The emotional involvement, lowered social barriers, stimulating interaction and unpredictable outcomes that are characteristic of retreats can produce quantum leaps in corporate change and productivity.

By Mark Fulton
Having trouble identifying or focusing on future business goals? Are your key people jumping ship? Has the creativity that drives innovation dried up? Do you need to change your organization’s culture or improve relationships? If you answered “yes” to one of more of those questions, a business retreat may be the right setting for responding to the challenges your company is facing.

The word “retreat” literally means “to draw back.” A business retreat typically is a day-long or longer gathering of employees that is conducted offsite in a casual setting, where specific issues or ideas are addressed. A retreat often combines a variety of large and small group activities and down-time for social interaction. By giving employees an opportunity to “draw back” from the workplace, a retreat provides a unique environment that facilitates open discussions, focused thinking, creative synergy, strategic planning and other valuable behaviors.

While retreats may be perceived as fun times away from the office, they should not be undertaken lightly. Poorly planned and executed retreats can create more problems than they solve. The emotional involvement, lowered social barriers, stimulating interaction and unpredictable outcomes that are characteristic of retreats can produce quantum leaps in corporate change and productivity. They can also precipitate strained relationships, resentment, distrust and other negative outcomes when they don’t go well.

There are many good reasons to incur the cost and take the risks of holding a retreat.

To explore critical concerns – Has staff morale been low and turnover high? Have your customers been buying less and complaining more? A retreat can provide a perfect forum for examining fundamental business conditions and creating solutions to problems.

To initiate change – One of the great challenges of fostering change in a company is managing the new processes, expectations and fears that change creates. A retreat can be an effective laboratory for designing and planning how a change will be implemented.

To transform attitudes and behavior – Perhaps more than any other factor, employee attitudes can enhance or diminish the progress of your business. A retreat may be the best venue for openly and frankly addressing the impact of attitudes, identifying employee concerns, clearing up misunderstandings and forging stronger relationships.

To spark creativity – When ideas for new products, services or work processes become scarce, it may be time to plan a retreat. Free from the structure of the workplace and the demands of everyday assignments, employees can unleash their creativity through a variety of brainstorming activities. Unencumbered imagination can lead to unexpected innovations.

To make difficult decisions – Corporate leaders often face tough decisions. Sooner or later you may have to decide whether or not to discontinue a core product or service, close a location, downsize staff or alter a business relationship. A retreat can enable you to harness the power of the best minds in your organization, while empowering them through participation in a critical company turning point.

Following a few fundamental principles when designing your retreat will greatly increase the likelihood of its success.

Work toward actions that will produce change – Having a retreat just to reward employees, promote your ideas or keep up the tradition of having annual retreats won’t result in much, if any, real progress. The purpose of the retreat should be clear. The intended outcome should be an action plan that will make things different.

Involve some participants in the planning – Pre-retreat meetings and individual interviews will give participants a sense of engagement and will encourage them to feel invested in the retreat’s outcome. Without involvement in the planning, participants may feel as though they are simply attending a show with a predetermined outcome.

Relate retreat content to the day-to-day work of the organization – Nothing will kill employee enthusiasm at a retreat faster than engaging in activities that have no relevance their work. Rather than play silly games and convene pointless encounter groups, provide stimulating experiences for testing new ideas and trying out new approaches.

Retreats come in all shapes and sizes. The nature of the retreat is determined by its participants and its intended outcomes.

Executive retreat – The top management of a company may get together to chart strategic direction, build teamwork, track progress toward goals, establish new priorities or make key decisions.

Single department retreat – Some events that serve as good reasons for a department retreat are: a change in department leadership; mandated departmental performance improvements; organizational change and year-end planning.

Customer or vendor retreats – Pulling customers or vendors together in a retreat can strengthen relationships and produce valuable insights that lead to better service.

Although the planning time and financial investment required for a retreat may be considerable, the potential for producing valuable outcomes is high. If your business has wandered off course or become mired in the status quo, the best way to advance may be to retreat.

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