TL;DR

  1. Early preparation and repeat communications are the keystones for high team engagement.
  2. A 2-days Team off-site is a good balance between team engagement, agenda and budget.
  3. Relative loose agenda will help the team to know each other better, especially people from different offices.
  4. Organising Team Off-site for multiple offices is not an easy job, it needs lots of planning, preparation, coordination, and contingency plan.
  5. Sponsorship from external vendor is not essential, but good to have.
  6. Clear schedule and timeline will help all participant around when to do what.
  7. A Team Day off-site theme is necessary to guide team participations and increase the engagement.