There are many benefits to offering team building sessions and corporate retreats. At the end of a particularly successful corporate retreat that I recently facilitated, I overheard employees making comments the following comments:

"It's because of sessions like this that this is one of the best places to work."

"This company must really value its employees to invest so much time and money in us."

Here are some tips to help you ensure that your next team building session or executive retreat is just as successful.

Clarify Your Objectives

Before you plan your team building session or corporate retreat, it is important to be clear about your objectives. Far too often, companies end up disappointed in the results because expectations were not clearly identified and articulated. Ideally, outcomes should pinpoint the desired impact on the business and be stated in measurable terms. Unfortunately, many organizations treat team building as a discretionary event and don't attempt to link it to the needs of the business:

Examples of Team Building Objectives

• Improve customer satisfaction by 15%
• Improve employee satisfaction by 10%
• Reduce churn by 5%
• Improve the closing ratio of the sales team by 12%

Even "softer" outcomes like these could be stated in measurable terms if one takes the time to think through the specific impact on the business:

• Forge stronger alliances between geographically dispersed teams
• Fine-tune your marketing and sales strategy
• Reduce friction and "turf wars" between organizational levels and departments.
• Improve communication between teams and departments
• Improve your decision making process
• Identify strategies to reduce red tape and duplication of effort
• Brainstorm and generate new strategies to resolve business issues and overcome challenges
• Manage projects more effectively even within tight time frames

Planning Considerations for Team Building

Once you are clear about your objectives, it is important to determine:

• number of participants
• positions and levels of participants in organization
• physical disabilities and constraints
• budget
• time frame

If you are using an external team building consultant for your corporate retreat, identify a clear decision making process and decision making criteria. Ideally, you should be in a position to make a decision no more than 2 weeks after contacting prospective vendors. You should allow at least a month, preferably 2 months for adequate planning of your session. It amazes me how often we are contacted with companies who want to pull together a complex team building session in a two week or less than one week time frame.

Select the Right Locations for Team Building and Corporate Retreats

Your choice of location can make or break your team building session or corporate retreat. Let your objectives and theme drive the location selection decision and not vice versa. I recall a time when a prospective client had blown most of the budget on a high end conference facility. The result? There was little left in the budget for a facilitator.

Determine if you will require assistance with location scouting and be fair about it. An experienced team building firm should be able to help you find a location to fit your budget. However, it does take time to call around, check availability and come up with just the right fit. For foreign locations, long distance charges are often incurred. It is not kosher to expect consultants to do your location scouting for free. It is also not appropriate to do the event on your own and use the location suggested by a team building service provider.

If your budget is limited, scout around. You may be able to find some unique and cost effective locations for your events. You can stretch your budget by using summer camps during off-peak season, amusement parks, acting studios. the catering department of community colleges to save on the cost of refreshments, movie theatres, camp sites, and conservation areas. 3 looking to save money on location, it is important to book your session WELL in advance.....3 - 4 months in advance. To book a group camp site and shelter, you would need a 5 - 6 month lead time.

Select Your Theme

One of the best strategies for "spicing up" your team building sessions and corporate retreats is to come up with a theme. Based on your theme, you can select an appropriate venue, energizers, session starters, music, video clips, graphics for slides and handouts, and menu items. The key is to let your objectives and content drive the theme. To come up with your theme, create a mind map. Put your content and topics in the centre and come up with as many themes as possible that relate to your topics. If you want to fine-tune your sales and marketing strategy or prepare your team for "uncharted territory" and change, a Survivor team building sessions would be the most appropriate choice. If you want to hone project management and leadership skills or help them improve their effectiveness in pulling projects together within tight time frames, a team building session based on the TV show the Apprentice would be a perfect fit. If your team needs to improve its ability to cope with a fast paced environment, a surprisingly affordable polo team building sessions would fit the bill.

Set a Realistic Time Frame

Sometimes, companies are totally unrealistic about the time frame for a retreat. It is surprising how many people think that they can do a full blown simulation with debriefing, application exercises, and a presentation by a member of the senior management team in half a day. Let me stress this in bold. A half day simulation with adequate time for debriefing and business application exercises is just not doable. The only way that it can work is if the simulation or activity is very simple or short and you have one very clear and specific objective or core message that you want to convey. Of course, you can always find team building companies that will take your money and promise you the moon within a half day or even 2 hour time frame. Buyer beware. You have been warned. Of course, if your goal is strictly recreational, that is doable in half a day or two hours.

When determining an appropriate time frame, consider if there are items other than team building that you need to include in your agenda. A number of the companies with which we work have included vendor and client presentations, departmental presentations, and presentations about plans for the upcoming year into their corporate retreats and team building sessions. The key is to determine the content THEN select the appropriate time frame, not the reverse. So, what are some realistic time frames and formats for team building. Here are some ideas:

Half Day Team Building Format

1 Hour - Preparation/ Briefing Session Including Senior Management Presentation

1 Hour - Mini-Simulation or Recreational Activity
1/2 Hour - Debriefing Preparation Exercise
1/2 Hour - Debriefing Panels
1/2 Hour - Preparation for Application Exercise
1/2 Hour - Breakout Group Presentations ( Maximum 2 - 3 Groups - 10 - 15 minutes each)

TOTAL = 4 Hours

1 Day Team Building Format

1 Hour - Preparation/ Briefing Session Including Senior Management Presentation
3 Hours - Simulation
1 Hour - Lunch
1/2 Hour - Debriefing Preparation Exercise
1/2 Hour - Debriefing Panels
1 Hour - Preparation for Application Exercise
1 Hour - Breakout Group Presentations ( Maximum 4 - 5 Groups - 10 - 15 minutes each)
1/2 Hour - Breaks
1 Hour - Recreational Activity (Optional)
1 Hour - Evening BBQ (Optional)

TOTAL = 8 1/2 - 10 Hours

These formats are very basic. You will get feedback from some team members that they felt rushed during some of the exercises. Be prepared for this and don't blame the facilitator. An evening BBQ or dinner buys you a bit more time and ends the session on a high note.

Here is a better format that can include an overnight stay at your location or a briefing a week before your team building session:

Pre-Briefing + 1 Day Team Format

Evening
1 Hour - Pre-briefing for Simulation Team Leaders
Dinner - 1 Hour
1 Hour - Preparation/ Briefing Session Including Senior Management Presentation
1 Hour - Simulation
Flexible - Team Recreational Activity or Competition Related to Simulation Theme
Day 2
3 Hours - Simulation (Continued)
1/2 Hour - Debriefing Preparation Exercise
1 Hour - Lunch
1/2 Hour - Debriefing Preparation Exercise
1 Hour - Debriefing Panels
1 Hour - Preparation for Application Exercise
1 Hour - Breakout Group Presentations ( Maximum 4 - 5 Groups - 10 - 15 minutes each) 1/2 Hour - Breaks

If you want to lengthen the time for the simulation or give people more time to prepare for their business application exercises, devote more time for outdoor recreational activities, vendor, client or departmental presentations, or other agenda items, we suggest a 2 1/2 - 3 day format. Remember, the briefing session can be done in advance and you can cut your session down to 2 - 2 1/2 days

Select Your Teams

There are a number of factors that you should take into account when you select your teams. Ensure that you:

• mix departments
• mix geographical regions
• mix organizational levels
• form team based on learning styles
• give team members who don't get along with each other an opportunity to work together
• give the newer or more junior members of your team an opportunity to serve as team leaders

Analyze your group and assess their learning styles so that you can make decisions about team composition and a number of other key elements for your session.

Team Building: The Bottom Line

Team building sessions and corporate retreats can be rewarding experiences that pull your team together and bring you closer to achieving your goals and objectives. Careful attention to planning can help you avoid a session that people perceive as "a waste of time" and ensure that you get the results that you desire.

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