Strategy Survival Guide

Away-days
A project away-day is another useful way to get the project started, plan work-streams and encourage team
building.
If possible, it is best to hold the away-day away from the office environment. This will help people switch off
from day-to-day tasks and avoid the inevitable trips back to desks to check emails or phone messages.
Where practical, it can be beneficial to hold the away-day in a location relevant to the project - for instance
the Strategy Unit Childcare team held their away-day at a nursery.
The away-day agenda could include an ice-breaking session, a session on team member’s working and
learning styles and a tour of the location (if relevant). If there are team members with little specific knowledge
of the subject, it may also be helpful to invite an external expert to provide an "idiot's guide" to the subject.
This will ensure that all team members have at least a basic knowledge of the subject.
It is very important to organise the away-day with sufficient notice to ensure everybody attends, including
project sponsor and support staff. The major objective of the away-day should be to make sure that key
milestones and rules are clear to all team members by the end of the day, including:
• timelines
• key deliverables
• roles and responsibilities
• how to work together.
Following the away-day and kick-off meeting, a summary of what was covered and agreed should be
circulated and followed up with one-to-one meetings if necessary. Depending on the length of the project, a
further away-day at a key point later in the project may also be worthwhile.
Sample Away-day agenda
1. Tour of relevant location
2. Icebreaker activity
3. Team building exercise
4. What each member brings to the team
5. Introduction to project issues
6. Expert presentation on relevant issues
7. Structure of the project: team, timelines and deliverables
8. Review of team process issues
9. Lessons learnt from previous projects
10. Assumptions and expectations for what can be achieved
through the project
Team Meetings
As well as ad-hoc discussions and workstream meetings, weekly team meetings should be held throughout
the course of the project. It is important to communicate the purpose and process of every meeting and
structure the meetings to ensure they are effective and worthwhile.
Regular team meetings involving relevant members of the core team as well as the Project Director and/or
Sponsor, if appropriate, should be held. These meetings provide an opportunity to update on substantive
issues, make and communicate decisions and map progress against the project plan. Meetings will also be
needed to debate difficult issues and create space for creative thinking.
Strategy Survival Guide – Strategy Skills
Page 52