Expert view: Meet in or meet out

Tom Cobden, Marriott Preston director of sales, discusses the best way to organise a productive.

One of the main purposes for offsite meetings is to create focus. Avoiding day-to-day distractions frees time to develop ideas, resolve issues and move forward.

1 Start early.Pro-active organisers start early and provide their people with a light bite to eat on arrival. This means meetings can start on time and the delegates are energised.

3 Choose the right venue and room.Always know where you are going before the meeting is announced. Visiting conference centres and hotel venues is essential so you can decide that the environment is right for your people. There is no point in booking a 15th floor meeting room with no natural daylight for a group of farmers – they won’t appreciate it!

5 Get feedback, it’s critical.The importance of feedback on content, agenda, venue, location, environment, and any other element, is great for improvement. Good feedback is a also a great tool when asking your boss if you can spend their money on your next offsite meeting.