To get your planning team thinking strategically, open your first morning with this thought-provoking question: "For our organization to be successful, we must be especially good at the following activities..."

1. ____________________________________
2. ____________________________________
3. ____________________________________

Ask everyone in the room to first spend a few moments thinking about the question and jotting down their answers (no more than three). Then, have each person read their own answers aloud. Next discuss any differences of opinion. When your managers arrive at a consensus, record the group's final answers on a flip-chart easel pad.

This is an important first-morning exercise. For in developing a short list of "activities we've got to be especially good at," each of your managers will need to think deeply about the enterprise. They'll prioritize their many suggested activities down to just a few... the few activities which are really more important than all others. They'll build consensus on those few which are unforgiving of mediocrity. They'll agree on "what it takes to win" in your specific business. You'll find that this exercise offers an excellent "warm up" to your retreat.

You'll find that maintaining a reminder list on a flip-chart easel pad will be of great benefit. Whenever a topic arises which would better fit at a later time on your agenda, jot that topic down on the reminder list. By doing so, you'll confirm your promise to return to that item. Since you officially added the topic to your "group memory," your planning team won't need to worry about trying to remember it. You'll relax all of those who are interested in discussing that topic. As you move from one agenda item to the next, briefly review your reminder list, looking for items appropriate to your up-coming discussions.

Also begin each morning with a review of the items on your reminder list and of all the other notes you’ve recorded on the prior days of your retreat. This review will serve to refresh your managers’ memory about the issues they've already discussed. The purpose of reviewing isn't to rehash old conversations. Instead, it's to confirm the decisions your group has already made... "Yes, we still feel comfortable with the objectives we earlier set."

An occasional item, however, will stir additional conversation. Someone will want to revisit an earlier discussion. To modify a statement previously listed. To suggest an item be removed from a list. Or an additional item to be added. No surprise. For your managers have had an evening or two to reflect on the lists they earlier developed. Another thought simply came to mind. That's fine.

In fact, you should encourage such reflective thinking. Make it clear in your opening remarks, on the first morning of your retreat, that you'll be reviewing each list each day. That way, your managers won't feel that each statement has quite so much finality. They'll feel more comfortable. And they'll be able to improve any list through additional reflective thinking. You'll end up with better results from your retreat.

During the final hour of your retreat, ask your managers two important "closing questions." First, ask them how much of what they decided at the retreat they wish to communicate with others in the organization? And with whom specifically?

Remember, it's likely that other employees will ask "what did you decide at the retreat?" So those attending the retreat will need to prepare some kind of a "story."

Your planning team has a number of opitons regarding this communication. They might decide to publish and distribute the strategic plan... to some, or to all employees. Or they might decide to have one large meeting with a "dog and pony show" where the key managers stand up and make a presentation.

Or, your planning team might decide on a series of smaller meetings following the chain of command. Each manager could talk with their own direct reports, adding their own individual inputs, and perhaps distributing a written summary of the plan.

Clearly, there's no right or wrong way to communicate the results of the retreat. The "correct" method will depend on the content of your resultant plan, your company's size and organizational structure, and its specific culture.

The second critical closing question you should ask is, “How can we make sure we accomplish the strategies we've just developed?” Your planning team can set up a system to monitor progress on your objectives and strategies. A review at each of your management committee meetings may suffice. More likely though, employees other than those attending the retreat will also be involved in implementing the strategies. So your monitoring system will need to involve those individuals as well. Here again, no "right or wrong." Just so you keep your strategies "alive" in the minds of those who must implement them.