Designing & Leading Offsites
Don’t be afraid to take a big step when one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.
-David Lloyd George
Retreats Workshop: Designing and Leading Offsites
Have you ever had to plan an offsite retreat and wondered, “Where do I start?” Have you ever convened a retreat and watched stunned as it careened of in unforeseen directions? Are you planning to convene a retreat or design and facilitate one? This workshop is for you.
Conveners and the facilitators will benefit from the comprehensive approach beginning with the basic question, “Should we have a retreat?” to the more detailed issues such as which exercises the participants should be engaged in to meet the offsite’s objectives.
Designed for consultants, professional facilitators, and human resources managers, this two-day workshop covers everything needed to plan, design, and implement a successful retreat (or offsite). The workshop can accommodate 25 people.
Workshop Content
Session One (First Day)
We begin the workshop by looking at six strategic concerns:
• Do you genuinely need to have a retreat? What are the nine reasons to hold a retreat? The ten reasons to not hold a retreat?
• What are retreat objectives? Are they realistic?
• What are the goals? How do you define them? Do they make sense given the schedule?
• How do you decide who should attend?
• Who should facilitate the retreat?
• What retreat format should you use?
What are the primary logistical questions and how do you handle them:
• How do you select a site?
• How do you decide on the appropriate retreat setting?
• How will participants be grouped and what seating arrangements
• should be predetermined?
• How do you create and sustain a positive environment?
• What’s the best use of the “out of session” time?
• How to handle the food and accommodations arrangements?
Session Two (Second Day)
• We learn to define and manage expectations among the various constituencies who are involved in the retreat. We learn how to establish a mutually beneficial relationship between the facilitator and the convener.
• We also will teach you how to avoid the “Sins of Omission.” These are most common mistakes people make in planning retreats. They relate to maintaining clear communications with the convener, responding to the unexpected, preparing the participants beforehand, including variety in the program activities, accommodating spontaneous changes, and other issues.
• The architecture of an offsite is more than the content segments – the design must move the participants steadily toward their goals. We show you how to develop an hour-by-hour plan, but – since no retreat flows exactly as scheduled – we also explore ways to build flexibility into your design.
• Next, the role of the facilitator in leading the retreat is carefully examined. It takes skill and practice to create a safe working environment, keep the group focused, constantly scan for what’s happening in the room, and sense when to push for decisions and when to hold back. We explore the facilitator’s role and discuss how to work with co-facilitators and provide an exercise manual for the facilitator’s use.
• In addition, the Retreats Workshop also covers helping participants make decisions and plan for action, recovering when something goes wrong, choosing retreat exercises, and closing the retreat and ensuring the retreat plan gets implemented.
For more information on retreats, visit the book’s website. Retreats That Work was co-authored by Sheila Campbell of Wild Blue Yonder and Merianne Liteman. Retreats That Work is currently the leading work on planning and conducting successful offsite meetings.
