Why strategies stall after the away day, and how to make them stick.

A strategy built by a few rarely survives contact with the many. What happens in the room matters less than who built it and what happens next.

Lucy McGibbonFounder and CEO, TeamscapesOctober 2026 · 5 min read

A facilitated session with the Barwood Capital leadership team

In short

Strategies stall when the people who have to deliver them weren’t part of shaping them.
An independent facilitator lets leaders take part instead of running the room.
Strategy sticks when it’s connected to culture and structure: shared values, and clear roles to deliver it.

The strategy away day went well. The leadership team agreed priorities, the slides were tidy and everyone left aligned. Three months on, the plan is in a folder and the business is running much as it was. Sound familiar?

Why it stalls

It was built by a few

When a strategy is written by a small group and announced to everyone else, people hear it rather than own it. They’ll support it in principle and carry on as before in practice.

The leader ran the room

When the most senior person facilitates, they can’t fully take part, and their voice tends to win. Quieter people hold back, and the plan ends up reflecting the loudest views, not the best ones.

It stopped at strategy

A plan on its own doesn’t change how a team works. Without shared values behind it and clear roles to deliver it, accountability is agreed on paper but not built in.

Being able to get Teamscapes to manage the strategy away day and think about all the logistics meant I was able to really join in on those conversations myself.
Naomi Butters · CEO & Co-founder, ICENA

How to make it stick

Build it with the people who’ll deliver it

ICENA had a single day to regroup after a year of working in silos. Facilitating the day meant the CEO could join the conversation, and the team left with priorities they had built together rather than ones handed to them.

Connect culture, strategy and structure

With Barwood Capital, we ran a series of sessions across three connected areas: culture (a shared identity and values), strategy (a plan that fits the business goals) and structure (clear roles, so accountability was part of how the team works).

Make it a series, not a single day

Each session builds on the last. The team tests what it agreed, comes back, and adjusts. That rhythm keeps the strategy alive long after the away day.

Teamscapes made sure everyone in the room was engaged, listened to each other, and got the best out of us as individuals, while binding us together as a team.
Hugh Elrington · Managing Director, Barwood Capital

If you only do one thing

Before your next strategy day, decide who needs to own the outcome, not just hear it. Then make sure they’re in the room, and that someone else is running it.