From herding geese and horse-whispering, through building towers with dry spaghetti sticks, to constructing rafts from oil drums, rope and planks of wood – it can sometimes seem as if no activity is off-limits at an offsite. Often, a tub-thumping motivational speaker is thrown into the mix for good measure. And as evening falls, the boss’s company plastic is behind the bar, with memorable outcomes, particularly at British events.  

The offsite can arouse an array of emotions, from pleasure at the prospect of a night at the Heathrow Holiday Inn to a jaded sense of dread. There is even a spoof Enid Blyton book, Five Go On A Strategy Away Day, in which young friends George, Dick, Anne, Julian and Timmy “are booked into an exciting hotel right next to a jolly motorway services”.

One CEO from a global communications firm recalls his favourite: “The facilitator got us into the swing of it with an early morning ‘warm-up’ exercise where we had to jump into a trust circle if we had done something similar to the first jumper... eaten muesli for breakfast, liked jazz – whatever. One participant obviously forgot this was not a drinking game. ‘Jump into the middle if you’ve ever had a threesome with your boss!’ she entreated. Nobody moved.”