For the past several years during the month of April, Jake and Kate land in our backyard fishpond.  Kate nests near-by and Jake goes out to forage. Early in the morning and evening, during the nesting period, Kate comes back for a dip in the pond and looks for the food we put out for her. We look forward to our Spring visitors as we know Summer is just around the corner and the flowers will soon bloom. We believe our back yard has become Jake and Kate's private resort for a Spring Retreat as they prepare for their off-spring. Once the ducklings have hatched Kate trots them off to a bigger pond. Jake and Kate are only with us for a short but a very productive time.  

Spring is a great time to renew your business with a Strategic Planning Retreat. A Strategic Planning Retreat is a short and productive time away from your busy place of business to look back at what your organization has accomplished over the past year and to look ahead and set new goals for the future. Here are six ingredients to prepare for a successful Strategic Planning Retreat. 

Be clear about its purpose

A Strategic Planning Retreat is an opportunity for a business leadership team, board members, management and selected personnel to focus their energies on such areas as organizational renewal, strategic and long-range planning, values clarification, new policy directions and macro change requirements. In most instances a Strategic Planning Retreat sets the direction for change. If change is not on the agenda, then the retreat is all about continuing the "same old stuff." And, if that is the case the planners are dealing with the present and extending what the business is "doing" today into the future, rather than peering into the future and making changes to achieve higher levels of success.  

Clarify who is involved

It is important to view a Strategic Planning Retreat as a fundamental requirement for the continued growth of the business or not-for-profit organization. It is an on-going process and not a one-time event. The leadership team must be committed to the process and dedicated to subsequently lead and manage the results of the retreat.  

Key people required for a retreat include: Business Owners, Board Members, Executive and Senior Managers from all departments, and, others as deemed necessary for the success of the retreat. Small organizations include most of their employees.  

Preparation

Planning for a retreat begins several weeks and often months in advance. Tag someone with the responsibility to scan the environment for information that will impact the organization in the long term. This person scans newspapers, magazines, news bulletins, industry literature; and looks for legislative or regulatory changes, industry developments, public policy issues, changes within the marketplace, competitive and collaborative activities, research developments, and pressures within the organization. The information is collated and sent out to the attendees with the expectation that they will read it and come to the retreat prepared.  

Depending on the size of your organization, it is also advisable to identify: a) an internal coordinator for administrative purposes with authority to book facilities, arrange for lodging and meals, set up rooms and order special requirements; and b) someone who is an objective outsider with strong facilitative skills who will enable full participation of the attendees and guide the process to a successful conclusion. 

Timing

The best time for a Strategic Retreat is at least two months before preparation of an annual budget. This allows the leadership team to incorporate the new initiatives and change requirements identified at the retreat into the budgeting process. If this is a first retreat, then hold it at least three months in advance of the budget planning cycle. 
The length of the planning retreat could last up to two and one-half days. The length of the retreat depends on the numbers in attendance, whether the retreat is a first, the size of the organization and the change issues that need to be resolved.  

Location 

Planning retreats are best held outside of the office complex. This frees those in attendance from unplanned interruptions and distractions. The location should lend itself to informality; the room set up should allow for all those in attendance to see each other, such as a horseshoe seating arrangement; and there should be opportunity for small group breakout sessions and for fresh air walks. 

Our best retreats are held in park settings and resorts. However, It is critically important to remember that this is not a vacation. It is a short, intensive working session that requires concerted individual and team mental effort. 

Requirements

The attendees bring their creative intelligence and any documents circulated to them in advance to the planning session. As a back-up, the coordinator should make sure that there is at least: one copy of all materials that were sent out in advance, a copy of the previous year's planning document, an organizational chart and any other documents describing the organization and its intention. 

What to do 

Learn from Jake and Kate who annually home in on their Spring Retreat and make it a practice to renew your business with a Planning Retreat every year. It will pay dividends for you including: 
  

• Renewed direction for the organization 
• Improved communication at all levels of the organization 
• Clarified roles and responsibilities 
• Strengthened teamwork  
  
• Revised direction for marketing, resource requirements and performance measurements  
  
• New strategies for growth, 
• Identified areas for improved process efficiencies and policy effectiveness 

Auther: Richard Fontanie MSW, FCMC
Up-dated from Fontanie Learning March 1, 2018

During my career as a social worker I had the privilege of working with many individuals who found ways to overcome adversity. However, it is with my work as a business coach and consultant  where I gained the greatest insight about people overcoming tremendous odds. This work spans over 30 years and included working with over 180 Start-Up businesses. 
 
I have worked with business men and women who turned their backs on addiction, poverty, depression, and unemployment. Some were mothers and fathers who deeply desired to give their children a loving and secure home even though they became mothers and fathers too soon; and others had dropped out of school at an early age only to return at a latter age. 
 
These were people who, in most instances, did not come from privileged backgrounds. They were unable to obtain bank loans, lacked financial resources and had no angels to back them.  They were people who are often viewed as individuals who don't succeed in our society. Yet they did, and continue to do so. 

As I reflect on my work with these business men and women I have tried to garner lessons about what sets them apart. Their life stories point to several common themes which I believe are the stepping stones to their success, and which are signposts for all of us who strive to better ourselves in business, at work and in life. Here are six of those signposts. 
 
1. They made a clear choice. They made a choice to rise above their perceived limitations, and the limitations others placed on them. This was fundamental to their new-found freedom. As one couple told me, “we decided that we were not going to live like my parents and siblings. We were not going to live in poverty, and the only way we could see ourselves out of that 'jungle' was by choosing to move out of it and making a commitment to stay out of it. It wasn’t easy. It still isn’t, but we did it and we continue to do so.” 
 
2. They took control of their lives with a sense of hope and optimism.  They didn’t like talking about their past. Some were willing to share their story to those who lived in situations similar to the the one they had left so that they could be a role model for them. They were future focused, optimistic and full of hope. At times, some were slow to trust, but when they did they trusted whole heartily. They were not concerned about the downturns in the economy, because they knew they had reached their own bottom and had dug themselves out of it. When others talked about economic troubles they reflected on what they had overcome and understood what it meant to struggle through adversity. However, like most successful business people their optimism was also tempered with caution. They watched their pennies. They didn’t want to lose what they had gained.
 
3. They had a deep belief or faith in a power beyond themselves. Many of them were not religious or church-going people but they often pointed to a conversion or a healing process that was beyond their own making. Their stories were told both with a sense of humility and a sense of awe that can be described as “I have been blessed and I am thankful to be in a space where I am today, especially when I think about the bleak future I once faced.” 
 
4. They had a sense of determination and tenacity born from overcoming a difficult time in their lives. They were concerned about slipping back, but that concern seemed to push them ahead. They were single minded and unwilling to let the challenges that confronted them, win. Their sense of determination and tenacity was often expressed in ways that affirmed their optimism such as:  “been there, got the T-shirt, so this is just one more challenge to overcome;" or, “We face the world with optimism, we will overcome this too;" and, in a more vernacular language, ”sh*t happens. Let’s get on with it. I’m a determined bu**er, you know.” 
 
5. They were eager to learn. They didn't pretend to know everything about their business. Sure, they made mistakes, mostly from a place of "unknowing" rather than from a position of “knowing it all.” They were grateful when a coach or a mentor came along to assist them with difficult decisions.  They also surrounded themselves with people who compensated for their weaknesses. A common comment from them was, "I employ people smarter than me."  Something that I often hear from most successful business people. 
 
Openness to learning was one of the criteria our firm used when we screened those who wanted to start a business. Our experience and assessments determined that this was one of the essential ingredients for their success. It was also one of the most telling markers when we reviewed why they failed. Those that didn't make it unfortunately didn’t learn from their mistakes, read, or seek out a coach or mentor, and in general they thought they knew all.  
 
6. They rejected toxic influences and celebrated their journey. Many faced one of their most difficult decisions - to escape from the milieu that pulled them down. For some this meant leaving a dysfunctional family, siblings, and/or relatives; for others, it meant turning away from so-called friends they knew for most of their lives. They had to make that hard decision and not to look back. They knew that if they didn’t reject these people they couldn’t improve their lot in life. More than one individual said (and I'm paraphrasing), “it wasn’t easy leaving family and friends behind, but if I didn’t I would be in the ‘hell’ they are in now.” 
 
The most successful of these business men and women learned to become comfortable within themselves. They continue to project a humble self-confidence, give back to their community, have become role models for others, and often celebrate their difficult journey on the road less traveled.  
 
None of them are saints, and all of them have weaknesses just like the rest of us.  I have been enriched by knowing them, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for what they have accomplished in their lives and in their businesses. 
 
“I shall be telling this with a sigh 
Somewhere in ages and ages hence; 
Two roads diverged in the wood, and I -  
I took the one less traveled by. 
And that has made all the difference.” 
Robert Frost, from The Road Not Taken. 

Thanks for Reading
Richard P. Fontanie MSW. FCMC