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Key Takeaways Clearly define the objectives of your leadership retreat to ensure it addresses key business challenges and doesn’t waste valuable resources.
Replace typical icebreakers with purpose-driven team-building exercises and avoid forced participation for more genuine engagement.
Hire an external facilitator early in the planning process to design meaningful experiences and maintain post-retreat momentum for lasting change.
Leadership retreats can be really hit or miss. Some are engaging and transformative, while others are incredibly boring. What exactly sets apart the ones where participants say, “Wow, we need to have these more often!” from those where participants are scrolling through their email, feeling pulled away from “real work?”
While well-intended, there are subtle yet significant differences between mediocre retreats and those that truly deliver. Over the last decade-plus, I’ve designed and facilitated hundreds of retreats and training programs. I also completed a doctorate in adult education, which, in simple terms, is the study of how adults learn and retain information. The following steps will help you minimize yawns and ensure your leaders leave feeling as if they spent their time well.
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Clarify your off-site goals early
Start by identifying the goals for your retreat early on. Truthfully, you need to clarify the purpose before you even decide to have an event. You shouldn’t plan a retreat and then determine the purpose unless your organization has time and money to waste, which is unlikely in this economy. Your retreat should be aimed at solving a key business problem.
Here are just a few examples of high-level retreat goals from previous programs I’ve facilitated:
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