A framework for a board retreat.

• Author: Demb, Ada

A retreat is a rare opportunity for the board to work at its 'game' and to achieve a new standard of performance and satisfaction.

While tennis singles is one of the snazziest individual sports, as most weekend players know, the doubles game is by far the more demanding interpersonally. When and how do you tell your partner to stop attempting (and blowing) the "just out of reach" net shots? How do you decide who takes the tricky shot down the middle of the court: you with your consistent forehand volley, or your partner with a lethal, but unpredictable, backhand? And where do you go for advice on how to improve your shots and your game?

While it may be easier to agree on the goals for a doubles team, the parallels to the board-room are not so farfetched. In both cases, for maximum performance the players need to agree on the goals, the style of play, the division of labor, who calls the shots in a crisis, and how to get help to improve the game. In both situations, the players are working -- often tiptoeing around -- the three "e's": egos, experience, and excellence.

Often the best way to attack the question of improving the game is to put yourself in a setting where that is the only topic of conversation -- thereby removing the "stigma" that accompanies evaluation. In a tennis camp, or a board retreat, the whole point of the exercise is to gain pertinent information -- to identify strengths and weakness so that you can build on the first and devise strategies for overcoming the second. The object of the game is to put aside egos and use experience to achieve excellence.

Purposes for retreats vary; the main point is to use the rare opportunity for sustained attention and interaction to accomplish something that cannot be done through regular, intermittent meetings. Successful retreats -- those that generate meaningful discussion and practical action agendas -- are carefully choreographed with specific attention to these five elements:

(1) clear goals, leading to practical and specific outcomes, (2) a focused agenda, (3) a comfortable pace allowing plenty of discussion but always moving, (4) a frank, courteous atmosphere, and (5) a setting that enables informal contact.

The opportunity for open and informal discussions allows board members to gain a fuller sense of the experience and style of colleagues and to develop their own style as a working group, rather than remaining a collection of talented senior executives.

Creating an agenda...