The Retreat Expectations Gap: What Clients ask for vs what they need
??Randall Craig
Advisor on business growth, marketing strategy, thought leadership, and digital. Author. CEO at Braintrust Professional Institute. Hall of Fame business speaker.
As a leader, when you identify a problem and propose a solution – whether it's leadership training, a retreat, or coaching – how can you be sure that there isn’t a gap between your understanding, and the underlying organizational reality? Understanding this gap can mean the difference between addressing a surface-level issue, and solving the root causes.
I see this often when asked to facilitate a retreat. The rationale for the retreat is usually clear: leadership training, team-building, or maybe to kick off (or finalize) a common task together, such as strategic planning, budgeting, etc. On the surface, this seems straightforward. But diving deeper during the prep, in individual conversations with each participant, a different picture often emerges – one that can reveal differing priorities, challenges, or opportunities. So what to do?
Here are three insights, to start:
Retreat facilitator or “gap discoverer”? Very often I’ve been asked to facilitate a retreat or other critical meeting. Here’s a secret – the quality of the facilitator’s “performance” (and therefore the impact of the retreat itself) is directly related to the work effort beforehand. Beyond what is learned about the culture and dynamics, much more can be uncovered that will impact both how the retreat is delivered, and even the agenda itself. As a “gap discover”, this is what is possible…
This Week’s Action Plan
Every organization has critical team meetings – whether they be retreats, professional development days, team planning meetings, post-mortems, etc. If you think that they can be done better, consider HOW you use your external facilitator. Before launching your next critical team meeting, consider these questions:
Your thoughts?
Contrarian views are welcome.
-Randall
[Content Authenticity Statement: 100% original content. No AI was used in creating this content.]
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Topic: Planning Your Best Yet Corporate Retreat
A corporate retreat is a huge investment in time and money for our clients, so how can we help our clients keep focus on the goals of the offsite without distraction?
Let’s talk about:
?? How to demonstrate our impact on the outcomes of the event.
?? Avoiding the biggest mistakes and challenges of planning an executive retreat.
?? How to create an environment that is conducive to team learning.
?? (And if you are considering holding a corporate retreat, what are the tough questions you should ask.)
With Dwayne Rutherford, DES , Corporate Event Planner and ??Randall Craig , Hall of Fame Business Speaker and Retreat Facilitator. Facilitated by??Ronja Francoeur Soroka.
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 12 noon ET
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