Leadership Retreat Planning Resources
Let us show you how to have a leadership offsite that will truly align your executive team, and bring your organization to the next level of growth and performance.
CHOOSING A FACILITATOR
What should you be asking a potential executive offsite facilitator?
What would a good answer look like? And what would a right-fit-for-your-organization answer look like?
Download the 10 Tough Questions to Ask a Retreat Facilitator.
RETREAT KICKOFF SCRIPT
CEO Retreat Opening Remarks Blueprint
Gather your thoughts and give yourself the piece of mind that you will kick off your retreat like a pro with this retreat opening remarks outline.
Download the CEO Retreat Opening Remarks Blueprint and kick off an impactful retreat.
AVOID COMMON MISTAKES
7 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Leadership Retreat
Avoid these common offsite planning mistakes to make sure your retreat investment goes smoothly and has max impact on your organization.
Download the 7 Retreat Mistakes to Avoid at your executive offsite .
Join Randall and Ronja live: Monthly leadership Q&A sessions
Tipsheets
What we do
- Listen to the goals, blockers and dynamics of your team.
- Plan and deliver the training content for your team (or board).
- Address as many issues as we can with sensitivity and discretion.
- Plan the breakout groups.
- Plan small group work and consolidate the learning.
- Facilitate important conversations to gain alignment.
- Motivate, educate, and inspire teams to work productively together.
- Work with the leadership team / CEO to ensure goals are met.
- Plan relevant pre-work, deliver reference notes, and post-event resources.
- Make it a fun experience for everyone. We're serious, but we have fun!
What we don't do
- "Open" retreats for individuals: we only work with groups.
- Event logistics: We don't pick the venue, meals, etc.
- Pre-packaged presentations: Every presentation is unique based on your objectives, attendee interviews, and your feedback.
- Drama: We are easy to work with. There are no surprises..
Curious how we can help level up your organization?
Book a call to discuss possibilities, challenges and how he might help.
Our Process
A collaborative planning process has the greatest, lasting impact on your organization.
We work with your senior leadership on an agenda that meets your objectives, driven by insights from interviews from your team.
Design
Depending on the goals, the day (or days) will include a mix of
training modules,
breakout group work,
practical problem solving,
and facilitated conversations.
(It will also include relationship-building and social time.)
Our approach also includes
pre-reading (or pre-work),
so everyone can hit the
ground running.
On-site Delivery
Experience facilitation, training and role modeling from a hall of fame speaker who is also an entrepreneur and executive.
We mix learning with small group breakouts; new concepts can be put into practice immediately.
The groups tackle your organizations real-world challenges, surfaced from the interviews.
On-SITE MENTORSHIP
Attendees will typically have many questions and reflections as they go through the day.
Some of the most impactful conversations take place outside the formal schedule: at breaks, the evening before and the evening after. We actively seek out these conversations to help your team more deeply process their learning.
Reinforcements
For any new learning to stick, there needs to be follow up. We will provide visual reference sheets, and provide post-retreat readings.
We will also meet with your senior leadership to share additional insights that surfaced during the
pre-interviews, formal sessions, and our on-site conversations.
Pricing
In the market for retreat leaders, you will find a wide range of fees, ranging from $5K to $100K+. As there are so many variables (and each of our clients is unique), it is impossible for us to provide a definitive quote without a conversation.
While our fees have typically ranged from $15K to $50K, we don't want this to be an impediment – we're more interested in working with great leadership teams who are looking to make a significant impact.
Give us a call – no obligation, just conversation.
– Randall and Ronja
"Our retreats with Randall and Ronja have been a completely new experience for us. Our retreats had previously never had an impact on the organization; the travel and luxury were just considered a job perk. Now our development days and post-retreat support really propel our teams' success. I wish we knew about them sooner."–I. K., COO
What determines pricing?
- Number of attendees
- Number of interviews
- Number of days
- Number of planning and feedback sessions
- Complexity of the overall goal or challenge to be resolved
- Complexity of pre-prep and post-event resources
- Training license fees
- Other services needed
- Location
Building a successful retreat
• Provides focused time to achieve a specific goal (a new direction, solve a complex problem, etc.)
• Upskills the team together with the same messaging, information, and a new shared vocabulary
• Builds stronger, trusted relationships
The goal of this meeting is to synchronize and set the overall direction. What are you hoping to accomplish with your team? What is the one thing that can be accomplished by bringing the group together that can’t be done during the regular day-to-day? What issues need deeper exploration, or would benefit from stronger alignment? And where are the no-go zones that should be avoided?
We meet one-on-one with as many of your team members who will be attending. We want to understand their priorities and challenges, hear what’s stopping them, and learn what would help them become more effective leaders. We do this so we can identify common themes and low-hanging fruit to include in our retreat design. (It also builds trust, which is critical during the retreat itself.)
Based on your goals and the interviews, we’ll put together an agenda that can include a mix of training modules, breakout group work, practical problem solving, and facilitated conversations. (It will also include relationship-building and social time.) There will be a “flow” – a story arc for the day where each block in the schedule builds on the previous one. Our approach will also put together possible pre-reading (or pre-work), so everyone can hit the ground running.
We’ll walk you through the draft agenda, and work with you to fine-tune it. Some clients are surprised by elements of the agenda – but they are there because it can address issues brought forward by members of your team. Once the agenda is set, we’ll begin developing the detailed facilitation notes, customizing any training, and putting together any pre-reading/pre-work.
Attendees will typically have many questions and reflections during the event. Some of the most impactful conversations happen outside the formal schedule: at breaks, the evening before, and the evening after. We actively seek out these conversations to help your team more deeply process their learning.
For any new learning to stick, there needs to be follow up. We will provide visual reference sheets, and provide post-retreat readings. After the event, we will also meet with your senior leadership to share additional insights that surfaced during the pre-interviews, formal sessions, and our on-site conversations.
Curious how we can help level up your organization?
Book a call to discuss possibilities, challenges and how he might help.