Don’t Retreat at Your Retreat

Source: New Jersey CPA

Following are excerpts from “Going Forward with Partner Retreats.”

By Joseph A. Tarasco and Lin Kroeger

A retreat is about making tough business decisions that are based on an understanding of how the profession and the marketplace are changing and what the choices are. A retreat buys very little unless at its conclusion each person knows who must do what and that everyone is prepared to actually do what they have committed to. In other words, the partners are willing to be managed.

There should be enough time, casual interaction, and activities for participants to relax, allow thinking to develop and cultivate positive relationships. Activities might include structured processes for introducing conflicting perspectives, reviewing client feedback, rethinking market position and specialty niches, and challenging the status quo.

At retreat’s end, the firm must develop and publish its plan to enable commitment follow-up. Commitments will not be executed unless specific action steps are identified, accountability is assigned and timeframes are established.

An outside facilitator can help the planning team by conducting pre-retreat interviews. He/she can surface where core agreement and nuances deserve to be explored and where disagreements need to be examined and resolved. The facilitator can recommend discussions and structured activities for the retreat agenda making sure the meeting remains focused and the defined outcomes are achieved.

For the complete article, click here.

From New Jersey CPA, November-December 2008, “Best Practices, Going Forward with Partner Retreats.”

Joseph A. Tarasco, CPA, is president of Accountants Advisory Group, which offers practice management, marketing and human capital consulting services to accounting firms. He can be reached at [email protected]. Lin Kroeger is president of PWD Consulting, Inc., which provides consulting services for accounting and IT professionals in the areas of change management, leadership, team building and communications. Kroeger can be reached at [email protected].