A Team Blueprint Retreat
What Is It?
One of the most important tools ANY company/team can have is a team planning retreat.
- If you haven’t planned YOUR event, next year will be "more of the same" as this year. Will that really work for you?
But who has time to figure out logistics and make a plan to schedule everything?
I love doing offsites with teams like yours.
Who is it for?
Are you a senior leader of your company, or an Engineering leader overseeing a team or teams? Do you need your people to commit to goals and actually get them done without getting burned out?
What do I get?
A simple one stop shop for creating a helpful, memorable, positive experience with your team.
What kinds of things can we get done in an event like this?
- Goal setting/Goal commitment
- Group Decision making (even difficult issues)
- Dealing with Disagreements
- Gaining Alignment
- Team Building
- A Simple Method of Accountability.
Let’s talk.
I can help you with your easiest planning event ever. This is a simple "done for you" process, not another project to add to your list.
Pick your best time for a callHow do I know this is for me? Do you ever hear yourself say things like:
- Our team delivers, but we argue a lot, and that wastes time
- We have strong opinions about what could be done, but we have trouble getting on the same page.
- We deliver, but it takes heroic effort on the part of a few team members (or more than a few.)
- We have lots of pressure to ship before things are ready, and we take shortcuts.
- We have a collection of experts, but we don't work as a team
- People agree to do things, but then "life happens" and we miss our targets.
Let's talk about your team!
Pick your best time for a callIs this really right for me?
What if your team was REALLY performing at its best?
If you're reading this, I believe that you're the kind of person who wants to be the respected leader of a high performing technical team.
How to "Herd the Cats"
To reach that, you need to have great skills in "cat herding" your highly skilled experts to be willing to agree on what needs to be done, set correct priorities and work together as a team to deliver the kind of great results you know they are capable of delivering. The problem is that engineers don't herd. They are often aloof, focused on their portion of the problem and passionate that their way is the only right way of getting things done.
When they won't work together
Worse, they often disagree about approach or priority and that leaves you feeling like you're in quicksand. As a coping mechanism, they often engage in what I call the "cloud of confusion" where they dish out deeply technical reasons that may or may not be related to the actual problem, (but it may get you to quit bothering them).
It shouldn't be this hard
It's just wrong that it has to be this hard. When you have smart people, good technology and good business problems, things should go more smoothly, shouldn't they?
I've been there, and I can relate. But at the end of the day, you're accountable to get these "cats" to work together, and to deliver great technical solutions.
We can do it! (And make it easy for you!)
That's where a BrightHill Group Blueprint Planning retreat can bring your group of experts together and turn them into a team with a shared mission, shared goals and a willingness to work together.
Your Questions Answered
- Is it too good to be true? That's what one client was concerned about. They oversaw a distributed team of technical experts who often ignored each other or even undermined other experts in the process of achieving their goals. We put together a planning retreat for them where some of them met face to face for the very first time. Afterward that team reported "We came as strangers and we left as friends."
- What if we can't be in the same place? Out team is distributed and we don't have the budget for an in person session. During Covid we all learned to adapt to deal with remote work, didn't we? I did that, too. We can put together a fully remote experience for your team that can deliver great results as well.
- But I don't have budget for this.
- You don't?
- Are you sure?
- How much is the waste and rework costing you?
- What if this workshop could speed up your team even one sprint by eliminating that much rework? That could more than pay for the event.
- Additionally, you might want to check out my resource "Finding Budget for a Team Offsite"
- How much will this cost?
- Of course, it depends on many factors. We can accommodate many different options for you, but you'll likely need to plan on $10-$15k for your custom experience. Cost depends on logistics, number of participants and duration of the event.
- What will it cost you if you DON'T do it?
Let's talk
Pick your best time for a callI still think I can do this myself
Why a Professional Facilitator Is Better Than Doing it Yourself
You’ll set the goals, the agenda and tone for the event, but having me as a facilitator will help with
- Setting and maintaining ground rules – CEOs, senior leaders or internal surrogates may find it challenging to manage those boundaries without stepping in politically sensitive areas – as an outsider, I can avoid that
- Assigning and following up on pre-event and post-event homework – because I’m outside the “day to day” in your company, I can make sure that team members do their fair share and follow up on the commitments that they make.
- Ensure that everyone participates – that’s a key component of success – diverse input, communication and collaboration. I can get everyone talking, and stop certain people from dominating the discussion. (You know who we’re talking about.)
- Cultivating teamwork – I can plan activities and partner people together to get the process going
- Keeping track of the output – I can make sure that we have clear and concise follow ups from the session