A shared view of the company
Use a short company update to explain priorities and the reasons behind them.
Try this: Collect questions before the event. Reserve a separate Q&A slot rather than letting presentations absorb it.
How to plan a company offsite.
A company offsite brings colleagues away from their usual workplace to hear company updates, discuss priorities, and spend time with people outside their everyday teams. It gives distributed teams a chance to meet in person and ask questions about where the company is heading. A typical agenda combines leadership updates, small-group discussions, shared meals, and optional activities. Allow two days when colleagues are traveling from different offices; a local company can plan a focused gathering in one day.
01 / Choose the purpose
What should people leave with?
An all-company gathering needs a different agenda from a small working retreat. Decide what everyone needs to hear, what they can contribute, and where informal conversations fit.
Connections across teams
Give people a reason to meet colleagues outside their usual projects.
Try this: Mix tables across departments and use small groups of four to six. Avoid asking everyone to introduce themselves to the entire room.
Input on a practical question
Choose one company-wide question that benefits from different perspectives.
Try this: Give groups the same prompt and ask for one proposal each. Explain how the input will be used after the event.
02 / Compare venues
Choose a venue for the agenda.
Request floor plans for your full headcount: plenary seating, breakout rooms, dining, and accessible routes. Choose somewhere people can reach without losing most of the first day to travel. Bedrooms matter only if the agenda needs an overnight stay.
A hotel with meeting facilities
Useful for colleagues traveling from different offices, with sessions and accommodation on one site.
- Check first
- Ask for separate prices for bedrooms, meeting rooms, AV, meals, and service charges. Check room-release dates and cancellation terms.
A conference or event venue
A practical option for a local company day, especially when you need a large room plus breakout spaces.
- Check first
- Get seated capacity for your actual layout, not the advertised standing capacity. Check load-in, microphone coverage, catering flow, and spaces for small groups.
A residential conference center
Consider this for a two-day gathering when rooms, dining, and meeting spaces can accommodate everyone together.
- Check first
- Confirm bedroom inventory and meal capacity for the same dates. Compare transfer costs and accessibility with a venue closer to the office.
03 / Build the agenda
A sample agenda for company offsites.
This example includes one overnight stay. Keep company presentations short and protect time for people to meet across teams.
Day 1 · Updates and conversations
- Arrival and lunch
Allow a flexible arrival window and provide luggage storage before check-in.
- Company update
Explain the chosen priorities and the decisions behind them. Brief speakers to avoid repeating the same update.
- Questions and answers
Combine pre-submitted questions with questions from the room.
- Check-in and a break
Leave time to unpack, call home, or spend time alone.
- Small-group activity
Offer an activity and an equivalent quiet alternative.
- Dinner
Mix departments at tables and keep work presentations out of the meal.
Day 2 · Input and next steps
- Breakfast
Keep breakfast open for an hour rather than setting a single arrival time.
- Cross-team workshop
Give groups one shared question and 45 minutes to develop a proposal.
- Break and checkout
Arrange luggage storage so rooms can be released without disrupting the session.
- Share proposals
Limit each report to one proposal. Calculate the time needed for all groups; collect written reports if the group count makes a full round impractical.
- Lunch and departure
Share when the company will hear what happens next.
04 / Compare costs
Build an example budget.
Compare accommodation, meals, meeting space, and support for your chosen length of stay. Use supplier quotes for your dates before approving a total.
Example budget / USD
$655per person
50 guests · 1 night · 50 rooms
Change the guest count, nights, and room arrangement. Replace the sample allowances with supplier quotes. Enter zero for anything included in another line.
These are editable examples, not market prices. Add quoted taxes and service charges below; budget separately for flights if needed.
Edit sample rates
| Budget line | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Rooms 50 rooms × 1 night × $250 | $12,500 |
| Meals & refreshments 50 guests × 2 days × $75 | $7,500 |
| Meeting space & equipment 2 days × $500 | $1,000 |
| One group activity | $3,750 |
| Ground transport | $2,500 |
| Local planning & production | $2,500 |
| Quoted taxes, service charges & other fees | $0 |
| Contingency 10% of the subtotal | $2,975 |
| Working total | $32,725 |
Example total: $32,725 for 50 guests.
05 / Plan shared time
Ways to meet across teams
Choose activities that work without prior experience and make it easy for people to join a smaller group.
Mixed-team lunches
Seat colleagues with people outside their usual department, while leaving room for individual preferences.
- Plan for
- For a larger group, use several smaller tables. Agree dietary handling and enough service points to avoid spending the break in a queue.
Small-group conversations
Give groups a concrete prompt, such as a recent project that benefited from another team’s help.
- Plan for
- Use groups of four to six as a starting point. Assign a host and allow time to change groups; do not require personal disclosures.
An optional shared activity
Offer one activity people can join without specialist skills, with a quiet alternative.
- Plan for
- Ask the supplier how the full headcount will be split into groups, how many facilitators are included, and how long setup and rotation take.
06 / Assign the details
Your planning checklist.
Assign an owner to each task. Work through these checks with everyone helping organize the event.
Browse inspiration.
See how venues, meals, and activities come together. Use these events to help shape your own plans.
The Princeton Escape
12–20 guests · 2 nights
From $1,175 per person
View event
Puerto Rico Reset
7–14 guests · 3 nights
From $1,050 per person
View event
The Lakeside Gathering
20–80 guests · 2 nights
From $2,000 per person
View event
Plan your event with Vantly.
Our collection provides inspiration. Vantly connects you with a local event planner and producer who adapts the venue, schedule, suppliers, and logistics to your brief.
- 01 / Share
Tell us what you need.
Share your goals, headcount, dates, and budget. Start with an event from our collection or with your own brief.
- 02 / Refine
Work with a local producer.
Discuss the venue, schedule, and supplier options with someone who knows the area.
- 03 / Review
Review the proposal.
Confirm the agreed scope, inclusions, quote, and terms before committing.
Planning questions.
How is a company offsite different from a team retreat?
A company offsite brings multiple teams together, often for updates and connection across departments. A team retreat can focus more closely on one team's work. Use the team retreat guide when most participants share the same projects.
Does a company offsite need an overnight stay?
No. A day can work when people can reach the venue easily. An overnight stay gives more room for dinner and informal conversations; account for travel and time away from home.
How many presentations should we include?
Choose the messages everyone needs to hear, then remove material that could be sent beforehand. Alternate presentations with breaks and smaller discussions.
Can colleagues attend remotely?
Plan remote participation for the sessions that need it. Test audio, assign someone to monitor questions, and share materials. Activities and informal meals need a separate approach for colleagues joining remotely.
Can a local producer adapt the event to our team?
Yes. The collection is a starting point. Share your purpose, dates, headcount, preferences, and budget. Your local producer prepares a tailored proposal with the final scope and quote.