Regardless of your company’s size, both yearly and quarterly retreats are critical to ensure alignment, team building and productive engagement among your leadership team. Yearly retreats should be done in about two days, while quarterly retreats can fit into one day.
Retreats should be done off-site, in an environment where group interaction is feasible. There’s just something that changes when a team is removed from its usual environment, such as the city, and relocated to a cabin or a chalet, away from distractions like bars and restaurants. The goal here is to learn, work, and live together. The more rustic the location, the tighter the bond with the team will be. Retreats are more effective in recharging the group if there’s active rest that everyone can participate in together, like hiking or kayaking (can you tell I’m a West Coaster??)
Once you’ve found a place to engage on a much deeper level, the main work to be done during a retreat is prioritizing yearly or quarterly objectives. It always works best to review the Painted Picture right at the start of the first day. When everyone systematically reads the Painted Picture each quarter, the decision-making just gets a lot tighter, and more focused on highly impactful projects versus the big shiny objectives which can easily distract companies. Allowing two days also produces some serious discussion and debate around projects, and that extra time allows the group to ensure the right projects are chosen.
Get creative in picking a place for a retreat. Everyone will be more focused/recharged at a Mom and Pop cabin versus the Holiday Inn’s ‘Corporate Retreat Center’.
For more information on this topic, check out: Building a World Class Culture.
