How to Get Real ROI From Your Next Team Gathering

You have two goals when you’re planning in-person gatherings: 1) to strengthen team culture and 2) to have real ROI attached. And there’s a way to get both done at the same time.

You can bring together distributed, remote, or even in-office teams in real, tangible ways that actually help your business.

Susannah Banks has spent years planning team gatherings and user conferences, and she’s created a strategic framework for transforming big events from expensive costs to revenue AND culture-driving investments.

Don't Treat In-Person Gatherings Like Generic Social Events

The way things are done now, companies think of gatherings as social moments, not business investments. That mindset is a missed opportunity. When you get everyone together, you can get high-impact work done.

Banks, the Chief of Staff at RevenueCat, said that all companies need intentional, thoughtful in-person events. That includes thinking carefully about the venue and what makes sense for your organization.

“RevenueCat is not a company that wants to go to your standard hotel or resort,” Banks said. “We really try to be rooted in nature."

She knows that many companies default to chain hotels or standard conference centers – which is OK if that’s what makes sense for them. But if that’s not the best fit, she cautions against prioritizing logistics over experience.

When you get too deep in the planning weeds, she said, your events aren’t aligned with your company culture, your experiences don’t have a deep impact, and strategic opportunities are all but forgotten.

But she knows the fix.

Introducing the PAPER Framework

Banks developed this framework to make sure in-person gatherings benefit both employees and the entire company:

P - Purpose-Driven Planning

Do more than check a “plan gathering” box. Instead, tie your planning to your organizational identity and choose a venue that fits your group's brand. The environment that you put everyone in shapes the narrative of your company culture.

It’s about more than a convenient meeting space. What you do today gets talked about tomorrow. When you make experiences breathe, they turn from a necessary evil to part of your organizational mythology. You’re designing gatherings that employees will talk about for years. That’s culture-building AND something that sets your company apart.

A - Adaptation Throughout

Unplanned moments drive connectivity and new ideas. Think "water cooler moments" or Aaron Sorkin’s "walk and talks." Some of the best business moments aren’t line items on an agenda. Think about the importance of real-time, in-person communication, and use that as a guide. Your planning shouldn’t be rigid; it should be responsive.

P - Prioritizing Your People

Remember: gatherings can be strategic talent investments.

Forget about travel logistics and focus on what you’re facilitating: smart, hands-on, all-in collaboration. Team gathering budgets that go the furthest for you are the ones that promote human connection, not the ones that are hyper-focused on minimizing costs.

E - Emergent Collaboration

If you create opportunities for teams that are usually siloed to work together, they can unlock all new kinds of collaborative ideas. There’s always a common goal – business success – and when you put different heads together, you can get a completely unexpected solution.

R - Resonant Mission Alignment

When everyone’s in one place, it’s a great time (and way) to remind them about the organization’s biggest goals. It’s about more than just the mission statements – it’s actual, tangible objectives. When they tackle big-picture tasks together, instead of just talking about the issues, their alignment reaches new heights.

The PAPER Framework in Action

Sometimes, real life can disrupt all your plans.

Banks recalled the Epic v. Apple ruling in May, where Apple was restricted from charging 30% fees on in-app purchases made through the App Store. The news came in during a team meetup.

“We had a feature that we'd been working on for two and a half years, and we were just ready to launch it while we were at the offsite," Banks said.

Because they were dialed into the PAPER framework, they weren’t bound by a fixed schedule: they could be responsive (Adaptation Throughout). The entire event agenda got wiped away to fit this goal.

“We have a mission at RevenueCat, and it's to help developers make more money. In that moment, everybody was working to help developers make more money, and that is what a true offsite is about."

Their flexibility made sure the gathering wasn’t a simple meeting – it was a heads-down embodiment of the company mission.

Making Sure Your Gathering Has the Best Possible ROI

Don't Panic, Pivot: When unexpected opportunities arise, adapt with intention instead of freezing up. Build flexibility into your systems so you can leap into action instead of muddling through.

Sweat Every Detail: Nearly every planning choice should reflect your organizational values: venue, activities, everything. When company values are woven throughout an event, employees experience culture instead of just hearing about it.

Make Lasting Memories: Shared experiences build culture. Plan moments that are specific to your organization's journey, showing staff what they're capable of when they come together.

Focus on Business Impact: Design time around advancing company goals through real work. When teams collaborate on ongoing business challenges, they strengthen relationships and move the company forward, all at the same time.

For Banks's step-by-step process to planning company gatherings, read her playbook.