Sins of Omission: The Top Retreat Design Mistakes
(taken from Retreats that Work, expanded edition)

(We’ve made or observed all these mistakes, and by listing them here we hope to shorten your learning curve.)

1.  Not Coming to a Clear Agreement with the Client About Expectations
What are your client’s expectations for you, and what are yours for your client?  Do you and the client agree about what will happen at the retreat and afterward?  In addition, unforeseen events occur at almost every retreat.  You and the client must be clearly aligned on respective roles and expectations so that when something unforeseen takes place, you and she won’t struggle over how to handle it.

2.  Not Interviewing Participants in Advance
A retreat is for everyone in the room, not only the person who convened it.  Participants will cooperate far more enthusiastically when they have had input beforehand.  Conducting even a few interviews can help prepare you for possible hidden agendas and covert attacks.

3.  Not Providing Enough Variety
Using the same techniques over and over simply bores people.  It’s hard to keep people’s attention through a two-day offsite.  Use all your creativity to keep people fully engaged.

4.  Not Taking the Big Kahuna Effect into Account
The Big Kahuna Effect takes hold when leaders dominate the discussions or create an environment in which people are afraid to say anything they think the leader might not want to hear.  No matter what the leader says to you or to the retreat participants about being open to candid feedback, you can be sure that at least some of the participants will be concerned about the negative consequences of speaking out. 

Failing to coach the leader on how to behave at the retreat to achieve the best results, failing to agree in advance with him on how you will respond if he forgets your advice, and failing to include activities that allow people’s opinions on sensitive issues to be expressed with anonymity will almost guarantee that the leader won’t get valuable feedback, and he, the participants, and the organization will be the poorer for it.

5.  Not Making Opportunities for People to Think Before They Speak
Before an important discussion, give participants a few minutes to silently collect their thoughts before they speak.  You might even have them write their ideas down.  (You may have to "force" extroverts to refrain from speaking up immediately.) This brief pause in the discussions will encourage more thoughtful responses from all.

6.  Not Allowing for Spontaneous Changes to the Retreat Plan
Sticking to your carefully developed sequence of activities and precise timetable can blind you to the dynamics of what’s happening in the room.  You must be ready to stay with a point that participants become really engaged in, or to abandon an activity that isn’t contributing to the outcome you anticipated.  You may have to insert an activity you hadn’t planned on to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity, or eliminate an exercise you intended to include because you don’t have time for it or it loses its relevance during the course of the retreat.  We often describe a day of facilitating a retreat as "eight hours of improv.”

7.  Not Being Transparent When Changes Occur
There is no such thing as a perfect retreat.  You’ll forget something.  Participants won’t follow instructions correctly.  Managers will speak out inappropriately.  The biggest mistake you can make when something unexpected occurs is to pretend that nothing happened.  Acknowledge that something has gone wrong and ask the group for help in setting it right.  We’re all human, and participants will appreciate seeing your humanity too.

8.  Not Letting Go of Control During the Unstructured Time
Sometimes the best work in a retreat occurs when the facilitator isn’t managing the discussions.  Be sure to build some "out of session" time into your design to let those moments occur naturally.  Remember that sometimes your presence can inhibit this sort of "white space" spontaneity among participants, so be strategic about your place and behavior in such activities.  (We tend to leave participants to themselves out of session.)

9.  Not Forcing Hard Choices
Participants will perceive that the retreat was a waste of time if the action plan is really a plan to think more about actions.  You may be uncomfortable pressing people to make difficult choices throughout the retreat, but that work is critical for the participants to be able to create an action plan that will lead to meaningful change.

10.  Not Leaving Adequate Time for Action Planning
Facilitators too often leave insufficient time at the end of the retreat for participants to review their decisions and put them into a plan that assigns responsibilities, fixes target dates, and defines ways to measure progress.  The time required will depend on the length of the retreat and the complexity of the challenges, but since the action plan is the end product of the offsite, it should not be hurried.

11.  Not Providing an Appropriate Close
Retreats are emotionally intense experiences for many participants.  Participants need some time to reflect on what they have achieved together, appreciate one another’s contributions, and plan for their re-entry back in the workplace.  A rushed closing can undermine some of the good work the group did over the course of the retreat. 

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