7 Tips for a Successful Team Retreat
May 3, 2022
This year, organizations are starting to plan for more in-person gatherings. After two years of the pandemic and a ‘Great Resignation,’ the data is clear: businesses who do not consistently invest in team culture and the professional development of their staff are much less likely to thrive or retain talent long term.
Employees have made it abundantly clear that they want to feel appreciated by their managers, be happy at work, and advance their careers. While many are still enjoying their remote work environments, some who started their roles during the pandemic have never even met their teammates in person. People are in need of a fresh start, and asking for more opportunities to learn and connect.
Retreats and professional development events are ultimately culture building tools that allow teams to celebrate values and norms. If done well, they can provide clarity, foster collaboration, build trust, solve business problems, and impact company profitability. They even can improve employee retention.
But a poorly executed event can cause more harm than good. Aside from wasting significant time and financial resources, it can derail progress and decrease engagement down the road.
So - what can your organization do to ensure a worthwhile engagement?
The first step is making a conscious choice to consistently invest in your people and your culture, with a commitment to excellence in whatever you are doing. Leadership buy-in and active participation are essential parts of this process. Gary Vaynerchuk, chairman of VaynerX and the CEO of VaynerMedia, puts this well: “The way you maintain culture is you do it. In your actions” (Source).
More tactically, putting together an excellent retreat is an art form. It requires thoughtfulness, attention to detail, collaboration, and strategy - not to mention a fun venue with great beverages, snacks, and food (if you’re meeting in person).
The list is long, but with intentional effort, your team can achieve greatness when you gather.
Here are seven key tips to ensuring a successful event:
1 - Schedule in advance and communicate expectations
If you want to plan a fantastic event with strong attendance, it’s hard to do that one month out - plus, no one wants to see empty seats in the room. Try your best to plan your retreat as far in advance as possible (I recommend a minimum of four months, ideally more).
For an annual event, if you find a date that ends up working well for the group, consider making it a consistent day every year that people can plan for - for example: “the first Friday in March.”
Next, be clear on group expectations. Is everyone required to attend? Do people have to stay the whole day? Will there be required reading or pre-work? Get specific and communicate those expectations out to the group in writing. Share why the event is important to your organization and its goals.
And please note: your leadership team should attend the retreat and be the most engaged people in the room (this topic could be a separate article in itself).
2 - Have a really smart agenda and stay on time. Please.
Yes - there is such a thing as a “smart” agenda. And there are few things more frustrating than attending a gathering that is disorganized or doesn’t end on time. People get distracted and lose steam during the day. Having a well planned agenda shows respect for everyone and their time.
Break your agenda down into specific time intervals that build a buffer for potential obstacles and leave room for breaks. At the beginning of the day, let your group know that you will be staying on time, and that they can expect for conversations to be redirected if people get off track. During the retreat, be sure to make a note of any unaddressed topics to ensure thoughtful follow up on a later date.
3 - Identify and share group norms
Creating a healthy learning environment is important for a successful event, and sharing group norms at the beginning of your event enhances that effort.
Ideally, your norms should reflect your organization’s values and be a combination of best practices and feedback you’ve gathered ahead of time. Examples could include things like “practice active listening,” “keep a growth mindset,” “monitor your air time,” and “cell phones away.” “Have FUN” is always on my list. Always.
After sharing the norms for the day, pause to hear group reactions and feedback. Remember not everyone shares the same cultural norms, so you want to ensure the group is on the same page before you dive in. Once you gain consensus, consider displaying the norms somewhere in the room.
4 - Integrate diverse learning styles and anticipate individual needs
One of my best friends is a high school teacher and vice principal. One of the most helpful things she taught me early in her career is how she always tries to build in different learning styles and preferences into every lesson plan. For instance, some students may be visual learners, and others may be auditory learners. Some may need quiet reflection time, and others enjoy partner activities.
It’s important to attend to different learning needs throughout the day. Your session could have a combination of PowerPoints, short videos, flip charts, note cards, and games that you alternate throughout the day.
Related to learning styles, remember that not everyone is an extrovert or thrives in large groups. What feels fun and energizing for some people may be overwhelming and draining for others. An ideal retreat has a balance of presentations, large group discussions, small group discussions, and individual “quiet time” work.
Also - don’t forget to be mindful of any accessibility needs of the participants, and making accommodations ahead of time. I recommend collecting this feedback in a pre-event participant survey where people can be make individual requests or concerns.
5 - Keep the day laser focused on goals and outcomes
There are three key questions I ask any organization at the first planning call for a retreat or training:
What do you want to celebrate that day?
What challenges do you want to address or resolve?
What do you want to walk away with?
A good retreat should be outcome-driven with clear goals. Meaning - everyone in the room should be crystal clear on your “WHY” and what you want to walk away with. For instance, your “WHY” for the day could be “connection and culture building,” and your outcome could be for the team to “walk away with a draft of our core values.”
People are much more likely to participate in gatherings if they are bought into the goals ahead of time. If feasible, I recommend sending out a brief pre-event survey to all participants so you can identify group feedback themes and have their voices at the table during your planning process.
6 - Carve out sufficient time to discuss next steps with accountability measures
It’s the story we’ve all heard: you go to the retreat, everyone has a fun time and feels inspired, and then nothing happens after the retreat. Crickets. Sadness. Defeat. The next year, you debate if it’s even worth doing again.
Don’t let all of your time, energy, and momentum go to waste. Be sure to budget ample time at the end of the day to celebrate what you’ve learned and accomplished, and discuss what will happen after the event. Schedule your committee’s debriefing meeting proactively.
One time I saw a facilitator do something brilliant at the end of a nonprofit board retreat. She asked the group to brainstorm every single action item that would need to happen after the day for our organization to be successful executing our goals.
But here was the kicker: after identifying the action items, each participant had to “sign up” for one task with a deadline the group landed on. We then added “retreat follow-up” as an agenda item at the next board meeting, and during the meeting we went around the room for each person to share their progress on their commitments. Win!
7 - Hire a GREAT facilitator
The first point here is to hire an outside facilitator instead of asking someone in-house to lead the day. You can certainly enlist a group of volunteers (or a committee) to help plan the retreat and coordinate logistics, but they should not be the same people facilitating the day.
If a facilitator is an employee, board member, or a person on your leadership team, they simply cannot be objective. They also already have limited bandwidth to plan the retreat. More importantly, if they are leading the day, they cannot fully enjoy the event or be a contribution like the rest of the group.
The second point here is to hire an awesome facilitator. They should be collaborative, relational, hyper organized, fun, and have a high degree of emotional intelligence. During the day, they should have a steadfast commitment to sticking to the agenda, staying on time, delivering on your goals, and fostering an inclusive environment for all. Don’t settle for less.
. . .
Remember that great gatherings can transform culture and unite your team. They can be a huge impetus for growth and change, and can give participants the energy boost they need to feel empowered in their lives and careers. For so many organizations, this is desperately needed right now and in the future to retain good talent and achieve organizational goals.
Ready to explore your next team event? Mention this article to The Thirlby Company here and get 10 percent off your next team training or retreat!
The above article is from Margie’s Coaching Nuggets, a standing editorial in The Thirlby Company’s monthly newsletter that provides insights on life and leadership, written by our founder, Margie Thirlby. You can read past articles here, or subscribe to our newsletter to receive this feature and other inspiring content in the future.
