Leadership Forum Report: MPs Leading Partner Retreats

Our most recent Leadership Forum Question was:  How can a managing partner run an effective partner retreat?

Here is a response from Marc Rosenberg:

Two main ways:

1. Observe best practices of leading a retreat, regardless if one is the MP or an outside facilitator:

• Retreats are for brainstorming and resolving big and/or sensitive problems. A retreat is not a partner meeting, which is more operational and routine in nature.
• Prepare an agenda that includes the key, sensitive issues that need to be addressed.
• Encourage participants to be open and honest with each other, without fear of being ridiculed or penalized for speaking their mind.
• Don’t allow anyone to dominate.
• No cell phones turned on during the retreat. The devices should never be on the table.
• Conclude each agenda topic with goals and responsibilities assigned for each goal.
• Conclude the retreat with a written summary that highlights the action steps to be taken and by whom.

2. Exploit the advantages an MP has over an outside facilitator but avoid the cardinal pitfalls as well:

A. Advantages:

• Many MPs are good meeting leaders, skilled at getting participation from most and preventing domination by a few.
• Many MPs know the personalities of the various partners and are better skilled at managing their behavior.
• MPs know their firm better than any outsider. Note – this can be a detriment.
• There may be some issues that the MP has been working on for months, perhaps years. An outside facilitator doesn’t have the perspective and familiarity of the issues and may drive the resolution in the wrong direction.

B. Cardinal pitfalls:

• If you are an MP that dominates and intimidates, then honesty and openness by attendees will be very difficult.
• If you are an MP that tends to lecture the troops and is uncomfortable seeking group consensus, honesty and openness will be next to impossible.
• Those who are more an admin MP than a true chief executive, he/she may not have the ability to confront obstinate partners who rarely embrace change.