Corporate retreats, six basic principles of design

Corporate retreats or offsites provide opportunities for team buiding, planning, thinking and strategy. They can get the response "Oh no, no! Another waste of time!" to "Wow! I'm looking forward to it.". This article sets out six principles of design to make your next corporate retreat hit the mark.

1. Be strategic on what you want to achieve:

One of the most common pitfalls for corporate meetings is that the goals are set too many or too few. Being strategic about what you want to accomplish.

Ask yourself what you want to achieve during the withdrawal? As a result of the withdrawal? What do you want to remove staff? What are your top priorities? What you want to create the foundation for the team staff?

Be as specific as possible, making your goals measurable. As the old adage says: "What is not measured, is not done."

2. Get employees involved in the design of a withdrawal:

Many retreats sometimes fail because employees are not involved in the design of the withdrawal. What staff would like to see covered?. Finding a balance between business goals and what you really want employees covered. This is a 80/20 mix? A mixture 50/50?

The retreat facilitator can survey employees to assess what they would want included, and to raise their expectations of the withdrawal process and results. This can be done during staff meetings, if the teams are quite small with one-on-one discussion, or by e-mail or web based survey tool.

3. Less Is More - Ensure sufficient time:

A common mistake with the design of withdrawal is that everything tends to be thrown in. In your design work, so that all stakeholders are clear about what really needs to be covered than they wanted covered. It may be useful to categorize the subjects as possible in what is essential, it would be nice, and what I look forward to another time and forum.

Less really is more in terms of impact. Allow sufficient time during the retreat for participants to discuss issues of relevance and reflect. It 'also important to allow time for participants to create a plan of action, connecting threads retire to the workplace. If not all your arguments may join in the retreat was planned, look at adding another day to pick up or schedule another off-site during the year.

4. Choose a Facilitator Wisely

Who will facilitate your retreat? An external facilitator brings the benefits of neutrality and complete focus and dedication throughout the process of withdrawal. When looking outside facilitator choice, choose a facilitator who is committed to working with your organization for the long term, at least for the withdrawal of several processes. This will promote greater trust with your team, allowing subsequent withdrawals from a higher level. The outside facilitator will also develop a better sense of your business priorities, culture and vision with time. When using an outside facilitator again, so that sufficient time is spent on briefings, including the discussions on the expectations, the results and your past experience with withdrawals - what worked and what did not.

As business priorities may change with time, be sure to allow enough time for planning, and that the facilitator can adapt the program to the rapidly evolving needs. To ensure the success of an outside facilitator, creating an internal team planning retreat, which can serve as a liaison during the entire process, ensuring a perfect seal.

The leaders retreat inside also play an important role in the withdrawal process, and bring knowledge "insider" of what the organization is all about, the culture and priorities. If a leader uses internal withdrawn, so that they are given sufficient authority and capacity to play their role. You might also want to consider an association with an internal facilitator outside facilitator.

5. Make it regular!

To get the same "pull" you have in retirement, making regular withdrawals and not just once a year. Program half for days outside the office several times a year for office and, if possible, the entire organization. Virtual Retreats can also be used to provide mini-collection processes throughout the year, without spending extra time and money at an offsite.

6. Follow Up:

Learn how to create the link back to the top Office - Many times, the learning is left in the retracted position, and unfortunately does not transfer back to the office. During the entire withdrawal process ask yourself: what can we do to bring this learning back to the office? What we have systems in place that can be exploited to discuss the withdrawal of our learning? What systems should we create?

To strengthen the bond of learning back to the office, schedule time on the retreat to create action plans, at individual, team, department and / or company level. Action plans should identify deadlines, resource requirements, which is responsible. The action plans should be as specific as possible. Action plans must be followed up, either as part of regular team meetings, through one-on-one with executives, or by other internal systems.

To keep alive the learning, taking into account the group coaching sessions or team after retiring with small teams or individual employees. Sessions monthly or bi-monthly able to support the transfer of the back learn to the workplace.

With these six design principles in mind, your next retreat should be meaningful, engaging and sustainable, leaving your employees ask, "When are we going to do it again?".

- Potential realized .......