Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Going Off
Lonnie Pacelli is an Accenture/Microsoft veteran with four decades of learnings under his belt. He frequently writes and speaks on leadership, project management, work/life balance, and disability inclusion. Reach him at [email protected] and see more at ProjectManagementAdvisor.com.
Taking a team offsite to build trust, brainstorm or just take a breath is a common practice but a risky proposition. If any team members resent the imposition on their time or suspect a touchy-feely vibe, the effort is bound to fall short of goals. Here are some tips to keep offsite meetings on the mark.
"We just don’t work as a team," Janet, a group manager for a large insurance company, was complaining to Larry, her human resources consultant. "Everyone just seems to do their own thing, they don’t share information, don’t try to help each other, and don’t seem to care about anyone else’s problems. What we need is a team building offsite!" Janet and Larry decided to put together a two-day offsite for the team at a resort about two hours away from work. Janet wanted immediate focus on the problem so Larry worked double-time to put together the event to be held later in the month. Larry put together an agenda full of trust-building exercises, icebreakers and brainstorming sessions on how the team could work better together.
On the first day of the offsite only about half of Janet’s team had shown up; the other half were working on a hot project that needed to be completed later in the week. The remaining team members politely participated in the team building exercises, but didn’t seem very interested in the activities, as they felt too "squishy." Because Janet wanted to …
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