What are examples of workplace retreat exercises that were actually useful/interesting?

September 17, 2009 8:03 AM

Any examples of annual retreat exercises that didn't suck?

So, somehow I got tasked (again) with planning our office's annual retreat meeting. This is probably because I was the loudest complainer for the previous two retreats which were ungodly wastes of time. Having managed last year's I know planning is the key and I wanted to get a head start now.

But have any of you had experiences with exercises at retreats like this that were interesting, engaging and not complete wastes of time?

We are a non-profit organization of roughly 40 people. We have the standard spread of demographics (we're not some under-35 startup or over-60 knitting circle), and I am at a loss.

Exercises can just be about having fun, about learning about each other, discovering each other's skills, problem-solving, teamwork, etc. I just hate the idea that I've inherited a program that will suck as bad as before I was involved.

Any help?

posted by rev- to Work & Money (12 answers total)

Don't do any exercises you cannot bring back to the office. I have no idea what you do. If you can provide, maybe we can suggest some activities.
posted by parmanparman at 8:12 AM on September 17, 2009

I was at one last weekend and had a great time. We had 30 people and the focus was on having fun together with a little bit of marketing brainstorming thrown in.

This was my favorite: as a getting-to-know-each-other exercise, we had to write down 3 things about ourselves on index cards. One of those things had to be a lie. The cards were gathered up and one person read them aloud, one by one. The rest of us had to guess who each card was written by, and then we had to guess which of the three statements was the lie. If you have a good-humoured group, it's great fun. Especially after everyone's had a few drinks.
posted by kitcat at 8:20 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh - and on a high school retreat way back, we all had to teach one person one skill that we had and they did not. I can still shuffle and deal cards like a pro...
posted by kitcat at 8:25 AM on September 17, 2009

Response by poster: We're an alumni association for a large midwest public university. We run events (student, career, networking, learning, travel, athletic), publish magazines and newsletters, and help schools and colleges run their alumni efforts.

Thanks again for your help!
posted by rev- at 8:28 AM on September 17, 2009

The best thing ever I've got from a company-retreat was when we took a First Aid-course with a qualified instructor. Working in small teams it was both a get-to-know-you-activity and a very-good-to-know-thing in our everyday lifes.
posted by Rabarberofficer at 8:35 AM on September 17, 2009 [2 favorites]

What sucked about previous retreats?

Also, consider that group activities are absolute nightmares for introverts (*cough*), so unless everyone's used to talking in front of a group, consider something active, like a game that doesn't require talking. (Bowling?) Let people opt out of it without being made to feel weird. We have a workplace picnic next week and I'm dreading it so much I might take one of the few sick days I have left.
posted by desjardins at 8:52 AM on September 17, 2009

This sounds cheesy, but I liked it, and I'm very skeptical about retreats and their activities.

My supervisor (small college Institutional Advancement VP) subscribes to the philosophy "you are your own CEO." So for an exercise, she had us come up with our own company names and mission statements for our little corners of the IA department, which we shared with the group.

I found it oddly engaging (granted, I'm relatively new to the school and to IA in general so it was really rather refreshing to get a clear, compact statement of what my co-workers actually DID, since our department is oddly segregated in some ways). However, our department is about a quarter the size of yours so you may need to break up the exercise somehow (sub-group sharing?).
posted by dlugoczaj at 8:53 AM on September 17, 2009 [2 favorites]

This question about facilitating a visioning session was slightly different, but you might some really helpful responses in it.

I think it would be helpful to know what the purpose for the retreat is. First - does it have one? If not, define one. Otherwise it is nothing more than wasted time. The purpose can be anything, even if it's just bonding, but it should be (a) in response to a specific need in the workplace, and (b) set out clearly for everyone to see before the activities, so that whether or not the purpose was fulfilled can be openly evaluated.
posted by Miko at 9:45 AM on September 17, 2009

Here's an activity I really enjoyed at one of our past all-hands meetings (about the same number of people and age-range as your group, located around the world but together for one week): before the meeting, everyone submitted two facts about themselves to a central coordinator. (Obscure facts, not something people would know right away about the person.) On the first day of the meeting, we were given sheets with all the facts on them, and we had to match up which facts went with which person. The fun part was that we had all day to work on it, so as you mingle with different groups of people, you can glean answers from them. So in my opinion the goal wasn't really to learn these pieces of trivia, but to talk to a bunch of people over the course of the day and share thoughts.
posted by LolaGeek at 9:53 AM on September 17, 2009

I agree with Miko that you need to have a purpose to the retreat, otherwise, it's going to be hap-hazard. If it's an annual thing, have a different focus each year.

I strongly suggest you look into hiring a facilitator/coordinator - a professional who already knows lots of activities and techniques and can craft a program for you in a way that's more meaningful than cheesy.
I'm mostly familiar with Massachusetts organizations, but both Project Adventure and Outward Bound Professional are international organizations through which you could find a local facilitator who can figure out your needs and put together a program that can have lasting meaning for your organization. They may not have offices in Wisconsin, but they may still have contacts near Madison.

I think the money you spend on a facilitator will be worth it if it means transforming a waste of time into a valuable experience.

If you just want games, here's an amazing index.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 10:59 AM on September 17, 2009 [2 favorites]

At one previous company, our retreats tended to be our opportunity to turn off the phones and let the various teams break off to recap successes & failures of the previous year, and lay out goals for the next. At the end of each day each group would give a brief recap to the rest of the company.

Speaking strictly from my own personal experience, "team building exercises" for their own sake have a tendency to be excruciatingly Michael Scott-like. If you organize some kind of friendly team competition, make it something totally amiable like bowling or miniature golf - not something potentially cutthroat like paintball!

If it's a weekend retreat, try to make sure the company adequately expresses its gratitude to its employees for giving up their weekends by taking them someplace nice... and if possible schedule as much "go have fun" time as "corporate navel-gazing time."
posted by usonian at 1:01 PM on September 17, 2009

Make something.

Make food.

Making things is creative.

Food brings people together.

I feel like if you could divide people into fun teams and competitively Iron Chef something out that would be pretty cool.

(I also always suggest "make something" for 6-year-olds' birthday parties too, so feel free to take this as seriously as you want to. Only in their case it would be playdoh necklaces or something.)
posted by twins named Lugubrious and Salubrious at 6:32 PM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]