Corporate retreats are fast becoming a necessity in the modern world. There are some issues too weighty to tackle in an afternoon of meetings – and holding many meetings in succession can often test the concentration of your staff to breaking point. Staff who are bored and stressed are not productive.
In cases where you have some grand plan for your company that requires lengthy discussion with your staff, you may have to look toward the alternatives. A very modern answer to the problem might lie in a corporate retreat. This involves shipping all of your staff out to a more relaxing environment, where you can concentrate on getting your ideas out there and discussed.
Retreats of this sort come in many different forms. You might have your annual conference; you might be looking to launch a new product; you might simply need some time and space for your staff to discuss some specific project which is important to you.
The efficiency of a retreat such as this will largely hinge upon planning. It is important to go into the retreat with a clear idea of what its purpose is. Having a well-defined goal can make the difference between an effective corporate retreat and an ineffective one.
Trying to come up with one while you are out there will be stressful and expensive. Worse, these factors might push you into forming the wrong goal, in which case the exercise will prove worse than unproductive; it will be counterproductive.
Once you’ve got an idea of what you intend your retreat to accomplish, it’s time to look at suitable locations. What should one look for when assessing potential destinations for a corporate retreat?
Comfortable accommodation
Your delegates will need a place to stay. These lodgings should be of the appropriate standard. If you want the attendees to have a good impression of the company, then go for somewhere accordingly extravagant. If this is not so much of a concern, then you can go somewhere a little more economical.
Time for leisure
Corporate meetings are not known for their entertainment value. It is therefore important that you offset any tedium by allotting your staff time to unwind. But it is equally important that you allow them the means to do so. The accommodation which provides leisure facilities, such as sports areas and bars, is therefore desirable. Your staff may come to view this as a reward, of sorts, for their efforts.
Moreover, they may use their evening leisure time to bond with one another and develop healthy personal relationships. This way, when they return to work they will be able to operate more effectively as a team and thereby become demonstrably more productive.
Accessible
A corporate retreat should ideally be placed in a relaxed environment – and this typically means the countryside. After all, this is a retreat. What else are you retreating from if not urbanity and the pressures that go with it?
That said, a relaxed environment need not be a remote one – if your company is based in, say, Edinburgh, it makes little sense to have them trek all the way down to Cornwall, however idyllic the scenery may be.
Businesses based in the north-western metropolitan area comprising Manchester, Liverpool, and Chester have a myriad of different options at their disposal when it comes to selecting Conference Venues in Cheshire. But, Carden Park, one of the foremost Luxury Country Hotels in Cheshire, boasts a number of facilities that place it above the competition. The park boasts excellent golf; its grounds contain a pair of gorgeous sweeping courses, along with a driving range and mini-golf facilities.
Can my sports team benefit from a retreat?
So far, we have concentrated mostly on the needs of businesspeople. But a competitive sports arena can be just as stressful a working environment as any office. It is therefore just as important that those who work in such environments occasionally take the opportunity to unwind.
If sport itself is exhausting, then the limelight that accompanies it can be doubly so. For this reason, it is important that under-pressure teams are occasionally removed from said limelight; a retreat is a perfect way to do this.
A retreat for a sports team will require that its players retain their sharpness. Training facilities are therefore an indispensable component of any prospective location. This way your team can retain their training regime during the day and bond during the evening, in much the same way that an executive team might.