print
Articles and Planning Tips >
Retreats for Rapid Success
Whether Rugged or Restful, Well Planned Firm Retreats Keep Your Crew Current
In the 1980s, many successful Firm Retreats reflected the times. Heady with the pace of work and growth in their organizations, firm owners and managers indulged in weekends of luxury and fun for attorneys and their spouses. It was a way of saying thank you to the attorneys for working hard and to the spouses for putting up with their absentee partners.
Some firms still view Retreats as times for rest and relaxation. Increasingly, however, the new economic reality in most legal organizations forces firms to tailor down and change to business meeting formats for Retreats.
Firm administrators often are responsible for planning these Retreats. It’s best for these professionals to know from the outset what firm owners expect from such excursions. It may be best to approach Firm Retreats as a journalist would a story. Be sure your planning covers these very important questions:
• Why?
• Where?
• What?
• When?
• Who?
• How?
Why?
Before beginning to organize a Firm Retreat, managers need to understand the rationale for the Retreat. Is it a thank-you bash for a year’s worth of
hard work? Is it a planning session for another successful year? Is this Retreat an opportunity for people who don’t know each other well to become better
acquainted? Or is it a time for long-time firm members to reminisce?
Many factors can drive firms to conduct Retreats. A rapidly growing firm - or a firm that recently underwent a merger - may orchestrate a Retreat to build a cohesive team and establish working relationships. Activities should be conducted that will integrate new and old attorneys. If the Retreat is strictly a celebration of a firm’s success, then it should provide opportunities for speeches, presentations or even an award ceremony.
Administrators planning these events should meet with their managing partners or management committees to decide event goals. If top management does not have a sound rationale for the Retreat, then all the efforts will be misguided and people will not experience anything memorable or valuable.
Ask if management team members have any expectations or limitations for the event. Is there a budget? Will it take place over an entire weekend or an evening? Do managers have a location in mind? Do certain people need to be recognized via speeches, tributes or awards? Do they want to use a client’s ranch in the mountains?
Where?
Location can drive many aspects of the planning. If the firm picks a seasonal location, that will affect the overall cost. If the Retreat is difficult to get to, travel expenses increase. If the firm chooses a full-service spot, will the Retreat stay under budget? If the firm chooses a boutique resort or inn, can the facility staff members rise to the level of service you require?
No matter what you choose, be sure to negotiate hard and get everything you want. You can always go somewhere else, so let the facility know that you will not accept anything less than you require.
The facility you choose should fit your basic criteria for size, food service and activity. Make sure that everyone who plans to attend can be accommodated on the main property. No one wants to be relegated to the motel down the street just because they found out at the last minute they could attend.
Are there enough rooms of relatively same quality? Are all the rooms near the main social area or do some guests have to take a trolley to get to breakfast because the property is so spread out?
Be sure to consider the meeting space. Is the ballroom big enough for a theater or classroom setup? Are there enough smaller breakout rooms should groups need to have private meetings? Request facility floor plans and property maps so you can review the overall layout.
Social Retreats need to have lots of social activities available. Whether your group enjoys skiing, sailing or hunting, there is a location that will fill the need. However, not everyone likes to do the main activity, so facilities that have tennis, golf, swimming, hiking or nearby sightseeing might be appropriate for your group. Many resorts have recreation specialists on staff to use as resources for ideas and even to plan group outings.
The location you choose will lend itself to the overall success for your Firm Retreat. If the property is beautiful, the staff helpful and the accommodations comfortable, the Retreat will be enjoyable. Conduct a site inspection of any location you consider. Be sure the facility is attractive, well maintained and fulfills all requirements.
What?
Planning what to do at the Retreat is where all the creativity and fun comes into place. If the Retreat is purely social, then activities geared around team building and introduction will be fun. Team activities that mix up people from different departments or offices allow people to interact in a fun, yet structured, way.
Depending on the risk-taking nature of the group, firm managers can plan activities based around conversational tabletop games to outside physical experiences. Team-building activities can be identified through training specialists or at specialized retreat locations. Check out your library or bookstore for resources that outline how to plan and execute team-building games. Only qualified experiential learning professionals should host physical experiences. Most firm managers would not be qualified or comfortable conducting a rock climbing/rappelling weekend. For example, activities that are physically challenging can be intimidating, frightening and even impossible for some individuals, so be sure to do serious research before selecting a program.
If the Retreat has a business slant, the agenda will take greater effort. Evaluate the goals and outcomes outlined by the management committee. The agenda can have multiple topics or one theme addressed in a variety of ways. Think about times of day to best deliver a particular topic. Try to avoid, for example, addressing firm finances right after lunch if you want an alert audience. The time directly after lunch should be reserved for topics that include interaction among the participants or that will get people excited and involved. Many firm managers hire speakers to facilitate sessions. Others turn to staff experts to lead sessions. Depending on a firm’s budget, speaker bureaus or local universities can be sources for qualified presenters. If you have topics predetermined, it will ease the speaker search.
Once you finalize speaker ideas, secure videotape or audiotapes of each person’s presentation. Better yet, see the person live. Never hire a speaker that no one in your firm has seen to verify the quality of the presentation.
When?
Retreat timing is important to maximize attendance. Assess your firm’s particular billing and collecting cycle. Be sure that planned Retreats do not conflict
with or hinder this process. Don’t let attorneys have an excuse to back out of the Retreat if they haven’t met their numbers. While it may seem impossible to avoid all conflicts, lessen the chances by staying away from problem times such as summer vacations and holidays. Even major sporting events can interfere.
A January Retreat would be good timing to celebrate a successful prior year. A Retreat planned for the fall would be a good time for strategic planning, budgeting and goal setting for the next year. You cannot expect 100 percent attendance at any event, so plan around the most important people’s calendars.
Who?
For smaller firms, managers will find choosing a Retreat participant list an easy task: all attorneys and senior management personnel. Larger firms pose more of a problem. More than 200 lawyers attending a Retreat for a weekend causes the price tag to skyrocket. Should all attorneys be invited? Just partners? Just senior partners? What about spouses?
Should you have different Retreats for different levels? A one-day getaway for associates might prove cheaper to handle than inviting these junior attorneys to join in a weekend of resort living. A senior partner planning Retreat can replace an all-out bash for everyone and has an easier cost/benefit analysis to prove to the CFO.
Associate Retreats are often held in tandem with summer associate recruiting. The traditional summer getaway, at which potential candidates are wined and dined until they agree to sign on the dotted line, is disappearing. In its place, many firms invite summer clerks to an associate weekend. These often include an all-day Saturday program, starting with breakfast, followed by a half-day Sunday, ending with a late lunch. Associate weekends can also include a mandatory MCLE portion to help defray the cost as a business expense.
How?
Create timelines for planning and for the Retreat itself. Keep the following areas in mind:
Contracts
The first step is to secure your facility. Have all contracts reviewed by an attorney in the office. Look for hidden costs like maid and bellman charges or meeting room fees. Negotiate everything on the contract and ask for everything you need. For example, if you are serving meals at the hotel, you should not pay for meeting room rental fees. If you are buying all the liquor from the hotel, ask that the bartender fees be waived. If you plan a meal to be served outside, be sure there is backup space inside in case of inclement weather. Try to plan contingencies and place them in the contract.
To ease the billing process, create a master account and instruct the property about what can be charged to it. Other expenses are considered participant incidentals. You may want to arrange that the firm pay for certain amenities (such as golf and tennis), but not for others (such as spa facilities).
Make sure that the contract spells out hotel staff availability and the firm’s use of the hotel’s resources. Will you need to have separate contract arrangements for audiovisual, business center facilities or recreational personnel? Be sure to review these contracts as thoroughly as you do the facility contract.
Many firms establish Retreat hospitality suites. These create a place for participants to gather informally and visit. But they may also create unwanted expense. Check with the facility to determine if you can stock the room yourself or if you have to buy from the property - at inflated prices. Use this point as a contract bargaining tool.
Theme
It may help your Retreat appear more polished if you create a theme. Themes also make it easier for the planner to brainstorm programs, social events, food and Retreat souvenirs. Themes often coincide with the facility: A mountaintop hideaway can lend itself to a rustic motif while a seaside resort can be filled with beach-style ideas. The hotel catering staff may have some ideas and props that lend themselves to your theme. Even business-oriented Retreats benefit from a theme. The theme, however, would be more of a slogan or sound bite: “Building a World-Class Firm,” “Creating Client Focus” or “2000 in 2000.” Theme material should appear on agendas, invitations and all correspondence to the participants.
Invitations
Once you have a theme, the dates and the location you can send the invitations. Use your creativity and produce something that reflects the firm culture and the attitude set for the weekend. Send the invitations directly to the attorneys’ homes at least six weeks before the event. This ensures spouses are made aware of the Retreat. Include as much information on the invitation as possible: dates, times, location, directions and a full agenda of events. You may also want to include dress code, special sites worth seeing in the area and a picture of the facility. The invitation will set the mood for the weekend.
Air Travel and Rooming Lists
Firm managers will need to determine if they will be handling all travel arrangements for the Retreat alone or in conjunction with the firm travel agent. Many airlines will allow special discounts depending on how many people are coming via air and if they have deals with resort properties. Encourage attendees to use the property’s shuttle (if available) or share cabs to reduce expenses.
When attendees respond to the Retreat invitations, planners can begin to compile a rooming list. Ask that arrangements be made through you and not the hotel. This will help you project other costs like food and transportation. As you receive names, you can decide about the appropriate room for the appropriate attorney. VIPs should be identified to the hotel and suites should be made available at the same rate as the other guest rooms.
Audiovisual Needs
As you plan the agenda, think about the audiovisual needs for training programs and social events. Will you need microphones? VCRs and projection systems? Flip charts and markers?
Hired speakers will most certainly need equipment. Be sure to get the AV needs as early as possible so you can plan accordingly. Some facilities do not have high-tech capabilities, so you might have to contract from the surrounding community or plan to bring your own equipment.
Details, Details
At this point in the planning process you are down to the details. Choose the menus and refine the agenda. There are many minor details that come together to make a weekend superb:
• Create sets of name tags for each change of clothes
• Make goodie bags for each room
• Order souvenir gifts
• Assign seating for events
• Circulate activity sign-up sheets for golf, tennis, etc.
• Choose menus
• Test audiovisual equipment
• Arrange group transportation
• Compile list of area restaurants
• List sightseeing opportunities
• Arrange entertainment
• Finalize meeting room set-ups
• Reproduce handout materials for meetings
By following these steps, you will be assured of planning and executing your firm’s best Retreat ever! Good luck.
About the Author
Dr. Sharon Meit Abrahams is the Director of Professional Development at the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery. She can be reached at 305-347-6566 or sabrahams@mwe.com.
