From Outdoors to Outcomes: Boosting knowledge Retention After Team away days

Turning insights from outside the office into meaningful action inside the office.

A 5-step plan to help you get the most from your company offsite experience

A sincere and profound love of nature, adventure and the outdoors flows through the veins of everyone here at The Bioasis.

We recognise the transformative power of time outside and away from the boardroom for innovation and recovery. When a group of c-suite executives, HR professionals, or corporate teams join us for a retreat or away day, we want to make sure that they are given the opportunity to become completely immersed in the Devonshire countryside.

So, how can they get the most out of their investment of time? And how can they make this feeling last?

In this blog, we’ll share some tips and tricks that can help you and your team facilitate real, lasting transformation. We’ll look at how knowledge retention works, and give a suggested strategy that, when implemented effectively, can improve the efficacy of the experience.

When was the last time your meetings looked like this?

What's the challenge with knowledge retention?

Here’s a set of statistics that is important to highlight and take note of:

“Research on the forgetting curve shows that within 1 hour, learners forget an average of 50% of the information presented. Within 24 hours, they forget an average of 70%, and within a week, they’ve forgotten up to 90% of what they’ve learned”.

If you apply this rule against the numerical value of your training programs, retreats, or coaching sessions, it would be reasonable to conclude that:

1. You need to have a clear plan of action and implementation to get the most out of the experience

2. You need to make rapid application of any action points

3. You need to consider refresher courses and have a clear plan to review this opportunity at regular intervals throughout the year

When you're putting together your annual training budget, you should look for opportunities to maximise the rate of knowledge retention.

Don't forget to enjoy the little things

Course reflection for maximum retention

As with any personal or professional development endeavours, awareness and responsibility will be key. Furthermore, ensuring that you have a structure in place to capture and implement learnings will be crucial to lasting change.

We’ve come up with a 5-stage plan that will help you maximise on transformative experiences and to enhance knowledge retention and implementation. It may be worth sharing this with your team before you arrive to help provide context and enable them to get the most from the experience.

1. Personal reflection

Take 20-30 minutes of quiet time to answer these questions as honestly as possible:

• What emotions surfaced during the challenges? When did you feel most alive or most uncomfortable?

• What did you discover about your own strengths, limitations, and reactions under pressure?

• Which team members revealed unexpected capabilities? What specific moments made you see colleagues differently?

• Why did stepping away from daily work prove valuable? What were you carrying that you didn't realise?

• What warning signs of burnout or overwhelm can you now recognise in yourself?

Action: Write your answers in a journal or document before discussing with others.

A different kind of boardroom

2. Facilitate a team debrief

Within 48 hours of returning, hold a structured team session (60-90 minutes):

• Create a safe space where you establish ground rules (no interruptions, no judgment, confidentiality)

• Invite each person to share 1-2 key personal insights from their individual reflection

• Ask: "What did we learn about how we work together when faced with uncertainty?"

• Identify patterns: What themes emerged across multiple people's experiences?

Action: Assign a facilitator to guide conversation and ensure everyone contributes.

3. Write it down

Capture insights while they're fresh.

• What's not working: List specific pain points, inefficiencies, or dysfunctions identified during retreat discussions

• What needs to change: For each problem, note the desired future state

• Solutions proposed: Record every idea suggested, even unconventional ones

• Quick Wins vs. Long-term Shifts: Categorise changes by implementation timeline

Action: Designate one person as "scribe" to compile this into a shared document accessible to all team members within 3 days of returning.

Team building through firepit discussions

4. Build an action plan

Review your documented insights and create specific, accountable next steps.

• Prioritise: Choose 3-5 changes that will have the highest impact

• Assign ownership: Every action needs a named person responsible (not "the team")

• Set deadlines: Establish realistic timeframes (30/60/90 days)

• Define success: How will you know if this change worked? What will be measurably different?

• Identify resources: What support, budget, or permission is needed?

Action: Create a visible tracker (shared spreadsheet, project management tool, or wall chart) that everyone can access and update.

5. Schedule regular reviews

Book regular check-ins to maintain accountability and momentum

• 30-day check: What's been implemented? What obstacles have emerged? Adjust the plan as needed.

• 60-day review: Measure progress against your success metrics. What's improved? Where are we stuck?

• 90-day reflection: Celebrate wins, identify what's become habit, and decide what needs deeper work

• Quarterly rhythm: Continue reviewing to prevent backsliding and build on success

Action: Put these review dates in calendars NOW with mandatory attendance. Assign a different person to facilitate each session to distribute ownership.

Where do we go from here?

Obviously, we’d love for you and your team to come and join us in The Bioasis! But if you’re on the fence, need more information, or are planning to join us in the future, then these are great tips to help get the most out of any investment you make between now and then. If there’s anything you need or any support that we can offer, drop us a message. 

Either way, just make sure that you embrace every opportunity to keep growing and progressing.

If we can be a part of that, that’s great!