How to – Run a Successful Planning Session Off site meetings, annual staff retreats and planning sessions may induce some anticipatory stress for the participants. People either find them painful or boring. The goals for getting the staff together have value. These meetings provide opportunities to plan for the upcoming year, meet with fewer distractions, spend time together in a more relaxed setting and strengthen relationships among staff members.

Better planning always makes for better meetings:

Have Clear Goals

Figure out the key objectives for your meeting and then prioritize them. Be clear about outcomes and state what they are before the meeting so that participants can see how the success of the meeting will be measured.

Tell Them in Advance

Communicate the topics for discussion, goals and objectives, agenda and expectations well in advance and more than once. Even if your retreat is about creativity and spontaneity, it will be more productive if people have planned for it! Good ideas come from a prepared mind.

Don’t Do Too Much

Choose no more than three objectives that can be thoroughly dealt with in the time you have allotted. Give people ample time for discussion and problem solving. Don’t overload the day with activities and cut things short. Think quality and not quantity.

Bring in a Facilitator

Bring in an experienced facilitator. This allows the boss to be a contributor. An outsider’s perspective who will ask the hard questions, allow the group to get to some deeper issues, makes sure everyone is heard from, and illuminate discussions and new ideas can be a breath of much needed fresh air to stale interaction. It can temper the amount the boss talks and increase the chances for others to contribute.

Make Plans for Follow Up Before You Leave

The end of the retreat is the springboard for action. Your meeting can serve as the vehicle to produce concepts, teambuilding, innovation, new ideas and growth. Before you leave state next steps clearly, assign projects and determine the follow-up timetable. Determine how things will be communicated, by whom, to whom and by when. Figure out how progress will be tracked and have a back up plan if problems arise.

Whether you call it a team meeting, board retreat, strategic planning session or staff off-site, you can turn it into a value-enhancing activity.

Labels: facilitator, goals, Offsite meetings

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