By Anna Yakovenko and Mouli Chakravarty

Retreats present a rare and valuable opportunity to bring together diverse stakeholders for discussion and planning. But how do you avoid common retreat pitfalls--lecture-heavy sessions, participant complaints of wasted time, no clear decision reached–and instead run an interactive session that actually achieves your set objectives?

This Toolkit will guide you through the retreat planning process, starting from 90 days before your retreat and leading you all the way through post-retreat follow up. It will help you target your aims, streamline the planning process, make your sessions more interactive, and promote transparency and action after the retreat.

Five steps to maximizing effectiveness of a retreat

1. Identify and scope your retreat objectives

Not all retreat objectives are created equal. While certain goals, such as unifying stakeholders and gathering input, are most effectively addressed through focused conversations with diverse stakeholders, other objectives can be more cost- and time-efficiently addressed through alternative channels.

In this part of the toolkit, you will:

• Define your retreat objectives
• Determine if the types and number of identified objectives are appropriate for a retreat setting
• Identify alternative channels for achieving different types of objectives

Next step: Use our Strategic Planning Retreat Decision Guide

2. Plan for and design your retreat

Streamline retreat planning by using this checklist, which guides you through 18 key steps spread across three months.

This will help you:

• Balance retreat planning with other responsibilities by setting a timeline
• Delegate ownership of parts of the retreat to a team
• Avoid missing steps that simplify planning or improve your retreat’s effectiveness

Next step: Complete our Strategic Planning Retreat Checklist

3. Prepare educational materials for attendees

Use precious retreat time to gather feedback and insights rather than to teach attendees material that could have been shared before the retreat.

This section will help you:

• Identify what types of content are best shared before, during, or after the retreat
• Select the vehicle for sharing background information that is most likely to engage your attendees
• Gain attendee buy-in for pre-retreat reading or activities

Next step: Review our Strategic Planning Retreat Education Guide

4. Select retreat exercises that advance your objectives

The most effective retreats minimize didactic lectures in lieu of sessions that elicit attendee feedback and promote collaboration across departments.

Use this guide to make your retreat sessions more outcome-driven and productive.

• Learn about seven engaging exercises that will help you solicit participant ideas and feedback in key areas
• Select which exercises will best support your retreat objectives

Next step: Read our Strategic Planning Retreat Exercise Guide

One retreat exercise used by progressive organizations is scenario planning, which leverages stakeholder expertise to anticipate and prepare for market uncertainties and multiple possible futures. This workbook guides retreat planners and participants through a scenario planning exercise by role playing competitors, patients, payers, and physicians to brainstorm responses to market changes.

This workbook will help you:

• Gauge the likelihood of different market “shocks” occurring in your market and identify early indicators of a “shock” to look for
• Anticipate stakeholder responses to market changes
• Identify proactive and reactive strategies for each potential stakeholder response

Next step: Reference our Scenario Planning Workshop Guide

5. Follow through on insights, follow-up with stakeholders

You’ve gathered valuable intel, brainstormed productive ideas, and aligned stakeholders during your retreat—don’t let the momentum end there.

In the weeks following your retreat, complete the eight steps in this part of the guide to:

• Make retreat insights actionable
• Drive accountability
• Keep participants engaged in next steps

Next step: Follow our Post-Retreat Checklist