How to Plan an Employee Retreat
When it is time to generate new ideas for your business, the brainstorming process is sometimes best left to an environment away from the hustle and bustle of the office. An employee retreat not only allows employees to relax and regenerate, it fosters an atmosphere of creativity, where daily titles and responsibilities are generally not as important as a shared vision for new business goals. Planning these retreats requires the ability to find a venue to nurture this kind of environment.
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Instructions
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Designate one person to take care of logistics such as booking the venue, writing and making copies of the agenda, informing employees about the retreat and keeping everyone updated with any changes. This ensures that nothing falls through the cracks and you don't end up with a retreat and nowhere to meet or a place to meet and no employees to brainstorm. Employees should receive daily e-mail reminders leading up to the retreat and should be informed if it is mandatory.
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Determine the goal of the retreat. Decide if you are looking for new ideas for the coming fiscal year or quarter or if you simply need to tweak the way things are currently done within the company ranks. Once you have a goal in mind, you can move forward with other elements of planning, including your choice of venue, which is dictated by how much you need to get done and how creative you need to be in your brainstorming.
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Book a venue. If you have lofty retreat goals that will have a large ripple effect throughout the company, choose a venue that's more elaborate in nature, such as a resort property with numerous amenities, if your company budget permits. Not only does this put employees in a more relaxed state of mind, allowing more creativity and thought for the brainstorming process, but also it is an added benefit of employment with your company. Alternatively, if you just need some new ideas for the upcoming quarter, you might consider a conference center closer to home that still allows for a day-long escape without the large expense.
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Set an agenda. To keep the retreat from becoming too disorganized, make an agenda that stipulates time for work and time for play. This reigns your employees in, so there is still a work-like structure to the retreat, no matter how relaxed it may be. Provide a daily agenda that details what you plan to talk about each day and what the structure of the conversation will be during discussions.
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