The department retreat. A time-honored corporate tradition that lets the employees spend a day in jeans and helps management believe they are building a stronger, more united team.
But when the trust falls are done and the flip-chart pages are strewn about the room, what have you really accomplished?
Make the most of your team retreat with these 6 tips:
1. Have a point. Don’t have a retreat just to have one. Think of at least three objectives you want to meet. At the end of the day, you want to… what? Have next year’s business plan mapped out? Energize the team to get behind the new corporate structure? Introduce the newbies to the long-timers and create more streamlined processes? Once you have your objectives, create specific group activities to accomplish them.
2. Yes, icebreakers are cheesy. But they do serve a purpose. Don’t think your team knows each other so well that they don’t need it. Or that it’s a waste of time. One of your goals, after all, should be to create a more productive and enjoyable work environment. The cheesier it is, the more easily the laughs flow. It gets them in the mood to work together. Don’t underestimate the importance of that.
3. Embrace the breakout session. As management, you don’t need to be involved in everything that happens at the retreat. Give your team the freedom to work in groups without you. Assign a task – to solve an issue, be creative, share ideas on how to make improvements – and let them go. The freedom will empower them. And the results will impress you.
4. Use an impartial facilitator. Yes, you could do it yourself, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Having a third party will bring a fresh perspective, and someone else can help wrangle in an unwieldy group that isn’t playing nicely.
5. Get out of Dodge. Do not – I repeat – do not have the retreat at your office. Get out. Go someplace fun. Just go some place. You can’t be truly free from your daily grind if you’re only 200 feet from your computer and voicemail. For that matter, consider collecting all the Crackberries at the beginning of the day and keep them in a basket out of reach, out of sight, out of mind.
6. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Too often, the fun times end. And so does the enthusiasm for whatever you accomplished. Have a plan before the retreat for how you will follow up and how you’ll keep the energy going.
If at the end of the day, you didn’t make it through the entire agenda because there was too much participation or too much easily flowing conversation – hey, that’s OK. There are worse problems to have. Just rest assured that you did make a difference. You affected your team in a positive way. They feel closer, they believe there is a plan in place for success, and that they are a part of that plan. That’s the most important thing.