Whether a “Retreat” or “Summit” Plan Now!

Back in the 1980s before there were endless blogs and articles detailing the dos and don’ts of corporate holiday party behavior, I made one of the colossal blunders that probably ranks No. 1 or No. 2 on anyone’s list. Somewhere between my third and fifth glass of wine, I openly criticized a strategic decision to the owner of the company - in this case a B-to-B publishing house.

The scenario went something like this: I wanted to know what one of the (highly overpaid) group publishers did exactly, as he always seemed to be in his office reading the sports pages, improperly  flirting with anything of the female persuasion and little else. The CEO explained that when they needed help in the Chicago office, Jim (not his real name) was there to straighten the mess out. In reality what had happened is the office was arguably 40-50 percent overstaffed and sadly, people needed to be let go. So, in essence, his job consisted of hopping in a first class seat on United to the Windy City and handing 8-10 people pink slips.

Fueled by a cheap Merlot, I told the CEO that if Jim’s entire contribution and exorbitant salary was predicated on firing people, that I could have done the exact same thing and far less expensively. Although as memory serves, I doubt I put it in quite those diplomatic terms.

I didn’t receive a merit raise for three years and to this day I’m fairly certain that it was not coincidence.

But I digress.

We didn’t have the advantage of structured company retreats back then, not that the Dilbert-style management of the company would have availed themselves of one had it been presented. But  hopping back to the present, just prior to the onslaught of tax season is probably the right  time for CPA firms to begin outlining major strategic issues that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later and set aside some dates for a firm retreat.

(Okay I know it’s chic nowadays to refer to it as a “summit” but I don’t share the bad connotation some feel when labeling it a “retreat”).

So whether it’s admission of a new partner, a potential acquisition, client evaluation, upgrading your IT systems or even expansion, one of the most effective ways to tackle it is transporting the partners and key staff to a neutral venue where distractions are kept at a minimum. It’s probably not a bad idea to consider having a third-party facilitate the meeting as well, someone who can moderate the discussions with an objective viewpoint.

If issues are left on the table too long without a decision, there just might be some uninhibited employee who will wander in your office and tell you just what needs to be done.

And it won’t feel like a party.