In-person events are back — here are 4 steps to improve the planning process
This blog is based on an article that was originally published in SUCCESS. It has been updated for 2025 and beyond
Large-scale events like sales kickoffs and leadership summits have long been a staple of business strategy. They’ve served as annual milestones—moments to align, inspire, and energize teams around the path forward.
But in today’s environment, their role has become even more vital. As organizations navigate dispersed teams, shifting strategies, and relentless change, these events are no longer just ceremonial—they’re one of the few chances to create clarity, connection, and culture at scale.
How you bring people together is now just as important as why.
Virtual fatigue, rising costs, evolving team structures, and hybrid expectations have transformed event planning from routine to strategic. The most effective companies are moving beyond default formats and asking: What does this moment demand—and how do we design for it?
There’s no one-size-fits-all anymore. The best events flex—tailored to your business, your people, and the outcomes that matter most.
So is there a gold standard? In-person still delivers unmatched energy and connection—but in 2025, the smartest strategies are context-driven.
- In-person builds energy you can feel. It’s unmatched for connection, culture, and rallying teams around big shifts.
- Hybrid expands reach. It connects distributed teams while maintaining presence and participation.
- Virtual is fast, inclusive, and cost-effective—perfect when timing or accessibility is the priority.
- Hyper-local brings people together in smaller, regional gatherings—minimizing travel while maximizing face time and relevance for specific markets or teams.
The question isn’t which format is best—it’s what does this moment call for?
This updated post explores how to design high-impact events—tailored to your context, your people, and your goals.
Let’s dive in.
Set the tone—and build something that lasts
It’s not just the format that’s shifting. Structure, length, content, and tone are evolving too—which creates a powerful opportunity for leaders to shape more meaningful, memorable experiences.
To make these moments count, it helps to pause and consider:
- What do you want this experience to be remembered for?
- How do you want people to connect with it—and with each other?
- What kind of follow-through do you want to inspire?
Approaching event planning through this lens turns it from a one-off activation into a long-term investment. As a leader, you don’t have to manage every detail—but you do need to set the tone. When your vision is clear, your team can build something truly intentional.
Here are four strategies to help you get there:
1. Empower teams to make the right decisions.
Many meetings are unproductive or a waste of time, and meetings involving event coordination may become nothing more than project updates. Though these aren’t without merit to gauge progress, it shouldn’t be the sole focus. For execution teams to act on the right decisions around every detail, the meeting agenda should also touch on the vision, benchmarks, next steps and any obstacles that might require additional support, among other topics. And it should do so at a cadence that makes sense for you, the team and the event itself.Perhaps all that’s necessary is to meet once a month until the event date closes in. Maybe every two weeks is a better option. Information is power, as they say, and you can empower your team to take initiative on their own. Research has shown that empowering team members may lead to innovative behavior and improved work performance, among other benefits. This potential boost to innovative, proactive and knowledge-sharing behaviors may be especially useful when it comes to the team developing innovative ideas and the wherewithal to put those ideas into action. Engage all team members early in the planning process. Provide them with the freedom necessary to make decisions on their own so that when things deviate from the plan, they can adjust accordingly instead of being left unsure of the next steps.
2. Find a balance between internal vision and external engagement.
You’re essentially building a legacy for how you want to be remembered. This can have a sizable impact on not only creating a memorable and lasting experience for your audience, but encouraging them to return year after year.Just look at the Consumer Technology Association’s CES® event, which claims to be “the most influential tech event in the world.” At this year’s event, CES welcomed nearly 120,000 attendees from around the world and offered massive visibility (print and social media) to its exhibitors and presenters. The planning and execution of this event, which showcases other companies’ solutions, requires months of vetting potential exhibits, working with venue and event teams and organizing high-profile keynotes.While staying true to your vision is critical, make sure that you don’t lose sight of the customer in the process. Get boots on the ground and make a habit out of listening, relaying what’s learned and even following up with customers. Then, it’s just a matter of striking a balance between your vision for the event and what the audience is saying. It’s important not to go too broad or too narrow when homing in on your audience and vision; it’s more about finding something in between that speaks to what’s really going on in the business and what attendees want in an event.
3. Create a purposeful, intentional atmosphere for meetings.
All discussions should be connected to the company strategy—“connected” being the operative word here. Think about the purpose and desired outcome. What conversations do you need to initiate? What is the red thread or throughline for everything you’re doing at the event?Without that connection, the focus can shift away from the strategy. Our company uses a pyramid diagram to divide ideas into sections and organize the meeting structure to ensure all discussions are intentional and purposeful.At a recent sales kickoff for a large client, we ensured the client’s new methodology and customers were at the core of every design element. Everything from the digital solution to the scenarios that participants engaged in to how facilitators led debrief conversations was designed to reinforce the new methodology and drive the effectiveness of a cross-functional team in service of customers. As a result of that intentionality, the client saw a 54% uplift in their pipeline coming out of the event and a 40% adoption growth of a newly introduced scorecard for account executives.
4. Reflect on operational successes and failures.
You may not think of reflection as a competency, but research shows that such a habit can be the differentiator between extraordinary and mediocre workplace performance and engagement, and it may serve to benefit your team as well. As such, make after-event discussions more than just debriefing sessions. Did the experience lead to the desired outcomes? Were there any unanticipated outcomes? More importantly, how do you plan to track results over the next few weeks or months?Our company worked with one client who was exceptional at this process. Naturally, the event’s theme fed into the experience from start to finish, and the outcomes were as expected. But instead of checking off that box and returning to business as usual, the client took reflected on the outcomes. They found ways to incorporate that specific experience into their organization so they didn’t lose any traction made with the target audience.
Thinking more strategically about how to execute an event and incorporating these event planning tips will put you a step ahead of the competition. It will also help you create an experience that’s both memorable and a critical part of establishing a legacy for you and your company.
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You can't predict the future. You can be disciplined about how you face it.
That's where Future Storming comes in. Future Storming is a process for looking at the trends and signals already visible in the market, understanding how those forces connect, and thinking more clearly about where they may lead.
Recently, we've been applying that lens to talent strategy, running Future Storming sessions with talent leaders across industries to understand which forces are already reshaping how organizations find, develop, and retain the people they need. When you look across those conversations, one thing is hard to miss: AI runs through almost all of the most significant trends, and not as a future scenario. It's already reworking the talent systems most organizations have leaned on for years, often quietly, and often faster than leadership teams have had time to respond.
From these sessions, five high-likelihood, high-impact shifts have emerged as the ones every talent leader needs to be watching right now. What follows is what each of them may mean for your organization.
1. The frameworks most organizations use to define great leadership were built for a different era
Skills and competency models describe work that no longer exists in many roles or that AI now performs alongside, or instead of, humans. The gap between what organizations say they're selecting and developing for, and what the work actually requires, is widening quietly.
This creates a real problem. Organizations that don't redefine what great looks like now will be developing the wrong people for the wrong future optimizing for capabilities that are becoming less predictive while under-investing in the ones that matter most.
- Rebuild leadership profiles from a future-back perspective, starting with where the business is heading, not where it has been.
- Focus on the distinctly human capabilities AI cannot replicate judgment in ambiguous conditions, relational intelligence, ethical reasoning, the ability to set direction when there is no precedent.
- Increase the use of behavioral observation in selection and development. It's the only methodology that shows how someone actually thinks and decides under real pressure.
The signal worth chasing isn't on a resume, it's in the room in how someone handles a real situation, under genuine pressure. It's the only place where someone can't prepare their way out of being themselves.
2. Human differentiators are the last mile AI cannot close
Judgment. Empathy. Creativity. The ability to navigate genuine ambiguity. These are increasingly what separates human contribution from AI output and they're precisely the things most talent systems have always found hardest to measure.
For a long time, organizations could afford to treat these as qualities that would emerge naturally with experience. That's no longer an option. The human differentiators are becoming the job. And most organizations still aren't measuring them well.
The methods exist behavioral assessment, simulation, structured observation. And AI is now making them accessible at scale in ways that simply weren't possible before. The question isn't whether to use them. It's how to deploy them thoughtfully, with the governance and transparency that -stakes talent decisions require.
- AI-powered behavioral observation that surfaces how people actually perform in the flow of work, (i.e. judgement, decision-making, adaptability) not self-report
- Assessment that evaluated how people work with AI, not just without it because that's increasingly what the role looks like
- Simulation-based approaches that reveal thinking in action - the kind of evidence no credential or output can provide
3. The talent pipeline is broken
AI is displacing the early-career work that has traditionally served as the on-ramp into organizational life. Those tasks once gave emerging employees something more valuable than work product. They gave them foundational experiences, relationships, and judgment. The kind of judgment that eventually grows into leadership.
The impact won't show up immediately. That's exactly what makes it worth paying attention to now. Within three to six years, benches will thin and succession pipelines will require far more intentional investment. Organizations will find themselves asking why their internal talent isn't developing the way it used to.
The organizations that get ahead of this have a real opportunity to build something more deliberate, more equitable, and better suited to the capabilities the future actually requires.
- Invest in real, simulation-based experiences, putting emerging leaders into the decisions and pressures that build genuine organizational judgment, not just task exposure.
- Redefine what early-career development is, building toward the capabilities the future requires, not the ones the old job description described.
- Build feedback into the flow of work. AI behavioral observation and practice AI role plays make continuous development possible at scale. The experience that used to happen informally has to be designed now.
4. People need to re-skill faster than any development model was built to support
People need to reskill faster than any development model was built to support. Most organizational development infrastructure was built around a longer, more stable arc of skill acquisition. AI is compressing that arc significantly.
The implication isn't just that training needs to be faster. It's that the whole architecture of how organizations identify, develop, and deploy talent needs to be built for continuous recalibration not periodic refresh.
- Prioritize adaptability and learning agility over static expertise. The ability to acquire new capabilities quickly matters more than the specific capabilities someone holds today.
- Treat reskilling as a continuous organizational process, not an episodic program.
5. AI is absorbing leadership work and culture is losing it's anchor
This is the shift that's easiest to underestimate, and hardest to recover from once it arrives.
Culture is what people see leaders do. The behaviors leaders model how they make decisions, how they show up in hard moments, what they choose to reward and what they let go are how organizational culture gets transmitted. It doesn't travel through stated values. It travels through visible human behavior.
AI is absorbing the work that used to make leaders visible as humans making choices. Performance reviews written by AI. Communications drafted by AI. Coaching conversations mediated by AI. When the distinctly human work disappears, so does the signal. People don't know what to watch anymore. And culture which depends on that watching starts to fray.
The organizations that navigate this well won't be the ones that use less AI, they'll be the ones most intentional about which leadership behaviors remain visibly human, and why.
The behaviors that held culture together need to be rebuilt around what humans uniquely contribute now and that starts with getting the success profile right. That's exactly what the Future Ready Profile is built for.
Strengthen empathy-centered leadership capabilities. The human dimensions of leadership matter more, not less, as AI takes on more of the technical work.
- Strengthen empathy-centered leadership capabilities. The human dimensions of leadership matter more, not less, as AI takes on more of the technical work.
- Reinforce organizational purpose and human-centered culture as anchors.
- Treat culture as something you design, not something you inherit.
What this means
The organizations that navigate this well won't be the ones that adopted AI fastest, they'll be the ones that invested just as deliberately in the human systems around it.
These five shifts aren't warnings. They're design problems, and design problems have answers. The talent systems that come out of this moment can be more intentional, more equitable, and more fit for purpose than anything we've built before.
At BTS, this is the work we're doing every day. If you'd like to think through what any of it means for your organization, we’d love to talk.
The thinking in this article was shapped by Future Storming sessions, including a SIOP 2026 workshop, and by ongoing conversations with talent leaders navigating these shifts in real time.
Hace unos meses terminé una sesión con un equipo de ejecutivos comerciales de una institución financiera mediana. Dos días intensos: cómo prospectar, cómo estructurar conversaciones centradas en el cliente, cómo crear valor en cada interacción. El grupo salió inspirado del taller.
Tres semanas después le pregunté a uno de los mejores participantes sobre cómo le había ido aplicando las nuevas herramientas. Me miró un segundo y me dijo, con total honestidad:
“La verdad... la semana siguiente fue igual que siempre, volví al viejo sistema”
El entrenamiento de capacidades es necesario. Pero sin una cultura comercial que lo sostenga, es un esfuerzo poco rentable para las empresas.
1. Las capacidades sin contexto no sobreviven al día a día
Un ejecutivo de ventas puede salir de un taller sabiendo exactamente qué preguntar, cómo estructurar una conversación de valor, cómo posicionarse como asesor estratégico en lugar de vendedor de productos. La semana siguiente, el peso de las métricas de corto plazo, la presión por resultados y las urgencias del día a día terminan arrastrándolos de vuelta a la rutina de siempre.
McKinsey (2024) encontró que más del 70% de las iniciativas de transformación comercial no logran sus objetivos — y la principal causa no es el diseño del programa, sino la falta de condiciones organizacionales para sostener los nuevos comportamientos.
El problema no es el taller. Es lo que existe o no existe en la realidad de la estructura comercial.
2. El cambio requiere alinear seis pilares
Lo que diferencia a las empresas que realmente transforman su modelo comercial de las que solo capacitan, está relacionado con seis pilares que operan simultáneamente.
1. Patrocinio de la alta dirección que empodera en lugar de solo exigir
2. Disciplina en gestión de cuentas/clientes estratégicos, con metodología y seguimiento
3. Conversaciones centradas en el cliente, no en el portafolio de productos
4. Cada interacción con relevancia estratégica, preparadapara crear valor medible
5. Nuevos comportamientos integrados al ritmo operativodiario y la cadencia del negocio
6. Líderes comerciales presentes que sostienen la cultura, no solo la expresan
Cuando falta uno, los demás no escalan y terminan provocando un círculo vicioso.
3. El liderazgo que sostiene vale más que el que exige
El patrocinio de la alta dirección y la presencia de los líderes comerciales sonlos pilares que más frecuentemente fallan. No porque los líderes no crean en el cambio, sino porque el día a día los jala de vuelta a revisar resultados, no a construir comportamientos.
Gartner (2024) señala que los equipos comerciales cuyos líderes hacen coaching activo y visible tienen hasta un 28% mayor probabilidad de adoptar nuevos comportamientos de manera sostenida.
El entrenamiento define el rumbo y entrega el mapa; el liderazgo es lo que realmente ayuda a navegar y sostener el cambio.
Conclusión
Si tu empresa está invirtiendo en transformar la forma en que sus equipos comerciales se relacionan con los clientes, la pregunta ya no es si el entrenamiento funciona. La verdadera pregunta es: ¿qué tan preparada está la organización para sostener el cambio?
Porque el talento existe. Las habilidades se desarrollan. Pero la cultura no se improvisa; se construye todos los días, con liderazgo, alineación y consistencia.
¿Cuál de estos seis pilares es hoy el más débil en tu organización?
É possível mudar a cultura de uma organização?
Hoje em dia, poucas organizações não estão envolvidas em um (ou vários) processos de transformação cultural. Novas formas de trabalhar em organizações mais horizontais e adaptativas, melhorias na cultura de segurança, orientação ao cliente, transformações nas áreas comerciais e excelência operacional, entre outros.
E é aqui que surge uma das grandes perguntas:
É possível mudar a cultura de uma organização? E, se sim, como fazer isso?
Para ajudar a responder a essas perguntas—frequentes entre nossos clientes e amplamente discutidas—gostaria de compartilhar o que aprendemos na BTS ao longo dos últimos 38 anos sobre o que funciona e o que não funciona (até agora, pois em transformação cultural estamos sempre aprendendo).
A boa notícia é que a resposta é sim.
A dificuldade está na segunda pergunta: como fazer isso?
Um projeto? Uma iniciativa?
Um ponto importante é que a transformação cultural não é um projeto com início e fim, mas sim um processo contínuo e em evolução. Isso muitas vezes gera tensão em organizações acostumadas a uma lógica de projetos.
O que é crítico e frequentemente ignorado?
Existem elementos que, quando considerados e aplicados corretamente, tornam a transformação muito mais eficaz. No entanto, muitas vezes são ignorados.
Esses elementos são:
- Envolver as pessoas. Quanto maior o envolvimento em todos os níveis, maior a probabilidade de implementação das mudanças.
- Tornar a mudança tangível e vivida no dia a dia, conectando teoria e prática. Transparência é fundamental.
- Toda mudança tem impactos positivos e negativos — ambos devem ser comunicados com clareza.
- Mudança cultural exige tempo e transformação de mindsets e estruturas organizacionais.
- A cultura deve estar conectada à estratégia.
Como estruturamos a transformação cultural?
Nosso modelo se baseia em quatro etapas: definir resultados, criar líderes de mudança, incorporar mudanças e sustentar novas formas de trabalho.
1. Definir resultados
O primeiro passo é estabelecer resultados claros e alinhamento executivo. É necessário conectar propósito, visão e objetivos organizacionais.
Ações:
- Coleta de dados (entrevistas, focus groups, visitas)
- Diagnósticos culturais
- Definição de expectativas (Leadership Profiles
2. Criar líderes de mudança
Todos os líderes devem atuar como agentes de mudança. É fundamental engajá-los emocional e racionalmente.
Ações:
- Programas de liderança
- Playbooks
- Feedback contínuo
3. Incorporar mudanças
É essencial transformar mentalidades e sistemas organizacionais.
Ações:
- Coaching
- Sprints culturais
- Cascata organizacional
- Avaliações comportamentais
4. Sustentar o novo modelo
Garantir continuidade através de redes, dados e suporte contínuo.
Ações:
- Integração com processos de talento
- Uso de IA no dia a dia
- Monitoramento da transformação
- Comunidades de prática
A importância de ser paciente e impaciente ao mesmo tempo
Transformações culturais são complexas e não têm fórmula única.
Ser estrategicamente paciente e taticamente ágil é essencial para ajustar e evoluir continuamente.
Esse equilíbrio permite transformar a jornada em algo positivo e sustentável.
Este é apenas um resumo.
Se quiser aprofundar com exemplos e práticas:
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