Addressing today’s complex business challenges requires team collaboration and group involvement. As the old saying goes, “Two heads are better than one.” And with no end in sight with the global economic crisis, you probably need even more heads than that to survive!
At times like these, business objectives are constantly changing. What got your organization here isn’t likely to get your organization where you ultimately want to be. For this reason, business leaders must get on the same page – and stay on the same page – for your organization to reach its intended destination. Individual leaders simply won’t be able to get through these challenges alone. To move towards the future, senior leadership needs to be aligned and work together toward common business goals.
Whether you’re plotting a new strategic course for your organization or working an operational issue that must be resolved, a leadership retreat is the most effective way to do exactly that. The best thinking and decision-making happens when you include many perspectives, so it’s critical to engage others in brainstorming and problem-solving processes to create a competitive advantage.
When convening a leadership retreat, it’s great if you can get away to an offsite location and remove everyone from their everyday work environment. But if your budget doesn’t allow for that, you can just as easily use an onsite conference room too. The key is to create a safe and productive environment for much-needed discussion and group dialogue to occur. It’s also important to dedicate the right amount of time for everyone to be together. An hour-long meeting isn’t going to cut it for the types of challenges organizations face in today’s economic climate. A day might be sufficient, but leaders need ample time together so two days typically provides a stronger foundation for a leadership retreat.
At Plus Delta, we start the retreat process by identifying any specific objectives for the group event. We then customize the retreat design to meet our client’s particular needs. Just like no two people are exactly alike, no two leadership teams are exactly alike. That’s why the retreat must be designed based on the particular business requirements of the organization if it’s going to be successful. The following framework highlights the key steps in our proven approach for designing and facilitating leadership retreats:
- Requirements Gathering – Meet with senior leaders and other participants to assess current business challenges and determine any expectations for the retreat
- Retreat Design – Create the overall framework and detailed agenda for the retreat as well as secure guest speakers and confirm event logistics
- Group Facilitation – Distribute pre-work assignments and engage all retreat participants in an interactive session to discuss and address your key business issues
- Retreat Wrap-Up – Capture the group’s work, debrief the results of the retreat, and confirm very next steps along with individual accountabilities and action plans
When Plus Delta designs and facilitates leadership retreats, we deliver lasting business results that move an organization forward. One of the primary reasons for this is that the group conversations that take place during leadership retreats aren’t always easy. In fact, they often get downright messy! That’s why it’s so vital to have a skilled facilitator present to keep the retreat on track. And that’s exactly what our “Design in Real Time” approach is intended to do – follow the needs of the group in real-time and keep every retreat participant engaged in the discussion. Retreat participants need to be actively involved in designing their destiny, and it’s impossible to play both facilitator and participant roles effectively at the same time. By managing the broader group dynamics and maintaining focus on the desired outcomes for the retreat, we can more effectively create a high-impact experience.
This has never been more evident than with a couple of recent retreats we facilitated. We led multiple sessions with the Board and senior staff members of two merging not-for-profit agencies so they could define their vision for the combined organization as well as develop a go-forward strategic plan. We also facilitated a two-day offsite with the Leadership Team of a multi-national corporation and created an opportunity for these senior leaders to contribute to their organization’s annual goal-setting and action planning process – something they had not done for years! With both these clients, our ability to monitor and then quickly address the evolving needs of these leadership groups in real-time proved invaluable for creating safe environments for dialogue, actively engaging retreat participants in the discussion, and ultimately producing better results.
Can Plus Delta help your leadership team get aligned and be more productive together? To learn more about our approach to designing and facilitating high-impact leadership retreats, give us a call at +1 (310) 589-4600 or send an email to support@plusdelta.net. You can also visit the Leadership Retreats page of our website for more information.
Note: This feature was originally published and distributed in Plus Delta Consulting’s e-newsletter in May 2009.
