File B · Research files
Vegas had its run. The open bar, the slide deck, the trust-fall. Here’s what the research says actually moves a team forward, in a few numbers you can take to your CFO.
01 · The shift
Based on Harvard Business Review, 2022 and 2024, and Atlassian, 2024.
02 · The proof
Pick what you’re planning and we’ll pull the files that matter most.
File 01 · Atlassian
Team connection jumps after an intentional gathering, and the lift lasts about four months.
Atlassian's program has run 1,600+ in-person team gatherings since 2022. Showing up at the office did not move connection. Purpose-built time together did, along with better collaboration and faster decisions.
The Tro linkPlan a gathering every four months, and design it on purpose.
Atlassian Teamwork Lab, “Office attendance doesn’t drive team connection. So what does?” Feb 2024. Read the study ↗
File 02 · Harvard Business Review
Net new revenue from collaborations that started at one offsite, inside the first two months.
Eight years of data, 750 people, 350,000 working relationships. After an offsite, attendees got 24% more new requests to collaborate, and 17% of the new ties were still active two years later.
The Tro linkDon’t leave introductions to chance. We design who meets whom.
Kneeland, Gardner & Kleinbaum, “Why Offsites Work, and How to Get the Most Out of Them,” Harvard Business Review, Oct 2024. Read the study ↗
File 03 · McKinsey
Aligned top teams are almost twice as likely to post above-median financial performance.
Over 70% of CEOs in McKinsey’s CEO Excellence program name building their top team as their No. 1 development priority. Yet nearly 75% of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional, per HBR. McKinsey points to annual retreats as a way to build role clarity and trust.
The Tro linkAn executive offsite is where alignment gets built, not announced.
Desmarescaux, Kumra, Sengupta & Sridhar, “Demystifying top-team performance,” McKinsey & Company, Oct 2025. Read the study ↗
File 04 · Journal of Marketing
How strongly client gratitude drives trust after you invest in the relationship. A strong effect.
Host them, they feel grateful, trust follows, they buy more. In a field study of 446 B2B clients, gratitude predicted share of wallet and sales growth. A meta-analysis of 38,000+ relationships points the same way.
The Tro linkA client retreat is a relationship investment, not a gift basket.
Palmatier, Jarvis, Bechkoff & Kardes, “The Role of Customer Gratitude in Relationship Marketing,” Journal of Marketing, 2009. Read the study ↗
File 05 · Harvard Business Review
Executives, no slides, pitching their strategy to peers playing skeptical investors.
HBR found the default offsite is wall-to-wall slides, turf defended and vague takeaways nobody follows up on. One CEO renamed his “Investor Day” instead. Leaders stopped checking email and started challenging each other.
The Tro linkReal formats, rehearsed candor and rules that make it safe to disagree.
Elisa Farri, “What Makes a Great Executive Retreat,” Harvard Business Review, Jul 2022. Read the study ↗
File 06 · Google
Psychological safety was far and away the strongest driver of team effectiveness.
Google studied 180+ teams in Project Aristotle. Who was on the team mattered less than how they worked together. The top factor was feeling safe to take risks in front of each other.
The Tro linkGoogle didn’t find a personality type that makes teams great. It found a condition. Safety isn’t declared in a meeting, it’s earned, and a retreat is where we build the conditions to earn it.
Google re:Work, Project Aristotle, “Guide: Understand team effectiveness”. Read the study ↗
From our files
Case file 001 · BKID, Palm Springs
Open the case file →
Team portraits
Communal sound meditation
Architecture tour
Project site tour
Dinner, Bar Issi03 · Built for the moment
Every gathering has a job. Here’s what the research says each one is up against.
of key employees leave within a year of a deal. 75% within three years.
EY, via Gallup, 2019
of executives say cultural fit is critical to integration. 25% say poor culture alignment is why it fails.
McKinsey, 2019
The Tro linkIntegration happens when people meet, not when the org chart changes. A merger offsite gives two teams one room, one story and new working ties across the old line.
is how long the connection lift lasts before it decays back to baseline.
Atlassian Teamwork Lab, 2024
more new requests to collaborate after an offsite, and 17% of new ties still active two years later.
Harvard Business Review, 2024
The Tro linkA kickoff built for connection, not just content, and a second touchpoint before the lift fades.
of incentive-trip earners were rated top performers, vs 31.2% of other key employees.
Incentive Research Foundation
less likely to leave within two years when employees are well recognized.
Gallup and Workhuman, 2024
The Tro linkA top-performer retreat isn’t a perk. It’s recognition people remember, and a reason to stay.
how strongly client gratitude drives trust after you invest in the relationship.
Journal of Marketing, 2009
B2B clients studied: gratitude predicted share of wallet and sales growth.
Palmatier et al., 2009
The Tro linkSome partnerships deserve more than a gift basket. Host them, and the research says they buy more.
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