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How_to_Host_a_Fun_&_Productive_Staff_Retreat
| How to Host a Fun & Productive Staff Retreat
Holding staff retreats that are well planned & done regularly
can provide tremendous benefits to you & your team. Just a few
of these benefits include:
Team members who feel appreciated.
A great sense of team unity & commitment to the common goal.
Less conflict or more easily resolved conflicts in a neutral
setting.
The opportunity to resolve complicated issues away from the
usual daily distractions.
More effective long range planning.
Better results due to better use of your team's creative
potential.
A more skilled team that regularly works to develop a fresh
perspective on the task at hand.
So what are the keys to making a retreat work?
=>Comfort =>Interactive-ness =>Relevance
Make it comfortable 1. Plan your retreat for a site away from
the normal workplace. Your goal here is to create a learning
environment that is positive & relaxed. One that encourages
openness & a sense of warmth. If you want your staff to gain a
fresh perspective on each other -- then they need to see each
other in a new place doing new things.
2. Encourage staff to dress comfortably. Few people can truly
relax in formal business dress Plus, you will hopefully have
planned lots of fun, energizing activities that will be much
easier to do in casual dress.
3. Start the day with coffee & donuts or juice & muffins. By
providing a few goodies, you set a tone of appreciation. It
sends the message -- "this day is for you (the team) because we
appreciate all that you do & we want to help you do it even
better!"
4. Don't forget some social time. As kids we socialized with our
friends at school & as adults most of us form friendships with
our co-workers. It you want your team members to care about each
other & help each to perform well, then it's important to allow
some "social time" for everyone to re-connect with team members
they don't see frequently. The easiest way to incorporate this
into your staff retreat is to include lunch as a group. This can
be an on-site meal catered by the organization or the group can
simply go out to lunch together. If your group is large, don't
forget to make reservations ahead of time -- you don't want
lunch to take all afternoon!
Make it interactive
1. Just moving your lecture to a new location won't do it! The
key to a productive retreat is to use it as a time to really
draw out all the creativity & problems solving skills of your
team. Skills that may be getting buried in the "busyness" of
completing daily routines & paperwork. If you simply move your
lecture from the agency conference room to somewhere else --
you've accomplished nothing!
2. Fun IS important. Experts tell us that adults learn better
when they are engaged & having a good time. How do you engage
the average adult? Make it fun & interesting.
3. Get them involved! You will find far fewer complaints about
retreats being long & boring if you get folks physically
involved. Use training activities, have them move around the
room for different phases of the retreat, do role playing, take
turns recording information for the group, brainstorm on post it
note pads & have them get up & down to post their ideas.
Whatever it takes to keep your team members awake, alert, &
involved.
Make it relevant
1. Plan ahead. In order for the retreat to be productive it
needs to meet the current needs of your team. Doing this
effectively will take some planning. Don't expect to throw
together an agenda & activity materials the day before. Also as
the facilitator, your presence in the discussion will be key.
You don't want the flow of ideas to grind to a halt because you
had to run out & make copies!
2. Make an agenda. I've included a sample agenda below to help
you get started, but you should have a clear idea of exactly how
you want the day to flow. This is also a good time to identify
exactly what objectives you have for the retreat -- what issues
do you want to tackle?
3. Be prepared to get things rolling. If a current problem in
your organization is lack of communication, then come prepared
with some "real life examples". That way you can start the
conversation not with, "We need to improve our communication
skills" but with, "Last week we missed 3 consumer appointments,
because we didn't get the dates imes recorded in the logbook".
Which sentence do you think will generate more discussion? Me
too!
4. Help build to a positive conclusion. In addition to problem
examples, you will also want to think about possible solutions.
As the discussion flows make notes about key issues & possible
solutions that are thrown out by the group. Try to keep the
group focused on "process issues" & "possible solutions". The
goal of the discussion is NOT to decide who messed up, but how
do we as a team make this better. Once the key elements of the
problem are identified, ask for solutions. Don't volunteer yours
unless no one else wants to start. Most teams have a tendency to
think their ideas won't be listened to after the boss has
announced how the problem should be fixed, so they won't even
share them. Even if your intention was just to join in the group
discussion, be careful!
Sample Agenda:
1. Coffee & Donuts -- Warm Up Activity
This is the time of day when you want to focus on a sense of
appreciation & opening the lines of communication. Use simple
activities that they can do around the table while they enjoy
your morning goodies. An example might be, "For each member of
our team finish this sentence, _____ has helped me this week by
__________," or "What I appreciate most about _____ is
____________."
2. Team Building Time
I've included some team building resources with this column.
Select an activity from one of these resources or use one you
already know. Focus on activities that meet the specific needs
of your team (learning to communicate more clearly, learning to
trust each other, using active listening skills, etc.)
Frequently these are physical activities that will get people
moving, interacting, and talking. Don't be afraid of a little
noise or a little chaos at this point if it feels creative &
productive.
3. Produce something visual
The more is all about building positive feelings of appreciation
& contributions. However, many team members may walk away from
such a morning feeling like they didn't accomplish anything. So
this last section is for them! Pick a project/activity that will
produce a visible product. At your first retreat an excellent
project would be to create a group mission statement. Once
you've met a few times you may want to create a team Wall of
Wonder. A mission statement is a 10-word phrase or sentence that
captures what your team is all about & what your purpose is. A
wall of wonder is created by listing all of the team
accomplishments over a period of time (3 months, 6 months, 1
year) on a large poster which can then be displayed.
4. Have a fun & social lunch!
5. Brainstorming Session
By now everyone should be relaxed & loose. Ready to focus on
more creative endeavors such as problem solving & goal setting.
During this first session, select one problem that your team is
currently facing. If you're not sure what's causing the problem
then start there, but try to keep moving so that you not only
identify the problem in your process, but also come up with
solutions & assign responsibility for implementing your
solution. When you get to implementation -- use volunteers
whenever possible, but be sure to spread tasks out over as many
team members as you can. That way everyone has a sense of
contributing to the solution.
6. Skill Building
If you have new information or skills that you want to teach
your team, this is an excellent time to do it. There are few
distractions & you can build in however long you feel the
training needs to be successful. Just make sure that you find
ways to make your training interactive or you will quickly lose
the energy & creativity you've spent the day building.
7. Planning & goal setting
As the day winds down, this is a good time to talk about where
you'd like to be in a year or 5 years as a team or an agency.
Try to get your team members to provide details as they talk.
The more details you can coax out of them, the clearer everyone
will "see" this vision. Then identify 1 or 2 things that you as
a team or as individuals can do NOW that will move you closer to
that vision.
8. Put closure on the day
End the day with a short & sweet activity. Everyone's brain will
be tired by now & often they will be tired of sitting. You want
them to leave laughing & smiling. Pick an activity that is
uncomplicated, engaging, & humorous. An easy physical activity
may be just the ticket.
9. Something to remember you by
Dismiss the team, with a small momento of the day. A simple idea
is just to make postcards with inspiring words on the front &
their assignments from the afternoon work sessions on the back.
10. Don't forget to have fun!
If you have done your planning well, then you should be able to
relax & enjoy the retreat along with your staff. It's important
for them to get a fresh perspective on you as well as each
other. This is a great time to let them know that you are
accessible, eager to hear their ideas, & appreciate their
efforts. You may be surprised to learn that they appreciate
yours as well!
Copyright 2001, Lisa Simmons
About the author:
Lisa is the director of the Ideal Lives Project, providing
practical support for special needs families & professionals.
Visit on-line at http://www.ideallives.com or subscribe to her
free newsletter at mailto:ideallives-subscribe@topica.com
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