Strategy Away Days, Properly Facilitated
Everyone has been to a bad away day. A hotel room, a flipchart, a lot of agreeing, and nothing different on Monday.
A good one is different for one reason: somebody independent did the work beforehand, ran the room without an agenda of their own, and wrote it up so the decisions survive contact with the following week.
That is what we do. Both our directors are Chartered Marketers who have sat on the other side of the table in senior roles, so we know what it costs a leadership team to give up a day.
We run away days to a method: MORPH
Eighteen years of running these has taught us that a good away day is not about the room or the biscuits. It is about what happens before it and what happens after it.
map — before the day
Two to three weeks out, we gather confidential input from your leadership team and, where it helps, from staff, trustees, customers or funders — alongside market and competitor evidence. You arrive to findings rather than a blank flipchart.
open — the morning
We put the honest picture in front of the room and let it be challenged. An independent facilitator gets answers that an internal chair cannot.
rank — early afternoon
Everything is scored and cut. This is the stage most away days skip, and it is why most away days produce a list of twenty things and deliver none.
plan — the afternoon
Every surviving priority leaves with a named owner, a date and a first action inside fourteen days. The written strategy follows within five working days.
hold — ninety days later
Ninety days later we come back and check what actually moved. This is the stage that makes the other four worth paying for.
The 5–2–1 rule
No day closes without it. Five priorities at most. Two things you will stop doing. One action that starts within a fortnight. It is the two people find hardest — nobody ever leaves an away day having freed up any capacity.
What you get
stakeholder research before the day
We send a confidential questionnaire to your leadership team, and where it is useful, to staff, trustees, customers or funders. People will tell an outsider things they will not say in front of the chief executive. Those findings shape the agenda — so the day starts from evidence rather than from whoever speaks first.
a SWOT built on that evidence
Not a blank grid filled in on the morning. We arrive with a draft SWOT drawn from the research and your market, and the room's job is to challenge and prioritise it.
independent facilitation
One of our directors runs the day. We keep the quiet people talking, stop the loudest voice from setting the outcome, and hold the group to a decision rather than a discussion. Nobody internal has to choose between chairing and contributing.
a written plan within the week
You leave with agreed priorities. You receive a written strategy document with owners, timings and the evidence behind each decision — in a form you can put in front of a board or a funder.
Away days we run
Annual strategy day — where the business is going over the next one to three years, and what to stop doing.
Board and trustee away day — governance, direction and the honest conversation about capacity.
Leadership team day — roles, priorities and how decisions get made between you.
Brand and proposition workshop — what you stand for and how you say it, with mood boards and live feedback.
Merger or transition day — two teams, one direction, run by someone who belongs to neither.
Practical details
We travel to you, or we will help you find a venue — we know Hampshire and the South Coast well, and we have run sessions everywhere from hotels and castles to university buildings. Half days and full days are both available. Fees are fixed and quoted up front, including the research stage.
Common questions
how many people should be in the room?
Six to fourteen works best. Below six it is a meeting; above sixteen you need a different format, which we can design.
do you run away days online?
We can, and we do for dispersed boards. In-person gets better decisions where you can manage it.
what if our team disagrees strongly?
Good. That is usually why an independent facilitator is worth the money — disagreement gets surfaced and resolved rather than carried into next year.
can you deliver what we decide?
Yes, if you want us to. Many away days lead into business consultancy, a marketing plan or a rebrand. There is no obligation and no handover to anyone else.
Book a scoping call
Tell us who is in the room and what you need to come out with.
Book a scoping callOr call 023 9400 7139.