On Friday, Lindsay and I are taking a half-day off from our normal work and hunkering down at Grindspaces for our annual planning retreat. While I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions, I am a fan of pausing in December to reflect on the year that has passed and set goals for the year ahead. I’ve done a couple of retreats like this in the past, both independently and with others, and have picked up a few tips for making them both fun and productive. If you’re able to find time to squeeze in your own half-day retreat, here are some ideas to try.
Establish a Purpose
Don’t host a planning retreat just for the sake of it. Define a singular driving purpose for your time, and then make sure everything you plan to work on is in alignment with that purpose. For example, Lindsay and I have established that the purpose for our retreat is figuring out how we’ll reach a certain revenue goal in 2015 while maintaining our culture, our quality and our focus on the types of clients we want to work with.
Set a Loose Agenda
An agenda might feel odd for a planning retreat, which most view as a time for creative, outside-the-box thinking, but trust me: if you’re hosting your planning retreat last-minute like we are, you won’t have time to fall off-task. An agenda can help you stay focused and productive. Just make sure that it’s not too rigid or limiting. You still need to leave time for your creative juices to flow.
Get Out Of The Office
It’s unlikely that you’ll do your best big-picture thinking in the same place that you do your routine day-to-day work. Pick another location for your retreat so that the team has a chance of pace. A local coffee shop could work just as well as a fancy meeting space, depending on your needs. Next year, Lindsay and I fully intend to spend a few days at a tropical destination for our retreat.
Set the Rule That There Are No Rules
A planning retreat is a time to bring all ideas to the table, regardless of their feasibility or practicality. Set the rule upfront that your planning retreat has no rules. Participants should be comfortable to bring up any idea they’d like, no matter how crazy it may seem. This is how many of the most influential initiatives get hatched.
Reflect and Release
With limited time for your retreat, it might be tempting to jump headfirst into discussing your goals for 2015, but slow down. Your retreat will be a much more positive and rewarding experience if you first take time to reflect back on 2014. Did you set goals at the beginning of the year that you’ve now met or exceeded? Be sure to recognize that accomplishment. Did your firm add significant business or grow its staff in 2014? Celebrate how you’ve grown. It’s easy to forget how far our companies can come in the span of a year unless we deliberately pause to acknowledge it.
Focus, Focus, Focus
In order to make your retreat a productive endeavor, it’s important to keep your focus limited to a few key items. Don’t overwhelm your retreat team with too many things to cover off on. For example, Lindsay and I will be focused on the following items only:
- Growth
- Talent
- Account management
Nothing more, nothing less.
Have Fun and Take Breaks
A retreat should not be all work and no play. Make sure you take breaks between sessions. Snacks, physical activity and brain teasers are all great ways to keep your mind sharp through the whole retreat.
Set Clear Action Items KPIs and Measurement Plans
One of the biggest downfalls that organizations face is turning all the talk and pie-in-the-sky plans they cover in their retreats into real action in the New Year. Don’t let this happen to you. Reserve at least the last hour of your retreat to set action items for your team, key performance indicators through which you’ll determine whether your goals are being accomplished and measurement plans to keep everyone on track.
If you’re jumping into your own planning retreat, we’d love to hear about it. Leave your best tips and insights in the comments!
