Leadership Team Retreats: Why & How?
Leadership team offsite retreats present a wonderful opportunity for top executives and board members to shift gears away from the office, and refocus their energies on ‘big picture’ goals. In an era of high speed technological change and innovation, it is important for companies to seize the opportunity of a corporate retreat to get your team thinking about where the future of your company is heading. Use these tips to get the most value out of your next corporate retreat:
Planning: Think Outside of the Box
Having time away from the office in a new setting can encourage new perspectives. Try to design the new setting in a creative and innovative manner; this way you enable your team to develop an original perspective and contribute with fresh ideas to the brainstorming process of your business strategy.
Content: Stay on Top of Trends
Offsite retreats should always include content that explores new business opportunities and offers the opportunity to take risks. The only way to stay on top of trends is to predict them before they happen. How do you do this? You reflect, assess, and communicate trends all around you in culture, industry, technology and business. Get your team members to each create a list that will be shared with one another. Whichever trends pop up the most may be a sign of something to come. This type of exercise is important in order to keep your company relevant, and in touch with market demands. Offsite retreats can also test the team in ‘stretch scenaria’, taking each member out of his/her comfort zone; this would help simulate crisis situations in a safe testing environment.
Reflect: Get Independent Facilitators
Having your team all together is the perfect time to look back at your collective year, and see what you did right, what you did wrong, and how you are going to improve. Do this self-assessment through the support of an independent workshop facilitator, to increase effectiveness and impact. A third party will always help an objective re-evaluation process; he/she will also help eliminate any internal conflict dynamics among team members.
Leadership teams are by far the ‘heart’ of any business. If they are exceptional the business becomes exceptional. Spending these few days once a year, to nurture your team performance and help your managers develop and reach their top potential, can make a huge difference to the future of your company. Ultimately, the end-goal of any offsite retreat is getting your business and your team to achieve new levels.