Offsite retreats give your team an opportunity to break away from the daily grind, reassess your strategies, and set meaningful goals. They don’t have to be three-day extravaganzas at high-end resorts; they can be as simple as a half-day on your back patio.
Highly functional teams tend to leverage these as a way to celebrate their successes, learn from their failures, and set the stage for a prosperous year ahead. Over the years we’ve facilitated countless offsites and thought it would be helpful to share with you a sample agenda. Of course, you’ll want to customize this, but it’s a great place to start!
Pre-work Assignment:
- Identify one project, business change, or activity that worked well for the team last year.
- Identify one area where you feel the team can most improve in the coming year.
- Identify one quality you most admire about each team member.
Ice Breaker:
- Each person shares the one project, business change, or activity that worked well.
Goal Setting:
- What is our one-year client acquisition goal?
- Where do we see ourselves in five years?
- What could get in the way of reaching these goals?
Business Development:
- What is our ideal client in terms of assets, life stage, and other criteria?
- Where are the biggest opportunities to attract ideal clients to our practice?
- What could go into a marketing scorecard to measure our actions?
- What would we like to accomplish with digital marketing in the coming year?
- Are there ways to better highlight our team members through video or podcasting?
Client Service:
- What are examples of businesses (non-financial) that provide exceptional service?
- Are there refinements that need to be made to our top client service model?
- How could we better systematize the little things? (lunches, handwritten notes, etc.)
- What in-person client events should we host in the coming year?
Wealth Management:
- Where are our weak spots in providing comprehensive wealth management?
- What new products or services can we explore for the benefit of our clients?
- What changes should we anticipate to our portfolios in the coming year?
- Are there new investment-related technologies we should embrace?
Team Development:
- How would each of us describe the team’s vision, mission, and values?
- How could we better understand and adapt to each other’s personality styles?
- Are there elements of our team meetings and performance reviews that need work?
- What team-building activities would be fun and productive in the coming year?
Personal Development:
- What is one specific area you’d like to improve in the coming year, professionally?
- What is one specific area you’d like to improve in the coming year, personally?
- What can we do to encourage and support each other’s growth?
Offsites are great for taking a step back, seeing the bigger picture, and getting excited about your goals. They’re not just about the numbers, but about getting to know each other better, learning, and growing. If you haven’t planned one yet, this is your cue to get started!