Planning a highly successful law office retreat is like planning a classical ballet performance. You need to know what you’re doing, carefully choreograph it while retaining some flexibility, and then deliver it seemingly effortlessly. This is true whether the retreat is for a law firm, a practice group, an in-house counsel’s office or, for that matter, any group of professionals. For the purposes of this article, however, I will refer to a law firm, but the ideas are more generally applicable.
Although every group of lawyers practicing together is unique and every retreat is unique, nevertheless I have found the following planning process can work well:
Partner interviews. If possible, I like to have individual, confidential discussions with each partner (or other senior member of the group), before planning and facilitating a retreat. It gives me a sense of everyone’s “take” on reality, the firm’s culture, interpersonal dynamics, management preferences and the like. These conversations inform the recommendations I make, how I facilitate the retreat and give me more credibility with the key players.
Facilitated or not? If a firm has a few specific and concrete issues it wants to consider (such as whether to move or renovate premises, make some new partners, open up a satellite office etc), then the discussion can likely be handled well without a third-party facilitator. However, if the objective is to articulate and discuss longer range, more amorphous, strategic, challenging (or divisive) issues, then engaging a professional facilitator will be advantageous. Skilled facilitators can pose thorny issues neutrally, engage full participation, diffuse conflict, get all participants to do their best thinking, keep discussions focused and bring closure to matters. Further, it’s hard for a firm member to both facilitate and participate in a robust discussion.
The timing and venue. Retreats can be scheduled during the work week or over a weekend and it’s helpful to set aside a full day for the gathering. Ideally, the venue should be an attractive, restful and contemplative off-site setting with great food. We all do better thinking in beautiful places, eating great food and when we are away from the harpies of daily life.
The Agenda. Having a written and somewhat detailed agenda circulated to participants before the retreat ensures better discussion outcomes. I often recommend including the following in the agenda:
- State of the Firm Presentation. Having the managing partner, CEO or firm administrator give a general overview of the “state of the firm” (summarising the firm’s financial performance, personnel and other issues), sets the stage well for the retreat discussions.
- Outcomes for the Day. This consists of a brief facilitated discussion about what outcomes the group might ideally seek to achieve during the retreat.
- Teamwork discussion. Sometimes it can be helpful to have a short facilitated discussion about optimal collaboration and its role in strategic planning.
- Firm Goals. This usually is a facilitated discussion to articulate the firm’s strategic goals in crisp, clear wording that the group agrees upon. Typically, there will be one or two “stretch goals” and these will Inform the rest of the discussion during the day. Well crafted goals focus on achieving a particular strategic outcome with both both qualitative and quantitative benchmarks such as “By ________, the firm will diversify its practice so that ____% of firm annual revenue will be generated from each of the following practice areas (each of which practice groups will be recognised as a leader in its market area):__________”.
- Implementation. The remainder of the discussion tends to focus on the why, what, how, who and when of implementing decisions made at the retreat. During the retreat, the objective should be to drill down sufficiently into the details of implementation such that everyone leaves the retreat having a clear idea of what needs to be done and his/her role in doing it. For example, outcomes could include a commitment by each attendee to develop a personal practice development plan by a specified date. Also, I encourage the group to schedule several follow-up discussions on specific topics so that momentum will be maintained after the retreat. Although good intentions are admirable, without disciplined follow up, they are of little utility. It’s critical not to fall into that trap.
- Closing Discussion. I often encourage participants to discuss what they think worked or didn’t work well in the retreat and what changes might ideally be made in future retreats. Further, I have the group review the outcomes it initially articulated for the retreat and evaluate to what extent these outcomes were actually achieved. We also discuss what, if any, issues remain unaddressed that should be considered in later discussions.
The Delivery.
I encourage everyone to arrive at least 15 minutes before the retreat start time (for some informal discussion), but to plan to start the discussion on time. It works well to get to the point of the “implementation” portion of the agenda before lunch, including a midmorning break of about 15 minutes.
The morning session tends to be bigger picture and conceptual, whereas the afternoon session focuses on the nitty gritty of implementation. It’s helpful to intentionally drill down into the details and hold the group accountable for certain outcomes. Further it’s important to ensure that everyone actively participates (including the less senior members of the firm), to get buy-in. Many hands do make light work.
I tend to talk quite directly about the need to implement retreat decisions in a timely manner. No one gets off the hook easily. This part of the discussion can be quite “pointy” and concrete. That said, the blue sky session and reflection discussion are a great way to segue from concrete implementation back to conceptual thinking at the end of the day.
The Follow up.
Follow up is where the “rubber hits the road” in terms of differentiating a great retreat from an adequate one. Ideally, everyone should come out of the day feeling energised, seeing old stuff in new ways, and having a clear sense of direction and a strong commitment to achieving compelling goals.
As part of the follow up, it’s critical to have someone take notes during the retreat and prepare and circulate minutes to all participants as soon as possible. During the course of a retreat, I often make a lot of notes on whiteboards, and these can be incorporated into the meeting minutes.
Finally, because I encourage the partners to let everyone in the firm know that the retreat is going to be held, there is a lot of interest in what occurred at it. Accordingly, it’s a good idea either to circulate a firm wide email or have a discussion summarising what occurred and the retreat outcomes. You don’t have to go into exhaustive detail, but you do need to make sure that everybody is on board with the programme. I’m a strong believer in transparency within law firms, consistent with maintaining confidentiality where appropriate.
As with many things in life, careful planning really does make a difference. This is certainly true of law office retreats. They take some time and effort, but if you get it right, the benefits will outweigh the costs.
This article has been partially reprinted from Law Talk, the former publication of the New Zealand Law society