{"id":587652,"date":"2018-03-08T19:17:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T00:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/?p=587652"},"modified":"2022-08-03T18:02:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T22:02:00","slug":"board-retreat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/board-retreat\/","title":{"rendered":"Board Retreats Done Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever gone to a board retreat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Close your eyes for a moment and think back to the last one you attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it was last year, maybe a few years back. Try to remember the basic contours of the agenda. Or better still, something that changed as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Struggling?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get in line. Here are some things board members have told me about their most recent board retreats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was fine.\u201d<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wonder if we ever did anything with the flip chart stuff and the action items.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember we had a really great strategic visioning conversation, though I\u2019m struggling to remember the details and I have no idea if anything actually came of it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve invested all this time and money. Your board members gave up a Friday night and full day on Saturday. And yet, just months later, they can barely even remember the agenda, much less any outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow. This is NOT OK!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look, here\u2019s the truth. Most board retreats really are just fine.<\/em> They\u2019re not disasters. If they were, board members would actually remember a whole lot more about them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really, though, most board retreats are wildly mediocre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we can do a lot better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can create board retreats that are valuable, memorable, and actionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That leave board members with a sense of camaraderie, pride about the work, and an urgency to be great ambassadors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, I offer some practical advice and a downloadable agenda for a retreat that does exactly that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

==> Download the sample five-star board retreat agenda here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

FIVE THINGS THAT DERAIL A BOARD RETREAT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with the most common reasons board retreats don\u2019t achieve what they\u2019re supposed to. You should make sure to do the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. No Definition of Success. <\/strong>It\u2019s not enough to just meet. You need to know, going in, the answer to the question, \u201cThis retreat will be a success for our organization if\u2026.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The Board Assumes the Executive Director Is Responsible for the Agenda. <\/strong>I will never work on a board retreat if I don\u2019t first meet with both the ED and Board Chair and feel a sense that they are co-pilots in designing this retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. No Icebreakers. <\/strong>Sorry to break it to you, but a critical component of a retreat is to build a team, for board members to get to know and appreciate one another. Now I never call an \u201cIcebreaker\u201d an \u201cicebreaker\u201d<\/a>, but a board that refuses to engage in team building won\u2019t have a great retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. No Space on the Agenda to Dig into a Substantive Challenge or Opportunity. <\/strong>If your ED doesn\u2019t want the board to dig into something meaty at a retreat, set her straight. A great board agenda taps into the passion and intellect of board members to tackle a big issue \u2013 a change in the sector, a need for a strategic pivot, a deep dive look at whether the board you have is the board the organization needs. A simple \u201cshow-and-tell\u201d by the ED about how great everything is a retreat-killer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. No Facilitator or Someone Who Simply Directs Traffic. <\/strong>Related to #4, if your facilitator is not bringing substance to the table, if s\/he can\u2019t challenge, poke and prod to get that meaty conversation to a very engaging place, it won\u2019t get there. If you interview someone who focuses on how she keeps the queue, or how she keeps the retreat on time and follows the agenda closely, and you believe these are the important things, there are better ways to invest board members\u2019 time and organizational dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s what you shouldn\u2019t do. Here\u2019s what you SHOULD do\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIVE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL BOARD RETREAT (PLUS A BONUS)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. The \u201cWHY\u201d is clear and strategic. <\/strong>When I say \u201cstrategic,\u201d I mean it broadly. It could mean that the board really needs to dig into its own makeup \u2013 how to transform the board to reflect the changing needs of your organization. Or perhaps there is significant change in the sector that will impact your program strategy. You talk about it some at your regular board meetings, but it demands a deeper dive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or maybe you\u2019ve come to a point where you really need to dig into how to diversify your revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There should be something central to the retreat that everyone agrees is important and requires a full conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Each board member feels a sense of ownership of the success of the retreat. <\/strong>Every board member should be asked a few key questions ahead of time and the answers should shape the design of the agenda:<\/p>\n\n\n\n