{"id":5076,"date":"2015-11-05T13:02:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T18:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?p=5076"},"modified":"2015-11-05T13:02:39","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T18:02:39","slug":"successful-retreat-secrets-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Successful Retreat Secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s it take to run a successful retreat in today\u2019s wired, overworked world? I recommend the following four tips:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5077\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5077\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5077\" src=\"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg\" alt=\"Mary Byers, CAE\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5077\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Mary Byers, CAE<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Consider the environment. <\/strong>If possible, schedule your retreats off-site. The change of venue (and pace) is a subtle signal to participants: We\u2019re here to work. Getting participants away from the office helps staff focus and prevents them from stepping away to handle \u201cjust one thing.\u201d If it\u2019s not possible to meet off-site, create a comfortable environment with plenty of snacks, and consider a different room set-up than usual if you have the flexibility to do so.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use outside facilitation. <\/strong>It\u2019s important for senior staff and everyone on your board to be able to participate fully in the retreat \u2014 something they couldn\u2019t do if assigned to facilitate the retreat. If funds aren\u2019t available for a professional facilitator, check with your local college or university to see if any professors facilitate for a reasonable fee. Or, consider asking an association colleague to handle the responsibility \u2014 and offer to the do same in return.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2502\" src=\"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/02\/Tweetables-icon.jpg\" alt=\"Tweetables\" width=\"300\" height=\"65\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Sometimes, just getting your team out of the office and in a comfortable setting to talk is all that is needed to spark new ideas.<a href=\"http:\/\/ctt.ec\/98S6m\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"align=none size-full wp-image-2517\" src=\"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/02\/RealLilTweetables.png\" alt=\"RealLilTweetables\" width=\"17\" height=\"15\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Use a trained outside facilitator \u2014 not your staff or board members \u2014 to lead off-site retreats.<a href=\"http:\/\/ctt.ec\/5NP6E\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"align=none size-full wp-image-2517\" src=\"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/02\/RealLilTweetables.png\" alt=\"RealLilTweetables\" width=\"17\" height=\"15\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Make your retreats interactive, small group events for maximum effect.<a href=\"http:\/\/ctt.ec\/e4ZUA\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"align=none size-full wp-image-2517\" src=\"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/02\/RealLilTweetables.png\" alt=\"RealLilTweetables\" width=\"17\" height=\"15\" \/><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When I ask clients what <em>didn\u2019t<\/em> work well at their last retreat, I often hear, \u201cWe made the mistake of having someone internally lead the retreat.\u201d It\u2019s very hard to lead \u2014 and even harder to do it well \u2014 when participants know you as a staff or board member.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong> Keep it small. <\/strong>Though it\u2019s possible to lead a retreat with dozens of participants, it\u2019s difficult to do it right. The more people in the room, the less engaged each person will be and the longer it will take to complete the work. If you need input from a wide variety of representatives, consider surveying before the retreat and sharing the results prior to the event.<\/li>\n<li><strong> Make it interactive. <\/strong>The best retreats feature high participation and engagement. Small group work is an easy way to achieve this, as is any activity that challenges thinking or asks attendees to do something (ie., drawing, list making, discussing, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Getting your team in the right environment for big-picture thinking is a start, but you need a plan for getting the most out of the gathering once you have assembled the right people. Follow these tips for maximizing the outcome of your off-site retreats, and you\u2019ll be well on your way to bringing your team closer with new energy to address your organization\u2019s key challenges and opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><em>Mary Byers, CAE, is the co-author of <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Road-Relevance-Strategies-Competitive-Associations\/dp\/0880343567\" target=\"_blank\">Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations<\/a> <em>and the founder of <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.isae.org\/participate\/calendar\/7043-2\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Association Strategy Circles<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s it take to run a successful retreat in today\u2019s wired, overworked world? Mary Byers, CAE, recommends four tips: consider the environment, outside facilitation, keep it small, and make it interactive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":5077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,31],"tags":[887,888,50,889,890,891],"class_list":["post-5076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-features","tag-association-retreat","tag-association-strategy-circles","tag-events","tag-mary-byers","tag-off-site-retreats","tag-retreat"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Successful Retreat Secrets - Association Adviser<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What\u2019s it take to run a successful retreat in today\u2019s wired, overworked world? Mary Byers, CAE, recommends four tips. Read to find out what they are.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Successful Retreat Secrets - Association Adviser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What\u2019s it take to run a successful retreat in today\u2019s wired, overworked world? Mary Byers, CAE, recommends four tips. Read to find out what they are.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Association Adviser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-05T18:02:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mary Byers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mary Byers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mary Byers\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/666736cbc5a41a243cae80d478e464d1\"},\"headline\":\"Successful Retreat Secrets\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-05T18:02:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":491,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"association retreat\",\"Association Strategy Circles\",\"events\",\"Mary Byers\",\"off-site retreats\",\"retreat\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Events\",\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Successful Retreat Secrets - Association Adviser\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-05T18:02:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/666736cbc5a41a243cae80d478e464d1\"},\"description\":\"What\u2019s it take to run a successful retreat in today\u2019s wired, overworked world? Mary Byers, CAE, recommends four tips. Read to find out what they are.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Mary Byers, CAE\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/\",\"name\":\"Association Adviser\",\"description\":\"Leadership Strategies &amp; Best Practices for Association Professionals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/666736cbc5a41a243cae80d478e464d1\",\"name\":\"Mary Byers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5df695bc2776c76f7dfc2abbc7a8a1cc1487790b7b46dd9565fa9c34b925b79e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5df695bc2776c76f7dfc2abbc7a8a1cc1487790b7b46dd9565fa9c34b925b79e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5df695bc2776c76f7dfc2abbc7a8a1cc1487790b7b46dd9565fa9c34b925b79e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mary Byers\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/author\\\/mary-byers\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Successful Retreat Secrets - Association Adviser","description":"What\u2019s it take to run a successful retreat in today\u2019s wired, overworked world? Mary Byers, CAE, recommends four tips. Read to find out what they are.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Successful Retreat Secrets - Association Adviser","og_description":"What\u2019s it take to run a successful retreat in today\u2019s wired, overworked world? Mary Byers, CAE, recommends four tips. Read to find out what they are.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/","og_site_name":"Association Adviser","article_published_time":"2015-11-05T18:02:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mary Byers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mary Byers","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Mary Byers","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/666736cbc5a41a243cae80d478e464d1"},"headline":"Successful Retreat Secrets","datePublished":"2015-11-05T18:02:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/"},"wordCount":491,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg","keywords":["association retreat","Association Strategy Circles","events","Mary Byers","off-site retreats","retreat"],"articleSection":["Events","Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/","name":"Successful Retreat Secrets - Association Adviser","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-05T18:02:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/666736cbc5a41a243cae80d478e464d1"},"description":"What\u2019s it take to run a successful retreat in today\u2019s wired, overworked world? Mary Byers, CAE, recommends four tips. Read to find out what they are.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/successful-retreat-secrets-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Mary-Byers-FullShot.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Mary Byers, CAE"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/","name":"Association Adviser","description":"Leadership Strategies &amp; Best Practices for Association Professionals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/666736cbc5a41a243cae80d478e464d1","name":"Mary Byers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5df695bc2776c76f7dfc2abbc7a8a1cc1487790b7b46dd9565fa9c34b925b79e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5df695bc2776c76f7dfc2abbc7a8a1cc1487790b7b46dd9565fa9c34b925b79e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5df695bc2776c76f7dfc2abbc7a8a1cc1487790b7b46dd9565fa9c34b925b79e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mary Byers"},"url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/author\/mary-byers\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}