Planning a Successful Board Retreat

by Elizabeth Simpson, do good Consulting

A board retreat can be anticipated with dread or delight, depending on how engaging and useful it promises to be. The most common flaw in any agenda is a failure to fully address time, leading to an experience that leaves the board feeling haggard and stressed. What looks great on paper can be impossible in practice! The usual culprits are meals, breaks, transition time, and over-scheduling. When reviewing an agenda, walk yourself through each action, imagining how long each aspect will take. Be sure to buffer all this time with extra time – it’s better to end earlier than run later.

Here are some tried and true aspects to consider for each:

Scheduling

• Make the experience relevant: Nothing makes a person feel more irrelevant than if what they experience would have been exactly the same if they weren't there, or if they are exactly the same after attending. Make sure the activities planned aren't redundant to your board's previous experiences and that they address the board's current concerns. Consider a pre-retreat survey to assess what the board seeks from their time together.
• Value those involved: In a retreat, group cohesion is a primary goal. It is imperative that each member walk away understanding at least one reason why each other member is an asset to the group. Prioritize brainstorming and dialog formats to provide ample opportunity for board members to learn from one another.

• Check resources: If there are 30 people and only two facilities, bathroom breaks must be longer. Is a smoking area needed? A place to make calls? Is there internet access?
  
• Value recharging time: Amazing ideas come to people during in-between moments like being in the shower. Allow for mental breaks to recharge attention. Taking this sort of time will maximize the effectiveness of the other sessions.

• Think geographically: How far away is one session from another? Schedule time enough that the slowest member of your group won't be late. Anticipate and provide assistance for those who need it.

• If your event is catered: What sort of set up and clean up arrangement is needed? Will you be eating in the same room you are meeting in? How will this impact your schedule?
• If you are ordering in: Choose a restaurant with a variety of foods and distribute the menu to the attendees ahead of time. Call the order in that morning so it is ready and delivered at the specified time. Be sure to plan for napkins, condiments, utensils, drinks, trash, and service ware.
• If you plan to dine out: Decide ahead of time on a location, preferably within walking distance or a short ride away. Count heads and make reservations. If this option is chosen, it should be the culmination of the event, as once attendees leave a meeting site, it is difficult for them to return to meeting mode.

For help planning your board retreat, or for a trained, professional facilitator for your retreat, contact do good Consulting at dogood@dogoodconsulting.org or 217-778-1687.

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do good Consulting is seeking resumes from passionate, high-energy, community-oriented individuals looking for part-time accounting work. We need assistance in the office for 2-4 hours per week (during normal business hours) to assist with accounts receivable and payable, file and process invoices and taxes, code and match invoices and receipts, some data entry; limited payroll, and report creation.

We are seeking individuals for our team who have outstanding time management skills and consider themselves big picture thinkers and visionaries. All applicants must be highly efficient people interested in making a difference and have outstanding organizational and communication skills. Must be adept at anticipating needs and be highly motivated, resourceful, self-directed, and detail-oriented.

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To apply: Submit resume, cover letter, short writing sample, and rate requirements electronically to dogood@dogoodconsulting.org by 31 October 2007. Interviews will be held on an as-needed basis until the perfect candidate is found.

Group Profile: Grand Prairie Friends

by Jennifer Knapp, do good Consulting

Since 1984 Grand Prairie Friends has worked to preserve and maintain the native prairies that have been growing in Illinois for thousands of years. According to Jamie Ellis, the group’s President, these ancient prairies are part of the reason the soils in Illinois are so productive.

While prairies used to dominate the local landscape, only a fraction remain today. Enter Grand Prairie Friends. Their mission is to “preserve and restore natural communities in east-central Illinois and promote an understanding and appreciation of natural resources.” Currently, the group has its sights set on a specific piece of land for preservation.

About 30 miles north of Champaign-Urbana sits the quiet town of Loda. Just north of town, and just north of the town cemetery, is a three-acre plot of unplowed original prairie. The roots of these plants were never disturbed; chemicals never applied to their leaves. The patch of land is pure, untouched, original Illinois tall grass prairie.

“This is very rare in Illinois,” explains Ellis. “Those three acres have more diverse native plants and insects than miles and miles of surrounding land.”

The group has set out to purchase nine acres surrounding this valuable and exceptional site to minimize the damage that invasive weeds and chemical drift have on the native species.

Grand Prairie Friends has set out to raise $40,000 by November 15 – the date they plan close on the property. Fundraising efforts are gaining steam, but more donations are needed to make this extraordinary purchase.

To help Grand Prairie Friends preserve this unique land or to learn more, go to www.prairienet.org/gpf. Or send your contribution to PO Box 36, Urbana, IL 61803. Said Ellis in a recent interview: “This project is better than any of us can imagine. If we could come back 50 years later and see what we’ve created I think we would all be amazed and delighted.” Join Grand Prairie Friends and be a part of history today.