Leadership Team Offsite Facilitation
When people get together, magic can happen
If you lead a team, you know how hard it is to create space for the conversations that really matter. Day-to-day demands take over, and the strategic discussions get pushed aside.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
We design and facilitate offsites, away days and retreats for leadership teams: sessions built around honest conversations, fresh thinking and clear decisions. Every offsite begins with a diagnostic, so the day starts where the real issues are.
Mary and Chris created an environment that fostered open dialogue and innovative thinking. Their ability to balance structure with flexibility made this one of the most productive and enjoyable off-sites we’ve experienced.
Gareth Pritchard, Operations Director, PPA
What your leadership team gains
Strategic clarity
Leave with priorities agreed, not just discussed.
Stronger trust
Understand how each other thinks and works.
Honest conversations
The conversations that don’t quite happen in normal meetings.
Decisions made
From exploration to commitment, with clear ownership.
Fresh thinking
Creative approaches that unlock new ways of seeing familiar challenges.
Renewed momentum
Your team leaves energised, aligned and clear on what happens next.
When does a leadership team need an offsite facilitator?
Teams often bring us in when:
- Strategy needs clarity and alignment
- A newly formed team needs to establish trust and direction
- A team is navigating growth, change or uncertainty (see our Leading Through Change programme)
- Relationships or ways of working aren't functioning as they should
- The team needs to reset, refocus or reconnect
Our approach to leadership team offsite facilitation
- Before the day: We start with a briefing conversation, then usually run a diagnostic that can be a combination of : one-to-one conversations with key stakeholders and or a short questionnaire to every participant. We theme what we hear, so the offsite fast-tracks straight to what's most important.
- The design: We build the session around what your team needs to achieve, balancing strategic focus with honest dialogue and always moving towards firm decisions and shared commitment.
- In the room: We often use creative approaches such as visual thinking, drawing and LEGO® Serious Play®, because they change the atmosphere. People stop presenting positions and start saying what they actually think. Where relationships and working styles are the focus, we can bring in profiling tools such as Tilt 365. Some sessions are highly creative, others are straight-talking strategy: we choose what fits.
- Afterwards: Where it helps, follow-up support keeps things moving. We facilitate at your offices or at external venues, in London, across the UK and internationally.
Meet your facilitators
Offsites are designed and led by Mary Langan, who has spent more than fifteen years facilitating senior leadership teams and management boards, across media, publishing, membership organisations and fast-growing scale-ups. For larger groups, or where a second perspective adds value, Mary works alongside Chris Kerwin, who brings extensive recent senior leadership experience. Clients describe the sessions as both supportive and genuinely challenging, in the right way.
“Mary has been a trusted partner to our Board for a number of years, helping us grow as a team, align around a shared vision, and imagine what’s next. She has a rare mix of sharp insight and warmth: she stretches our thinking, lifts our energy, and is simply a joy to spend time with.”
MD, Global Media Agency, London
Planning a team offsite with a difference?
Tell us about your team and what you’re trying to achieve. We’ll take it from there.
Frequently asked questions
What does a leadership team offsite facilitator actually do?
A facilitator designs the session, holds the process, manages group dynamics, gets people talking openly and makes sure decisions get made. This is different from a trainer, who delivers content, or a chair, who runs a meeting. The facilitator’s job is to create the conditions for the team’s best thinking, and to make sure the day produces something the team can act on.
What typically happens at a facilitated leadership team offsite?
Every offsite is different, but a well-designed session usually moves through three phases: surfacing (understanding where the team really is), exploring (working through the key questions with honesty and rigour) and committing (agreeing decisions, priorities and next steps with named owners). The balance between them is agreed with you in advance.
How long does a leadership offsite typically last?
Most sessions run one to two days, with half-day options for more focused work. We recommend the right length after our initial conversation.
What's the difference between a team offsite and an away day?
The terms are often used interchangeably. An away day usually means a single day out of the office, while an offsite can run longer and carry more strategic weight. Whatever you call it, the same things make it work: clear objectives, proper preparation and skilled facilitation. We design and facilitate both.
Why use an external facilitator rather than running the offsite ourselves?
When a member of the team facilitates, they can’t fully take part. An external facilitator brings neutrality, structure and the ability to name what’s happening in the room. Senior leaders get to be participants, not managers of the day, which matters most when the offsite involves difficult dynamics or strategic disagreement. For more on what good offsite design looks like in practice, read how to run a leadership team offsite that actually works.
How much preparation is required from us?
Very little from you: usually no more than an hour of your time for the briefing conversation. The substantial preparation is ours. We typically run a diagnostic before the day, speaking one-to-one with key stakeholders and or gathering input from every participant. We theme what we hear, design the session around it, and share a draft agenda for your review.
What if our team isn't functioning well, or there's conflict?
Many teams bring us in during periods of tension or misalignment. In fact, some of the most productive offsites we facilitate are with teams navigating real difficulty. A professionally facilitated environment makes it possible to work through the difficult issues constructively. We’ll discuss the team’s context in detail before designing the session.
What creative facilitation methods do you use, and are they right for a senior team?
We use approaches such as visual thinking, drawing and LEGO® Serious Play® where they’ll help a team open up and think differently. They’re chosen deliberately, not by default: senior teams consistently find that a change of method produces a change in conversation. If a highly creative approach isn’t right for your team, we won’t use one. Every session is designed around your objectives and your culture.
How is pricing structured?
Pricing depends on the scope of the work, the length of the session and any follow-up support. The fee includes the diagnostic work, briefing calls, agenda design, facilitation of the session and a post-session debrief. After an initial conversation, we provide a clear, fixed-fee proposal for your team.
Looking for longer-term support?
Many leadership teams begin with an offsite to build momentum, then continue with regular team coaching to embed new ways of working. Our Leadership Team Coaching provides exactly that: ongoing, structured support that builds on what the offsite begins. For individual leaders who want to go deeper, our 121 Leadership Coaching runs alongside.