It’s a simple question that needs to be asked more frequently…
Too often events are done out of habit or tradition, resulting in the original strategy becoming diluted year-on-year and the team experience no longer being fit for purpose.
“We’ve always done it that way” – the famously frustrating response to the word that should be used repeatedly at the initial planning stages of any project: Why. In fact businesses would actually benefit from having a mischievous toddler in the room who responds to every answer with ‘yeah, but why?’. This is because it would force norms to be questioned and for new, potentially more effective, solutions to be explored.
It would also allow for the experience to be perceived through a broader lens. All too often events are seen as separate, one-off entities and aren’t thought about as part of a broader company strategy or campaign. Imagine a consistent message and DNA being seen and felt in everything a business says and does, from consumer TV spots all the way through to intimate team retreats.
This often doesn’t occur because different departments work in silos. And while marketing may have evolved their messaging in one direction, HR may have adopted a new internal comms strategy in another direction – meanwhile events have been replicating the same template that was successful years ago when the business was steering in an entirely different direction.
But while this may seem like a complex and tangled web within a matrix structure of departments, the solution is actually very simple…
Adopt the toddler mindset. Why is this team experience taking place? What bonds are you trying to create?
If this becomes the starting point, instead of using the previous year’s blueprint, then everything built from the foundations will become more aligned to the business’ wider ambitions.
If a company’s employee away-day is singing from the same hymn sheet as their B2C advertising campaign, then the brand’s DNA will more likely be adopted by staff. Imagine teams taking part in original and tailored experiences that not only help them flourish and learn new skills but also connect them more deeply to the wider brand. Connecting them to each other, and the business. That should be the level of cohesion every team interaction aims for.
