets are allowed. Plenty of venues ban both, which kills flipchart work.
• Book breakout space for small groups. The corridor and the bar do not count.

What equipment does a facilitator need?

• Screen or large display, with the exact connection confirmed: HDMI, USB-C, and an adapter you have tested yourself.
• Clarity on whether the facilitator brings a laptop and clicker or needs them provided.
• Two flipchart stands minimum, fresh pads, and your own markers. Venue markers are dry more often than not.
• Sticky notes, pens, blu-tack, spare paper, and a clock the whole room can see.
• Wifi password confirmed in advance and printed on a card.
• If anyone joins remotely, test the audio in the actual room rather than from your desk.

What catering works best?

• Light lunch. A heavy one costs you the afternoon.
• Served in the room or immediately next to it. A walk to a restaurant costs an hour and breaks the thread.
• Dietary requirements asked for in the invitation, not the week before. Same with access needs, asked privately.
• Water on tables all day, coffee available continuously rather than only at set breaks.
• Break times agreed with the facilitator and passed to the venue. Kitchens work to their own timings unless told otherwise.

How do you stop the business interrupting the day?

• Agree the interruption rule with the sponsor and state it in the invitation: phones away, or one window for messages.
• Arrange cover so people can properly switch off, and publish who is covering what.
• Brief reception and the venue on who may contact the group and how.
• Agree in advance what counts as a real emergency, so nobody decides on the spot.

How do you capture the output?

• Agree who takes the notes, and make sure it is not the facilitator.
• Photograph every flipchart before it comes off the wall.
• Agree the format of the written output and who produces it before the day rather than after.
• Circulate within two working days, with decisions and owners. A week and it has already gone cold.
• Get the review meeting into diaries before anyone leaves the room.

Frequently asked questions

How far in advance should you book a venue for a strategy workshop or leadership awayday?

Eight to twelve weeks. Senior diaries do not clear at short notice and good rooms with daylight and movable furniture get taken early. Ask the facilitator to hold two dates while you clear diaries, then release one promptly.

What should be in the invitation?

Date, arrival time fifteen minutes before the start, finish time, venue name with the postcode that actually works for satnav, parking arrangements, dress code, the interruption rule, a request for dietary and access requirements, and the pre-work with its deadline.

How long should the working day be?

Six to seven hours of content with an hour for lunch and two short breaks. Start at 9.00 or 9.30 to allow for travel, and finish by 4.30 so people can get home. Anything longer produces diminishing returns after mid-afternoon.

Should a strategy workshop or leadership awayday be residential?

Worth it when travel exceeds an hour for several attendees, when the agenda runs to two days, or when an evening together serves the purpose of the day. Budget for single rooms, confirm check-in and check-out times, and be clear who pays for what on the bill.

Should the day include an evening or social element?

Only if it serves the purpose. An evening together helps a newly formed team or one carrying unresolved tension. It works against you when the following morning is the substantive session. Decide with the sponsor rather than adding it by default.

How much pre-work should be set before the day?

Enough to bring people into the room prepared, and no more. Issue it at least two weeks ahead with a deadline and an honest estimate of how long it takes. Chase non-responders once, then tell the sponsor.

How soon should notes go out after the day?

Within two working days, covering decisions, actions and owners. Feedback is best collected within twenty-four hours while it is fresh, and one question is enough: what would you change about the day?

Bob worked closely with us beforehand to understand the business, then ran a workshop that engaged everyone from graduates to senior managers. We came away with a documented plan with around 15 targets per team, and a reporting structure we hit in two months instead of six. Mike Salisbury, Managing Director, EVO Energy

Talk it through

Questions about setting up a day for your leadership team, or about what a facilitator will need from you: book a short conversation or email bob@bobonbusiness.co.uk. Formats, durations and content are set out on the Strategy Workshops and Leadership Awaydays page.