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Dr. Heidi K. Gardner recently co-authored a Harvard Business Review article, “Why Offsites Work — and How to Make the Most of Them,” about the value of corporate offsites – particularly in today’s hybrid world. Here’s a summary of the article:

Some high-profile companies have recently issued return to office mandates, which have been met with mixed reactions from employees and the general public. A decade of research suggests a performance-boosting alternative for helping employees build meaningful collaborative networks: corporate offsites. They can be a powerful strategic tool for managers, allowing them to reshape employees’ informal organizational networks to facilitate more sharing of ideas and expertise. Managers should use four strategies to get the most out of their offsites: 1) Tailor sessions based on pre-event data; 2) charge new hires with offsite objectives; 3) guide employees’ preparation; and 4) track the value of offsites.