As a member of the leadership team, you’ve been tasked with organizing the annual offsite for your team. Inevitably, a question comes up: should I plan and facilitate the meeting myself, or hire an external person or company to do this?

As a member of the leadership team, you’ve been tasked with organizing the annual offsite for your team. Inevitably, a question comes up: should I plan and facilitate the meeting myself, or hire an external person or company to do this?

To answer this question, it’s important to recognize that there are actually two distinct and (usually) separate jobs: the event planner who arranges the venue, food, lodging, and transportation. And the facilitator, who is responsible for ensuring that the business objectives of the meeting are met.

While the event planner is important, it is primarily an administrative/logistical function, and can be delivered very successfully with either internal or external resources. But the facilitator role is different: it is core.

So how to choose an internal vs external facilitator?

Internal Facilitator: “Do It Yourself”

• No cost
• Understands the business intimately
• Because of their knowledge (and time pressures), prep time will be truncated.
• Can’t wear two hats (facilitator AND participant) simultaneously.
• Participants may see the facilitator as biased, or having a personal or political agenda.
• Easier to follow up with colleagues after the retreat.
• Very good for lowest-risk meetings, or where attendees are more junior.

External Facilitator: “Bring in the experts”

• Allows all team members to participate in the conversation.
• Is viewed as “neutral” by all participants (eg no political agenda)
• Will often identify issues and opportunities during the pre-interviews that are unlikely to be shared with an internal person
• Can deliver specialized training, not just facilitation.
• Is available for high-value conversations between the formal sessions.
• Can bring best practices on overall structure, techniques, follow-up, etc to the retreat.
• Very good for higher-stakes meetings, or where attendees are more senior.

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