The “corporate retreat” a high return on investment or a big waste of money?  Group outings on the company dime, food and drinks for everyone –the ultimate escape or quickest way to improve team work and communication?

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It’s not a get away…it’s a get “with.”   It’s about spending time with your peers, getting to know them, getting to know yourself and creating shared meaning about the work that you are doing together.  This was reinforced this past week when I facilitated two different “off site” staff meetings.  One was for a senior leadership team at an international nonprofit and the other for a global brand marketing team for a large for profit business.

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In both situations, the client  came to me and said, “Can you help us do these three things?”

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  1. Team Building

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  2. Improve Communication

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  3. Prioritization/Planning/Goal Setting

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\nAbsolutely.  I am a big proponent of taking people out of their everyday environment and creating a memorable experience where they can learn and grow as a team.  Through the organization of planned activities  like  rock climbing and shared meals, as well as the structured facilitated time, members build  trust with one another, nurture their relationships and form  a cohesive bond.    Rather than  feeling like they are working on their own, they come away feeling part of something bigger.    The team gets stronger.   They will now be more likely to seek each other out to collaborate and be supportive of one another in achieving their goals and priorities.\n\nDuring the course of  an off site, communication is enhanced as well.  Team members are able to share information about their roles and functions so they can better understand how to work together.   Team members are mixed and matched across disciplines for discussions and brainstorming as well.   Participants spend a great deal of time interacting – talking, sharing, listening and asking critical questions.  This helps enhance and improve the overall communication of the team.\n\nTeams spend time doing analysis of strategy, structure, systems and processes, people capability, metrics and rewards and the company culture in its current state.   This leads to generating big ideas about how they can align and support the overall organizational objectives going forward.   Then functional teams outline their most critical priorities and share them with their peers to receive feedback and ensure that there is integration across disciplines and that everyone is on the same page.   Participants leave feeling engaged and empowered to contribute.  That is worth it’s weight in gold.\n\nAs one participant eloquently summed it up, “It was epic.”  He’s at his desk today ready to give 110%.   He understands the vision, knows where they are trying to go and sees how his contributions can make it happen.    You tell me is that worth a few bucks and a couple of days out of the office?