A strategy offsite is a format for the C-suite planning the next 12 months. Not a 'trip to nature' and not a classic offsite. It is dense half-day sessions with a facilitator — on the water and in a meeting room at the dock — compressed into 2-3 days. The approach is borrowed from tech companies: OKR planning, premortems, parallel pathing, decision frames.
The morning slot is strategic work. A certified facilitator (often an MBA with 10 years in a Big Four firm or tech) runs the session against an agreed agenda. Whiteboard, flipcharts, a video call with those who could not travel. C-suite level — no slide-deck theatre, just direct conversation about priorities, budgets and restructuring.
The afternoon slot is sailing. After lunch the team heads out to sea for 4-5 hours. This is not entertainment but part of the format: the conversation carries on in an informal setting, no shoes and no ties. Decisions that would not come in the meeting room are often born on deck. We see it 7-8 times out of 10.
Dinner ashore is the third slot. The certified facilitator stays with the group, helps lock in the day's decisions and prepares a summary for the next morning. By the end of 2-3 days the team has a documented action plan for the year, signed by every participant. No 'we'll discuss it back at the office'.
