Retreats That Work: Designing and Conducting Effective Offsites for Groups and Organizations [Paperback]

Sheila Campbell (Author), Merianne Liteman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787964441 | ISBN-13: 978-0787964443 | Publication Date: October 28, 2002 | Edition: 1

Retreats That Work is a practical, easy-to-use guide, full of step-by-step instructions for leading a wide variety of tested exercises. You'll learn how to design and facilitate retreats that will keep participants energized and on-task. Campbell and Liteman know what can go wrong at a retreat and what to do about it. They know how to turn difficult situations around and how to deal effectively with conflict, difficult participants, and resistance to change. With Retreats That Work, you will too.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book offers a number of exercises that can be incorporated into retreats to insure they achieve their goals." (Business Times, March 2003)

"Get ready to dog-ear." (Successful Meetings, March 2003)

Review

"Campbell and Liteman have served up a delightful, wonderfully written, accessible, and invaluable resource book for retreat planners. It is jam-packed with ideas, tools, pitfalls to be avoided, and everything one needs to create Retreats That Work."
— Barry Oshry, creator of Power Lab retreat and author, Seeing Systems and Leading Systems

"This is one of those rare books that will make you wonder what you did before you had it. It's certain to become the primary resource for anyone interested in the why's and how's of organizing retreats."
— Rayna Aylward, executive director, Mitsubishi Electric American Foundation

"For companies organizing a retreat, this book should be your bible. It delivers exactly what it says it will: practical approaches that assure effective retreats. Would that other business books were so impressive."
— Jeffrey LaRiche, chairman and CEO, CASTLE Worldwide, Inc.

"Well conducted retreats can truly propel an organization and its team forward. This practical and knowing handbook is a valuable step-by-step guide to achieve a successful retreat. Its do's and don'ts cover all the bases."
— Samuel C. Hoi, president, Otis College of Art and Design

"Finally, a pragmatic book that outlines how to transform an offsite retreat into a bottom-line business investment. Very persuasive and full of practical ideas coming out of the author's extensive experience with retreats."
— Tojo Thatchenkery, program chair, research methods division, Academy of Management and associate professor of Organizational Learning, George Mason University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Pfeiffer; 1 edition (October 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787964441
• ISBN-13: 978-0787964443
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,533,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you ever wanted to know, December 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Retreats That Work: Designing and Conducting Effective Offsites for Groups and Organizations (Paperback)

"Retreats That Work" could be subtitled "Everything you ever wanted to know about retreats." Just a look at the table of contents told me that there was going to be an answer to any question I might have -- from the basic who, what, when, where and why, to the types of specialized retreats.

I am in a related, but quite different, field. As a qualitative research moderator, I am often asked to facilitate meetings or retreats by clients who are unaware of the differences -- hence, my interest in this book. But, whether you are working for a small or large company and want to hold a retreat, or you are someone needing to actually facilitate such an event, this book is a wealth of information. And for anyone thinking of facilitating a retreat or just understanding what a facilitator must be able to do, they would be advised to read the "definition" or role of the facilitator on page 116!

I found this book very well-written, easy to read and follow. It's filled with lots of practical information and tips, valuable time estimates for the various activities, and additional resources given.

The creative thinking section was particularly interesting to me. As a "left brain" person, I am usually skeptical of these kinds of activities. But the authors' examples and explanations of each exercise gave me a new appreciation for the value of this type of retreat.

I also visited the authors' or book web site, which is a nice accompaniment to the book, including additional resources.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, easy to use, practical, good activities, July 28, 2005

By 

John B. Stephens (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Retreats That Work: Designing and Conducting Effective Offsites for Groups and Organizations (Paperback)

Retreats that Work (Jossey Bass, 2003) is highly readable and valuable resource is a comprehensive guide to retreat planning. Authors Sheila Campbell and Merianne Liteman address medium- to larger-sized organizations in the for-profit, nonprofit and government fields. Campbell and Liteman offer both a "how to" for planning and conducting a retreat and a fine sampling of facilitated group activities for different kinds of retreats.

The overall message is that the top decisionmaker should hold a retreat only for important purposes, he or she must be truly ready to hear divergent views and to be open to real change, including change not anticipated by the decisionmaker. CEOs, boards, division directors and other "head honchos" that are not ready to share control need not apply. For instance, Campbell and Liteman recommend confidential pre-retreat interviews conducted by the facilitator. One of their retreat design principles is that at least some of the participants should contribute to formulating the goals of the retreat. To do so, they believe it is essential for employees to feel safe to share their views in planning the retreat as well as at retreat. Thus, Campbell and Liteman call for anonymity and non-attribution of pre-retreat views and assurance of no negative actions for expressing views candidly during the retreat.

A key strength of the book is the attention to pre-retreat and post-retreat concerns. Pre-retreat matters extend well beyond choosing the meeting facility and menu [although their retreat logistics chapter is first rate] to the more important question: "Why have a retreat?" Campbell and Liteman specify nine reasons to hold a retreat and ten reasons not to hold a retreat. Both lists are enlightening and are foundational to further pre-retreat work.

A retreat is not a conference and not a regular meeting. Campbell and Liteman believe a retreat is best served "off-site," that is, at a location away from the workplace. They do cover the challenges of time and money in choosing an appropriate facility, and the discussion reinforces two more of their principles of retreat planning - designing a retreat to result in action for change and ensuring whatever happens at the retreat relates to the day-to-day work of the organization.

Other pre-retreat elements are: setting the goals, deciding on the format, and inviting people; defining the roles of convener, facilitator, administrator, participants (and non-participants); and a review of fixed-format retreat designs (such as Future Search, Ropes courses, and Appreciative Inquiry). Campbell and Liteman do a fine job discussing the tension between having a small enough group for good interaction and the group being large enough to be inclusive of the key players. In particular, they offer eight common criteria for how to choose participants. I think the criteria are especially helpful as an organization thinks of board-staff concerns, clients or customer involvement in a retreat, and inter-organizational issues.

A logical, but often overlooked, planning proviso is to design the retreat backwards-What is the outcome you seek? Instead of holding a retreat because its done annually, or because someone likes a particular format, or to "boost morale," Campbell and Liteman forcefully highlight the need to have retreats only for special purposes, and to work from the question "How will the day-to-day workplace be different following the retreat?"

The structure of the book opens with coverage of the why, goal-setting, logistics planning and role of leaders at the broadest view of a retreat. From there, most of the guide is devoted to facilitator assistance. Campbell and Liteman cover design issues ranging from pre-retreat work for participants to having "unprogrammed time" as an essential part of a successful retreat. They offer tips on ground rules, giving feedback to the group, and decisionmaking. For in-retreat concerns, general facilitator principles are leavened with brief guidance on how to respond to over a dozen glitches (such as repetitive discussions, disruption by a participant, a participant walking out, or a senior manager violating the ground rules).

A large section of the book identifies activities appropriate for four kinds of retreats: a) strategic planning, b) culture change, c) relationship-building and teamwork, and d) creativity and innovation. Each activity offers a clear description, steps and facilitator notes. Equally valuable are accompanying sidebar notes on the experiential elements, set-up, special supplies and degree of facilitator experience to conduct the activity effectively (easy, moderately easy, or only for experienced/specialized training). While retreat facilitators will probably eat up this part of the book, I hope they don't overlook the earlier "menu-setting" essentials of effective retreats.

Campbell and Liteman know that typically the worst part of a retreat is....after the retreat. Does the great thinking from the retreat get lost in the daily grind or new crises? Do non-participants not support the outcome? While a retreat's impact depends on organizational norms outside of any retreat's reach, Campbell and Liteman nicely select a few post-retreat points. In brief: announce the outcomes to everyone affected, not just the participants; move briskly into the actions steps identified at the retreat; and avoid a letdown by offering a memento, having periodic updates, or celebrating milestones. They highlight "critical leadership actions" for retreat follow-up.

Campbell and Liteman know that retreats have a purpose within the larger context of an organization. They provide a fine guide the knits together the earliest hints of whether to hold a retreat to effective planning to post-retreat steps to offer the best possible assurance that the change initiated by the retreat is converted into a better organization. The book is a must-have for both the senior management and for internal and external facilitators. (...)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Priceless advice!, February 4, 2003

By 

Julia (Kansas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Retreats That Work: Designing and Conducting Effective Offsites for Groups and Organizations (Paperback)

This is a terrific handbook for anyone who wants to (or has been assigned to) organize or lead a retreat for their company or non-profit organization. The authors describe the guiding principles for designing a retreat, they outline the logistics in detail, and they provide all kinds of good advice about how planners and facilitators should work together to get the most out of an offsite meeting. The checklists alone are worth the price of the book, and the activities sections are priceless!