Now is the season where many companies bring together 100s of people from the organisation, spend big money and fly off to the annual lift-off event with high hopes. But it is often an anticlimax, leaving attendees disillusioned and less engaged. Sure, there are nice moments and people do bond at the bar. But the positive effect and ROI is meagre.
Seen from the stage, where many senior leaders have their “moment”, it can seem much more energetic and positive than it really is. When you mingle during the breaks and social evening events, attendees are not likely to tell you their true feelings about the kick-off event. Even if you ask, with the best of intentions, and a cocktail in your hand.
The Lift-off event is an unique opportunity to Make People Feel Bigger, Not Smaller.
The shift towards rejuvenation, co-creation and positive energy.
When we work with clients on their events, we approach it a bit differently than what they have been used to.
Our focus is on the Senior Leadership Team as the host, who we support to create and deliver an inspiring event that creates energy for the year ahead. We then work with the Organization committee, to design the event in detail. There is a regular loop of alignment and discussion between the Leadership Team and the OC.
There is an mindset and energetic shift from “Kick-off” to “Lift-off, as the event is really about ascending into the new business year, not to be kicked into it
At the Lift-off event, we maximize the time spent on co-creating together and link this with an emotional commitment to each other, the joint mission and the organization. We radically minimize the time allocated to informing and explaining from the stage.
During the Lift-off event, we work behind the scenes with the Leadership Team similar to “live-in-action-coaching”, and we use this moment to enable the LT to work together in the best possible way. We use it as a “sandbox” experience, that is integrated into the LT’s development journey outside the event.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to allocate 50% of the Lift-off time to co-creation and emotional commitment work, which can for instance be in break-outs, town hall discussions and diving deep into best practices. We also increase the moments where non-LT members are on stage, which has been a great way to increase engagement.
Checklist for a rejuvenating Lift-off event.
The intention, preparation and alignment of the event is vital, and something that the senior leadership team must engage deeply and regularly with. Giving it the same attention as they gave their wedding. It cannot be fully delegated to an Organization Committee, as it then often becomes too transactional and focused on practical questions.
Questions to consider during the set-up phase
What is the inspiring Purpose and Motto for the offsite?
What is better after the offsite?
What are the 3 questions you want the Lift-off event to create answers to?
What is the mindset, energy, behaviour and emotions you wish attendees to bring back to the office?
Questions to consider during the design phase
Is the agenda enabling participants to experience Peak moments that matter?
Is the event designed to enable attendees to feel Well informed, Better aligned, Having co-created something valuable and A sense of belonging?
Is the agenda enabling participants to engage with both their Heads, Hearts and Hands?
If you plan a “team-building” activity, can it be a co-creative exercise and held at the start of the event? (So that you can benefit from the positive atmosphere throughout the offsite).
Questions to consider when aligning in the Senior Leadership Team
What may be attendees’ main questions and emotions that could derail the event, and how will you deal with this?
What do we need to work on as a Senior Leadership Team, to be fully aligned on the objectives, our roles during the event, and “How we want to show up as a LT”, in a way that inspires participants?
In addition, it is very helpful to create a design template for the people who present in specific sessions during the event, which is often forgotten. But if you don’t tell the presenters what you want to create during the event, and link this with their individual session, it will be confusing and disjointed. This guidance should include a clear alignment of the purpose of the session, what the desired outcome is and which actions could emerge out of the session. It is not a prescription, but rather a guiding framework, to make sure that the session is impactful.
Create peak moments that matter.
Attendees will positively remember the event in 2 ways. Firstly, the significance of a Peak moment. Secondly, the end of the event, which needs to be positive – it does not need to be a climax.
When looking for Peak moments that matter, it is tempting to think about what you as a senior leader and host would consider a peak moment. But that’s not going work for attendees, and you will have to step into their shoes and feel into (or even ask them…) what they are in need of. They are definitely not in need of 2 hours power-point torture on last year’s performance…
Instead, look to create Peak moments in one of these 4 categories:
Sense of ELEVATION……….. Feeling joy, and positive surprise.
Sense of PRIDE……………….. I feel at my best and I am valued here.
Sense of LEARNING………….Eureka! That’s super interesting, and I can see my role on it.
Sense of CONNECTION…….. I belong here with these guys.
In case you are familiar with Experience Design, you will probably have noticed that the above approach has some similarity. Indeed it has. The approach evolved after receiving feedback from 100s of Kick-off attendees over the years, where their frustration and boredom made the annual event a dreadful experience (apart from the Peak moments in the bar). So I hope that you can use the approach outlined here, to make your next Lift-off rejuvenating.
P.S.
The bronze bell in the photo has been a powerful requisite in many events. I always give it to the speaker when they enter the stage, and ask them to use it at their will. When they read the text, they smile – and remember why they are actually on the stage….
Unfortunately the bell, with its massive weight and deep tone, got lost earlier this year in Chiang Mai. I hope the new owner uses it with the same intention as it was made.
Yours,
Henrik