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Merianne Liteman

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Beschreibung

Based on the best-selling first edition, this greatly expanded andupdated version contains forty-seven new activities, moreinformation about how to design and lead retreats, and additionalsuggestions for how to recover when things go wrong. A CD-ROMallows you to print out chapters for distribution to key leaders,duplicate templates, and produce handouts for specific exercises. Whether you're planning to lead an offsite retreat for the firsttime or the ninety-ninth time, this easy-to-use, one-stop resourceprovides: * Step-by-step instructions for leading a wide variety of testedexercises. * Insight into establishing effective working relationships withclients. * Information on what to include in your retreat designs. * Suggestions for encouraging participants to speak up and playan active role. * Tools for managing conflict. * Guidance on making decisions during a retreat and changingcourse when necessary. * Strategies for developing and implementing action plans. * Tips for follow-up so you can keep the change train ontrack. Order your copy of this practical guide today!

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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

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Contents

Title

Copyright

CD Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Section One: Materials for the Facilitator

Chapter 1: Working with the Client

Nine Reasons to Hold a Retreat

Ten Reasons Not to Hold a Retreat

What If the Client Is Your Boss?

Aligning Yourself with the Client

Kinds of Retreats

Using a Specialized Retreat Format

Chapter 2: Planning the Retreat

Pre-Retreat Interviews with Participants

Identifying the Scope of Issues and Creating the Retreat Plan

Who’s Who in Planning a Retreat

Involving Participants in Retreat Planning

Deciding Whether to Work with a Co-Facilitator

Thinking About Logistics

Creating the Conditions for Success

Chapter 3: Retreat Design Issues

Sins of Omission: The Top Retreat Design Mistakes

Prework for Retreat Participants

Using White Space

Capturing the Work Product

Design Issues for a Series of Retreats

Chapter 4: Retreat Design Components

Introduction

Ground Rules or Norms

Individual Check-In

Reporting Your Findings

Content Segments

Decision Making

Action Planning

Closing

Post-Retreat Follow-Up

The Importance of Timing

Chapter 5: Structuring the Retreat

Group Size and Composition

Varying the Methodologies

Incorporating Rituals

Chapter 6: Leading the Retreat

Key Facilitation Practices

Encouraging Participation

Process or Content Facilitator?

When Should the Facilitator Intervene?

Giving Feedback to Retreat Participants

Co-Facilitation Challenges

Diversity Issues

Recording the Group’s Work

Monitoring the Group’s Energy

Changing the Plan

Chapter 7: How to Recover When Things Go Awry

A Few Participants Dominate the Discussions

The Group Keeps Wandering off Task

The Group’s Energy Is Flagging

A Participant Keeps Plowing the Same Ground

A Participant Repeatedly Disrupts the Conversations

The Participants Refuse to Deal with Important Issues

A Senior Manager Violates the Ground Rules

People Are Misusing Humor

A Participant Is Overtly Hostile or Refuses to Participate

“I’m Outta Here!”: A Participant Walks Out

A Participant Gets Furious or Defensive or Bursts into Tears

Participants Are Turning the Retreat into a Gripe Session

Participants Are Resisting New Ideas

Gains and Losses

An Intense Conflict Breaks Out

A Participant Breaches Another’s Confidence

The Group Is Resisting You

Chapter 8: Helping Participants Make Decisions and Plan for Action

Methods of Decision Making

Let’s Take Our Chances

Types of Retreat Decisions

Our Stable of Clients or Resources

Rating Resources

Criteria Evaluation Grid

Show Me Our Future

The Nub: Action Planning

Chapter 9: Leading a Strategic Planning Retreat

Why Strategic Planning?

Elements of Organization Strategy

Exploring Strategic Direction

Prioritizing Constituencies

Distinctive Competencies

Our “Proverbial” Differentiation

Sell Me Glamour

Centers of Excellence

Discerning the Organization’s Values

Values Vignettes

Values Auction

Understanding the Environment

Glimpses into the Future

Alternative Futures

Evaluating Work Processes

Planning for Action

Targeting Results

Checking Against Resources

Resource/Impact Matrix

Devising Strategies

Testing Strategies

Obstacle Busters I

Writing the Plan

Chapter 10: Leading a Culture Change Retreat

Great Expectations: What Can Realistically Be Accomplished at a Retreat

Visit Our Village

How We Behave

Timeline of Our History

Significant Stories

Working with Sensitive or Controversial Issues

Silent Dialogue

Reward Structures Help Shape Culture

What Gets Rewarded Here?

Reward Sonatas

How Individuals Foster Culture Change

We’ll Keep . . .

Recognizing and Removing Obstacles to Change

Obstacle Busters II

Feedback for Senior Executives

Chapter 11: Leading a Team-Building Retreat

If You’re Asked to Lead a Team-Building Retreat

Characteristics of a Productive Team

Are We Dropping the Ball?

Purpose and Goals

Purpose Check

“Purposeful” Poetry

Wouldn’t It Be Great If . . . ?

Exploring How Things Are and How Participants Would Like Them to Be

Vehicle for Change I

Ask the Genie

Clarifying Individuals’ Roles and Responsibilities

Picturing Our Roles

This Could Be Me

Improving Work Processes

Strengthening Communication

How We Communicate

Exploring the Importance of Feedback

Speed Feedback Rounds

How Do I Contribute?

Probing for Sources of Conflict

How Conflict Affects Us

Taking Responsibility

My Conflict Triggers

Exploring How Individuals Can Change Their Own Behaviors

Star Performers

Collaborative Decision Making

Incident at Coyote Canyon

Chapter 12: Leading a Creativity and Innovation Retreat

Preparing Participants to Think Creatively

Creative Limbering

How Would I Use It?

Generating Wacky Ideas

Wide-Open Thinking

Really Bad Ideas

Villains in Charge

It’s Music to My Ears

Headline Buzz

Minimizing Groupthink

Impressions

Reporters from Planet Arimira

Cultivating the Creativity Habit

Isolated Words

Multiple Perspectives

Expert Opinion

Letting Go of Judgment

Gibberish Press Conference

Considering Risk

Evaluating Ideas

Put on Your Thinking Cap

Payoffs and Capabilities

Chapter 13: Specialized Retreats

The Board Retreat

Bottom-Line Matrix

The Peers-Only Retreat

I Want Those Resources!

What “Blocks” Cooperation

Trust Me

Conflicting Interests

Metaphorical Management

It’s Important

Abandonment Retreats

Chapter 14: Closing the Retreat and Working on Implementation

Summing Up and Preparing to Follow Through

The Messy Room

Top Priorities

Closing Thoughts

Letter to Myself

Appreciation

What I See for Me . . .

Vehicle for Change II

Expectations and Outcomes

The Road We’ve Traveled

I’m Committing . . .

Collective Quilt

You Can Count on Me

Change Conga

Obstacle Busters III

Writing the Follow-Up Report

What’s Your Role After the Retreat?

What’s Next for You?

Section Two: Materials for the Client

Chapter 15: Working with the Facilitator to Plan the Retreat

Last Things First: What Do You Want to Be Different?

Your Role and the Facilitator’s Role

Whom Should You Invite?

Retreat Logistics

Chapter 16: Your Role at the Retreat

Reaching an Understanding About Participants’ Authority

Leadership Behavior During the Retreat

A Common Post-Retreat Concern

Chapter 17: Keeping the Work of the Retreat Alive

Announcing the Retreat Outcomes

Translating Decisions into Action

Avoiding Post-Retreat Letdown

The Role of Senior Management

Changing Cynicism to Support

Making the Plan Stick

Look Ahead, Plan Ahead

Chapter 18: Activities Indexes

Activities Index

Activities to Use in Any Retreat

Activities for Culture Change, Team-Building, and Board Retreats

Activities for Building Cooperation and Dealing with Sensitive Issues

Activities for Idea Generation

Activities for Making Decisions, Planning, and Evaluating Ideas

Afterword

Appendix

Recommended Resources

References

Index

About the Authors

How to Use the CD-ROM

Download CD/DVD content

About This Book

Why is this topic important?

Corporations, nonprofit groups, government agencies, and international organizations conduct countless thousands of retreats every year, requiring a significant investment of time and money, for executives, staff members, and board members.

Many participants are dissatisfied with the results because the retreats don’t work. That is, the outcomes don’t lead often enough to positive, sustainable change.

But retreats can work, and many do, when carefully tailored to fit the organization, designed to meet its needs, and skillfully facilitated. This book can help executives and internal and external facilitators ensure that their retreats will work.

Retreats are not the same as meetings. Because retreats are relatively long, delve deeply into key issues, and are fluid in structure, they require much more expertise in design and skill and nuance in facilitation than the typical meeting or conference.

And because they are costly in terms of facilities, professional facilitation fees, and staff time, they must represent a solid business investment.

Many retreats are facilitated by outside consultants, but it’s also common for organizations to have managers or other staff members lead retreats. Many people who facilitate retreats infrequently may lack the experience, the confidence, or the skills needed to create the climate of trust and to deal effectively with the unexpected that are essential for a retreat’s success.

Many readers of the first edition of our book told us that they found it of great help to them in designing and leading successful retreats. We received many requests from colleagues and from students in our facilitation institutes to write a follow-up volume that would contain even more guidance and exercises they could use to accomplish their goals.

This new and greatly expanded edition is our answer to those requests. It spells out in greater detail than the earlier volume how to plan and lead a retreat that gets results, from its inception through follow-up back in the workplace, and provides more than twice the number of exercises. Moreover, it contains a CD with support materials that facilitators can print out, including templates for the exercises and guidance for executives.

What can you achieve with this book?

Retreats That Work: Everything You Need to Know About Planning and Leading Great Offsites, Expanded Edition, with CD, gives you, the retreat planner, every tool you need to design and lead successful offsite retreats. This book contains eighty-one creative retreat exercises, hundreds of tips to avoid pitfalls in your retreat design and facilitation, and advanced facilitation techniques to help ensure a successful outcome.

You will learn

How to plan a retreat that leads to positive change

The eleven “Sins of Omission”—the biggest mistakes retreat planners and facilitators commonly make (and how to avoid them)

How to keep participants energized and on task

What you can do to correct course if things go wrong, even horribly wrong, at the retreat

How to use tested exercises in a variety of retreat formats

How is this book organized?

Section One includes information and materials for the retreat designer and facilitator on such subjects as how to negotiate a successful relationship with your client (and when to advise him or her not to hold a retreat), how to plan and facilitate a retreat (including what to do when things go wrong), and how to incorporate innovative exercises into retreats for specific purposes such as strategic planning or team building.

Section Two contains advice for your client (which is reproducible from the CD) on how to partner successfully with the facilitator; how to determine the retreat’s goals; the logistical details he or she must attend to; and his or her role before, during, and after the retreat to help ensure its success.

In addition to the guidance you can print out for your client, the CD contains templates, handouts, checklists, and other materials you can reproduce for retreat participants.

About Pfeiffer

Pfeiffer serves the professional development and hands-on resource needs of training and human resource practitioners and gives them products to do their jobs better. We deliver proven ideas and solutions from experts in HR development and HR management, and we offer effective and customizable tools to improve workplace performance. From novice to seasoned professional, Pfeiffer is the source you can trust to make yourself and your organization more successful.

Essential Knowledge

Pfeiffer produces insightful, practical, and comprehensive materials on topics that matter the most to training and HR professionals. Our Essential Knowledge resources translate the expertise of seasoned professionals into practical, how-to guidance on critical workplace issues and problems. These resources are supported by case studies, worksheets, and job aids and are frequently supplemented with CD-ROMs, websites, and other means of making the content easier to read, understand, and use.

Essential Tools

Pfeiffer’s Essential Tools resources save time and expense by offering proven, ready-to-use materials—including exercises, activities, games, instruments, and assessments—for use during a training or team-learning event. These resources are frequently offered in looseleaf or CD-ROM format to facilitate copying and customization of the material.

Pfeiffer also recognizes the remarkable power of new technologies in expanding the reach and effectiveness of training. While e-hype has often created whizbang solutions in search of a problem, we are dedicated to bringing convenience and enhancements to proven training solutions. All our e-tools comply with rigorous functionality standards. The most appropriate technology wrapped around essential content yields the perfect solution for today’s on-the-go trainers and human resource professionals.

Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Published by Pfeiffer

An Imprint of Wiley.

989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741

www.pfeiffer.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

The materials on the accompanying CD-ROM are designed for use in a group setting and may be customized and reproduced for educational/training purposes. The reproducible pages are designated by the appearance of the following copyright notice at the foot of each page:

Retreats That Work, Expanded Edition. Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com

This free permission is restricted to limited customization of the CD-ROM materials for your organization and the paper reproduction of the materials for educational/training events. It does not allow for systematic or large-scale reproduction, distribution (more than 100 copies per page, per year), transmission, electronic reproduction or inclusion in any publications offered for sale or used for commercial purposes—none of which may be done without prior written permission of the Publisher.

Readers should be aware that Internet websites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

For additional copies/bulk purchases of this book in the U.S. please contact 800-274-4434.

Pfeiffer books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Pfeiffer directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-274-4434, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3985, fax 317-572-4002, or visit www.pfeiffer.com.

Pfeiffer also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Liteman, Merianne.

Retreats that work : everything you need to know about planning and leading great offsites / Merianne Liteman, Sheila Campbell, and Jeffrey Liteman. — Expanded ed.

p. cm.

Prev. ed. entered under Campbell.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7879-8275-1 (pbk.)

ISBN-10: 0-7879-8275-X (pbk.)

1. Management retreats—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Campbell, Sheila. II. Liteman, Jeffrey. III. Campbell, Sheila. Retreats that work. IV. Title.

HD30.4.C355 2006

658.4’56—dc22

2006011519

Acquiring Editor: Matthew Davis

Director of Development: Kathleen Dolan Davies

Production Editor: Nina Kreiden

Editor: Elspeth MacHattie

Manufacturing Supervisor: Becky Carreño

Editorial Assistant: Leota Higgins

Illustrations: Arlyne Glickman

CD Contents

Chapter 7 How to Recover When Things Go Awry
Gains and Losses: Gains and Losses Diagram
Chapter 8 Helping Participants Make Decisions and Plan for Action
Criteria Evaluation Grid: Criteria Evaluation Grid
Chapter 9 Leading a Strategic Planning Retreat
Our “Proverbial” Differentiation: Proverbs
Values Auction: Values
Values Auction: Values Certificate
Values Auction: Values Reflection
Glimpses into the Future: Glimpses into the Future Assignment
Alternative Futures: Alternative Futures Assignment
Selection Grid for Prioritizing Programs
Questions for Analyzing Program Recommendations
Program/Activity/Process Observation Tool
Chapter 10 Leading a Culture Change Retreat
Visit Our Village: Anthropologists’ Questions
How We Behave: How We Behave Questions
Chapter 11 Leading a Team-Building Retreat
Are We Dropping the Ball? Characteristics of a Productive Team
“Purposeful” Poetry: Limerick Instructions
Picturing Our Roles: Team Roles Crest
This Could Be Me: This Could Be Me Reflection
How We Communicate: How We Communicate Reflection
Speed Feedback Rounds: Guidelines for Receiving Feedback
Speed Feedback Rounds: My Feedback
Speed Feedback Rounds: Responses to My Feedback
How Do I Contribute?: Behavior Labels
How Do I Contribute?: Team Member Behavior Grid
How Do I Contribute?: Task and Process Behaviors
How Conflict Affects Us: Questions on Conflict
My Conflict Triggers: Conflict Cycle
My Conflict Triggers: My Conflict Triggers Reflection
Star Performers: Star Template
Incident at Coyote Canyon: Incident at Coyote Canyon Scenario
Incident at Coyote Canyon: Anthropologist’s Notes
Chapter 12 Leading a Creativity and Innovation Retreat
Creative Limbering: Limbering Free Associations
Creative Limbering: Limbering Stream Words and Phrases
Chapter 13 Specialized Retreats
I Want Those Resources!: Budget-Cutting Priorities
I Want Those Resources!: Observer’s Comments
I Want Those Resources!: Budget-Cutting Instructions
I Want Those Resources!: Budget-Cutting Key Facts
What “Blocks” Cooperation: Department A
What “Blocks” Cooperation: Department B
What “Blocks” Cooperation: Department C
What “Blocks” Cooperation: Memo from the Office of the CEO
What “Blocks” Cooperation: Observer Guidelines
What “Blocks” Cooperation: Memo from the Office of the CEO—Update
What “Blocks” Cooperation: Memo from the Department A Manager
What “Blocks” Cooperation: Team Process Review
Trust Me: Descriptions of Emotional Intelligence Competencies
Trust Me: Sample Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment
Conflicting Interests: Vacation Scenarios
Conflicting Interests: Observer’s Notes
Chapter 14 Closing the Retreat and Working on Implementation
Expectations and Outcomes: My Expectations
Chapter 15 Working with the Facilitator to Plan the Retreat
Last Things First: What Do You Want to Be Different?
Your Role and the Facilitator’s Role
Whom Should You Invite?
Retreat Logistics
Chapter 16 Your Role at the Retreat
Reaching an Understanding About Participants’ Authority
Leadership Behavior During the Retreat
A Common Post-Retreat Concern
Chapter 17 Keeping the Work of the Retreat Alive
Announcing the Retreat Outcomes
Translating Decisions into Action
Avoiding Post-Retreat Letdown
The Role of Senior Management
Changing Cynicism to Support
Making the Plan Stick
Look Ahead, Plan Ahead
Chapter 18 Activities Indexes
Activities Index
Activities to Use in Any Retreat
Activities for Culture Change, Team-Building, and Board Retreats
Activities for Building Cooperation and Dealing with Sensitive Issues
Activities for Idea Generation
Activities for Making Decisions, Planning, and Evaluating Ideas
Appendix
Is a Retreat Right for Your Organization?
Overall Retreat Logistics
Assessing Facilitators
Finding the Right Retreat Site
Partnering Effectively with Your Client
Setting the Conditions for Design Success
Matching the Retreat Design with Your Client’s Expectations
Structuring the Interview Questions
The Facilitator’s Toolkit
Inspecting the Meeting Room

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the care and support of our families, friends, and colleagues. In particular, we would like to thank

Our families and friends, whose love and encouragement sustained us throughout the challenging process of writing and editing this book.

Our wonderful team at Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, including Matthew Davis, senior acquisitions editor, for his enthusiastic and deep commitment to this book; Kathleen Dolan Davies, director of development; Susan Rachmeler, senior development editor, and Samya Sattar, developmental editor, who were so helpful in the organization of this book; and Nina Kreiden, production editor, who was a joy to collaborate with and a master of flexibility reconciling our crazy work schedules with the demands of getting this book out on time; as well as Elspeth MacHattie, copyeditor extraordinaire, who helped us ensure that we were as clear and consistent as possible.

Arlyne Glickman, who created most of the graphics for this edition.

Our clients, who invite us into their organizations and openly share their issues and insights. They challenge us, stretch us, inspire us, and teach us.

The students in our retreat facilitation institutes, who have helped us refine our thinking about retreats with their stimulating questions and thorny dilemmas.

The Center for Creative Leadership’s Leading Creatively program and Airlie conferences, which nourish our creative spirits and keep us learning.

Our classmates and professors in American University’s AU/NTL and Georgetown University’s OD programs, who years ago gave us labs in which to try out many of our ideas.

One another, for making co-facilitating, co-teaching, and partnering on writing this book such a joy.

Merianne, Sheila, and Jeff

Introduction

This book is for anyone who has to plan or lead an offsite retreat, whether for the first time or the umpteenth time.

This book is for anyone who wonders, “Where do I start?” It’s for anyone who is concerned about keeping the discussion focused. It’s for anyone who has ever facilitated a retreat and watched, stunned, as it careened off in unforeseen directions and who wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again (or at least know what to do if it does).

And it’s for anyone—facilitator, planner, convener, or participant—who wants to ensure that the next retreat he or she takes part in is a success, a worthwhile investment of everyone’s time and energy.

Why We Wrote This Book

This book is a guide, a resource, a reference, a collection of stories and cautionary tales. It contains scores of exercises and activities—indexed and annotated by title, purpose, and type of retreat at which they work best—to make them easy to find and use.

The enclosed CD-ROM allows users to print out certain chapters in their entirety to give to their clients (or bosses) and to duplicate templates and handouts for specific exercises.

The Table of Contents provides detailed information about what is found in each chapter.

We also use three icons in the text to identify certain helpful materials.

This icon tells you that material mentioned in the text, such as a handout, is available on the CD. It also identifies text that is duplicated on the CD and that you can print out.
This icon identifies a recommended resource—a publication, Web site, or tool that may be especially useful to you.

One of these icons appears at the beginning of each activity to indicate its level of difficulty to facilitate (Easy, Moderately Easy, Moderate, Moderately Hard, and Hard). Higher levels of difficulty relate to an activity’s potential to raise sensitive issues that will require skillful facilitation or the need for some particular skill on the part of the facilitator, such as the ability to generate unusual idea associations quickly. When we have rated an activity as Moderately Hard or Hard, we explain the reasons in our Facilitator Notes section.

Finally, we have provided an extensive bibliography and a list of our recommended resources so experienced and novice facilitators alike can find additional information to help them do their best work.

At their best, retreats are a powerful means to bring about positive change. They provide a space where people are freed from their day-to-day flurry of activities so they can think in fresh ways. The casual dress and informal structures of a retreat create an environment where participants can get to know and learn to trust one another, explore issues more openly, and generate new ideas more creatively.

Retreats give people time to dig deeply into their organization’s issues and develop appropriate strategies to address them. As a result, key decisions and plans made at retreats often have more solid and lasting support and greater impact than those made in more hierarchical meetings.

We’ve written this book because we love retreats that work—designing and leading them and also taking part in them—and because we’ve seen retreats fail when they might have succeeded.

Too many retreats have had no effect when people get back to their everyday work. People only have to experience one or two of these time-wasting offsites to flinch the next time they hear, “We’re going to have a retreat.”

We want to help experienced professionals and first-time facilitators alike lead retreats that will make a difference long after the participants have returned to their workplaces, so that the next time people hear, “We’re going to have a retreat,” they will say, “Great! I only hope it’s as good as the last one.”

What You’ll Find in This Book

This book is full of information about retreats, gleaned from our experience (including the mistakes we have made) as designers and leaders of hundreds of offsites, from the questions we have received from the internal facilitators we train in retreat design and facilitation, from the stories related to us by our colleagues in the field, and from readers of the first edition of our book.

Whether you are an experienced internal or external consultant, professional facilitator, or human resource manager, or are facilitating a retreat for the first time, you will find all the elements you need to plan and design a retreat that works in Chapters 1 through 14. The detailed Table of Contents should help you navigate through this book easily.

We don’t expect that you will read this book straight through but rather that you will pick and choose from its offerings according to your needs. Here are some examples of how you might use it.

If you are particularly concerned about establishing an effective working relationship with your client, we’d urge you to focus on Chapters 1, 15, 16, and 17.

If difficulty with managing conflict or encouraging reticent participants to speak up has been an issue in the past, you might want to read especially carefully Chapters 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 13.

If your group has had difficulty doing planning or making decisions during a retreat or implementing what comes out of a retreat, we call your attention to Chapters 8, 9, 14, and 17.

If you are looking to expand the repertoire of what you include in your retreat designs, we’d direct you to Chapters 7 through 14, which contain eighty-one practical, tested retreat activities.

Although each activity appears in a chapter about leading a specific kind of retreat, most are suitable for almost any offsite. Please be sure to look at the various activities indexes in Chapter 18 to find the best activities for your needs. You will also find ready-to-reproduce templates and handouts for these activities on the CD that accompanies this book.

All the materials in Chapters 15 through 18 are also available on the CD so that you can give them to your client to help him or her establish the conditions to make the retreat and its follow-up a success. The Appendix to this book contains checklists and other supportive tools, which you can also duplicate from the CD for your client to use.

We wrote the first edition of Retreats That Work because there was no manual for us when we started leading retreats many years ago.

With the feedback we have received from readers of the first edition and from our retreat facilitation institute students, we have now greatly expanded that first book with forty-seven new activities and more information about how to design and lead retreats and also how to recover when things go wrong.

We hope this new edition will be a useful reference tool that you and your clients will come back to again and again as you design and facilitate your own retreats that work!

We welcome your feedback, suggestions, and stories of your own experiences—what worked and what didn’t—with designing, leading, or taking part in offsite retreats. You can reach us through our Web site: http://www.retreatsthatwork.com
We look forward to hearing from you.

SECTION ONE

Materials for the Facilitator

Chapter 1

Working with the Client

If you earn your living facilitating retreats, you’ve probably noticed that not everyone thinks a retreat is the greatest thing since microwave popcorn.

When your client announces, “We’re going to have a retreat,” you can’t expect universally positive responses. Some people will love the idea of dedicating time to talking about new ideas and maybe hanging out with more senior leaders. Others will dread the very same things. Some will recall successful retreats they’ve attended. Others will remember bad experiences they’ve had or heard about.

Retreats can make people feel vulnerable. Your client may say, “We want to hear the truth,” but not every participant will believe that. Some may remember the time Sali Ann spoke out at a retreat and shortly afterward was abruptly dismissed for reasons that were never disclosed.

And many might recall that after the last retreat they attended, nothing changed—except they had more work waiting on their desks when they returned to the office.

Emotions can be exposed and expectations can be dashed at retreats. “Just let me get through these two days without getting angry,” a reluctant participant might think. Another—eager but perhaps naïve—might believe, “At last I’m going to convince people to do what I’ve been proposing for the last six months.”

Retreats often require an overnight stay; managing the logistics of being away from home can be difficult for some people.

Retreats are expensive. In addition to the costs of a site, meals and lodging, and transportation (and your fees, if you’re external), organizations must tap their most valuable asset, staff time.

Moreover, retreats require a commitment to follow through after the participants return to work. The seeds planted at a retreat must be nurtured before the fruit can be harvested. If there is no follow-through, people will have spent many hours behind the plow for nothing.

Finally, retreats are risky. An ill-conceived, poorly timed, or ineptly led retreat can make ongoing problems worse and take your client’s organization backward. Think of everything that can go wrong in a meeting, magnify it in intensity and duration, and that merely scratches the surface of what can go wrong at a retreat.

So why should your client incur the costs and take the risks? And why on earth would you want to get involved?

As we like to explain to our clients, retreats are investments in an organization’s future. Unlike meetings, which typically focus on current issues and concerns, retreats take a longer view and focus on deeper, longer-term issues. Thus, although some up-front investment is required and there are various risks, the potential payoff of retreats is considerable.

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!