Corporate Retreats: Growing a Team Vision from the Ground Up

Ever day executives spend a great amount of time planning and strategizing with colleagues in boardroom settings all across America. Company objectives and performance reviews are part of the regular routine firms go through in order to further define the path the company is on, and to gather ideas for greater focus and productivity in the future. While these corporate boardroom meetings are an essential part of doing business, they can begin to lose their effectiveness if variety isn't injected into the mix.

The law of diminishing returns is at work when corporate routines begin to feel inflexible both to management and to employees. One of the most effective ways to combat this "routine syndrome" is by planning for regular company corporate retreat getaways. A corporate retreat is highly effective not only in communicating value to staff, but also ultimately in allowing people to re-imagine the company objectives and methods in ways that results in a boost both for your company's morale and for the bottom line.

While corporate retreats can be extremely helpful when done well, it's important to remember that not all corporate retreats plans are created equally. Putting a little thought into the structure of the retreat will help to make it a success by a multitude of measures. When done well, corporate retreats produce a win-win for all involved. Your staff will come away feeling valued both for their presence and for the ideas they contribute to the company. And the company will experience the fruit of increased employee job satisfaction and relational connectivity that results in a more streamlined approach to business that maximizes on the strengths of your personnel and your collective vision.

Among the many benefits that a corporate retreat will offer both your employees and your company, perhaps the most enduring and essential benefit comes in the sense of community that is fostered through such an event. This community interaction helps to create a platform for "shared ownership" amongst all the people involved in the process. This sense of "shared ownership of the collective vision" has been identified as a common factor in the success of the world's most healthy and profitable companies.

When planning your corporate retreat it's a good idea to think ahead and spend some time determining the right location for your company retreat. The "right" location is often one that offers a unique combination of a picturesque, tranquil setting and meeting and lodging facilities that are both comfortable and functional. When your staff feels pampered in the corporate accommodations you chose, they will sense that the company puts a value on class- rather than just settling for what "works". And as a result, employees will feel inclined to return that consideration with increased enthusiasm for the company's objectives. If your employees are used to working in "concrete jungle" environment of today's major metropolitan city centers, then its worthwhile thinking about choosing a corporate retreat location that is nestled amongst the splendor of nature.

Studies consistently suggest that mountain retreats are amongst the very best of locations for hosting a corporate retreat. Mountain retreats seem to be effective for a couple of different reasons. First of all, there is something uniquely calming and inspirational about mountain-top settings. And both of these elements are necessary in order to create the perfect retreat environment. Secondly, being nestled in the heart of the natural world serves to demonstrate the way natural systems work in tandem and in perfect unison- each aspect of the natural environment bringing its "piece to the puzzle" that results in a effortlessly co-existing ecosystem. In recent years, effective executives have begun to imagine corporate systems that operate in a similar "organic" way. Indeed, a more organic approach to organization seems to be essential not only for the success of a company's short term, initial success, but also for the enduring, log-term effectiveness of a company's structures.

As mentioned earlier, in addition to choosing a corporate retreat setting that is esthetically appealing and relaxing, it's important to choose a location that allows you to run your meetings and team building sessions in the same place. Generally, people don't respond so well when they are shuttled around a lot while on a retreat. Once at a location, people can relax and re-energize more easily when the various events of your corporate retreat can happen all in the same location. For that to be the case, it's important to choose a location that has audio-visual equipment on hand to run your presentations effectively and relatively effortlessly. In addition, the presence of on-site catering services can also be helpful in allowing everyone involved to stay focused on the corporate retreat agenda.

When management executives take a little time to plan an effective corporate retreat, the dividends make themselves apparent in a variety of ways. The perfect balance of retreat events often seems to include a little bit of work and a little bit of play. Even better, the end result is the most compelling when work and play can be intertwined. Think ahead and plan for some team-building games and some vision-casting scenarios. Doing so will release the full imaginative capabilities of your staff. Years ago, allowing people to "have fun" at work was actually considered contrary to the effective use of resources and personnel. Today, smart HR people and thoughtful company executives realize that exactly the opposite is true. When people "have fun" at work, they tend to stay much more engaded in the underlying interests of the company.

When that collective imagination of your staff has been engaged it tends to have long lasting results. And the best way of all to both encourage and sustain the collective vision of your staff is to plan for not one, but multiple, regularly occurring corporate retreats. These days business culture tends to see that corporate retreats are not only helpful, but actually essential in building (or to use a more organic term- growing) effective and successful companies. And corporate retreats are the perfect win-win scenario where the people who make your company what it is, come away both feeling valued and valuing the corporate identity and mission of the company.