According to the Internet, most corporate retreats suck. After all, many senior leaders aren’t even great at running effective meetings, so why would a group of us be awesome at designing and delivering what is essentially a multi-day million dollar business meeting for our peers and superiors? You’ve probably been to a few corporate retreats that left you feeling bored, frustrated, and unclear about what to do next.
But what if I told you that corporate retreats don’t have to suck?
Over the past three years I’ve been a member of a senior leadership team that has co-created annual retreats that are well-reviewed, aligned with our purpose and objectives, and blend growth and connection really well. Here are three things we’ve embedded in these experiences that should absolutely be in your next corporate retreat.
Align personal growth with OKRs
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is a goal management framework that helps organizations know where they are going (objectives) and the results that measure success along the way. Corporate retreats typically overemphasize future-focused objectives or, conversely, focus too much on personal growth. While it’s important to have a clear vision and strategy, it’s equally important to help your employees grow and develop as professionals and as people in service of the organization’s purpose and goals.
One way to achieve this alignment is by focusing on one or two specific problems to solve (which is the tractor-sales-example in this simple and effective article). Our team focused on the structure and skills required for being effective amidst complexity, especially when it comes to managing unplanned work. We also investigated and discussed our individual and collective abilities to influence others, which connected well with the first topic.
This blend of personal development with organizational focused empowered us with a few new skills and tools, such as the Waysfinder model and the SUCCESs formula, while also level-setting what needed to get done in the year ahead and how we expect to support each other to make it happen.
Lubricate social connections
Another common pitfall of corporate retreats is that they are too corporate. They neglect the human element of work. Social connections construct the fabric, glue, tissue, and other metaphors that hold a team (and an organization) together, especially in times of uncertainty and rapid change. Our relationships are the source of trust, collaboration, creativity, and innovation that, at their best, make work fun and fulfilling.
Investing in relationships looks and feels like creating opportunities for folks to interact with each other in meaningful and enjoyable ways, designing activities that foster vulnerability, empathy, and humor, and encouraging them to share their stories, passions, and quirks. From my perspective, teams are more likely to believe in the art of possibility when we believe in each other.
Some examples of activities that lubricate social connections are:
- [INSERT ORGANIZATION NAME] Things: players answer prompts about things in the organization, such as “things that were cut from this retreat’s agenda” or “things John and Rob talk about on their lunchtime walks”. The answers are usually hilarious and insightful!
- Human bingo: This classic connective game sees each person gets a bingo card with different characteristics or hobbies (e.g., speaks three languages, plays guitar, loves horror movies), and has to find someone who matches each square.\
- The gratitude jar: There is a bit of pre-work for this one. You will need a spreadsheet (or at least a list) of all participants. Each Each person shares something they are grateful for about another person or writes that person’s superpower. Someone, such as a co-facilitator of the event, separates all the comments and puts them into a bedazzled jar (my son’s grade four class printed them all on a piece of paper, which we framed because feelings). Once complete, the jars/pictures are handed out to all participants, who take time to read and reflect on the compliments and gratitude expressed by their teammates. I like this activity because it honours introverted energy as much as it does the babblers.
By lubricating social connections, you can create a sense of belonging, where everyone feels appreciated, supported, and inspired. And if none of the ideas above inspire you, my best advice is to dance together (in my experience there is always untapped rhythmic potential in the IT division…).
Embed sustainment into the experience
So what’s next?
What’s in it for me?
What am I supposed to do now?
The most common mistake that corporate retreats make is to assume that the learning and change will last beyond the event without actually designing such sustainment into the actual experience. Sustainment is the process of ensuring that the outcomes of your corporate retreat are maintained and reinforced over time. It’s not something you add on or ignore afterwards; it’s something you integrate throughout the experience.
For example, we had copies of our business plan in everyone’s workbook as well as printed on a massive poster board in the middle of the room. While this action was a tad hokey, it reminded participants what our leadership team was purposed to achieve in the year ahead (we all signed the poster board copy of the plan with our commitment to helping achieve it, too). We also wrote letters to our future selves that highlighted our aspirational contributions to delivering on our plan, which were sealed and locked in a box to be opened at the next retreat – I like the combination of these practices because they blend open and transparent commitment to our goals with deep, personalized focus on how to show up as a leader. Accountability starts with ourself, after all.
The retreat’s designers also planned to integrate on themes and outcomes from the retreat into existing experiences, such as meetings and learning programs, in order to maintain momentum. Micro- and nano-learning is already built into the senior leadership team’s meetings, so it was a natural next step to focus this learning on outcomes and goals that emerged from the retreat, such as collaborative planning and conflict resolution.
I wish you all the best in your next team or corporate retreat. By beginning with sustainment in mind and fostering strong connections that align growth with organizational objectives, your team will co-create an awesome experience for your workplace community.