Successful Retreats

So, now it’s time to plan one, what are the best things to do? A paintball outing might sound like fun, but is it really a good idea for a business retreat? Is a yoga retreat inspiring for everyone? The following are some of the best ways to maximize a corporate retreat. Afterall, if whole teams are gone from the office, you’d better get the most bang for your buck out of that time.

Inviting Guests. Having a lengthy strategy session is a natural fit for a retreat so you can spend the whole time talking specifically about your business. However, if you just book a location and gather the same people that meet every day at the office, all you’re going to get is the same ideas circulated around. If you want to focus your retreat on the business, then bring in outside talent to foster new ideas, challenge old ones, and guide the session to get everyone on the same page. A good consultant or consulting team breaks down barriers, levels the playing field, and opens eyes to see with a fresh perspective.

Team Building. Not every corporate retreat has to be about the business. Sometimes a good team building retreat can really improve the leadership’s morale, and that can be infectious throughout the company. There are hundreds of opportunities for retreats or outings that are not specifically work-related. These are often engineered to help teach teams some of the things that are impossible to put on a whiteboard such as trust, teamwork, and reliance on one another to overcome obstacles.

Change Of Pace. You may want to get away from the corporate culture altogether. In this case, the options vary widely. Whether you go hiking in the mountains or horseback riding in the desert, a wilderness retreat is a great way to really distance you and your team from the office, the laptops, and the charts and graphs of daily corporate life. These are typically expensive and the most distant from work, so make sure that you have the right ties between your retreat and your office environment; if you’re spending that much money, you need to make sure that you’re getting something back for it.

Ends Justify The Means

A corporate retreat can have long-lasting benefits in terms of corporate leadership, connectedness, and providing a unified message to your employees. They can also be a big waste of money that your leadership team resents from the onset.

To be successful with a corporate retreat, choose your location carefully and consider what you are trying to accomplish by getting everyone together. Remember, the underlying objective of a retreat is change, so whether the outcome is more motivated employees or a new strategic plan, structure the event to meet this end-goal.