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Special Report:
A planning retreat for your group offers an excellent chance for the practice to set
long-range goals for the organization. The following are some suggestions and
considerations to improve the preparation for any retreat.
Meeting Dates: The meeting
should be at a time when all physicians and the manager can attend. This may involve the
group obtaining call coverage from others. Although this can be a challenge, it can be
done (and has been done by many other groups).
Meeting Times: For long-range
planning retreats, it is likely that you will need 1 to 2 weekend days for your retreat.
There are many ways such times can be arranged, but what seems to work best is an all day
meeting on Saturday, and an all or partial day on Sunday. Our experience is that the group
tends to work better in the mornings and loses energy in the late afternoons.
Retreat Locations: We suggest
the group consider a location other than the group's offices. If the retreat is held at
the practice office, it is difficult to focus on the long-range, and difficult to
"round-up" the physicians after a break.
Off-site locations can range from in-town hotel conference rooms, to resort areas out
of town. Some groups use facilities on local college campuses, while others use conference
rooms at one of the hospitals they cover. The main criteria to look for include:
- Is the location acceptable to the physicians?
- Can the location handle the meals and other logistics for the retreat? Have they had
experience doing this for others?
- Is the cost reasonable?
The meeting location should allow the physicians to meet in smaller subgroups for
several sections of the retreat. This is accomplished by either having breakout rooms or a
large enough meeting room that the smaller groups can meet and not disturb each other.
-
Meeting Arrangements: You should arrange the following with
the meeting location:
- Meals and Refreshments: Groups usually offer a continental breakfast, a
mid-morning coffee refill, lunch, and a mid-afternoon break. If the meeting times are
structured to run through dinner, it is also normally arranged.
- Visuals: The facility should provide two or three flip chart easels with pads
and markers.
- Writing Materials: Either you or the facility should provide notepads and pens
for the physicians.
As you might expect, our knowledge in this area is based on the fact that Latham
Consulting Group has substantial experience in assisting medical groups with developing
long range plans through our Strategic Planning
and Facilitation Services.
If we can provide assistance or answer any questions you might have, please contact us
at 704/365-8889 or e-mail us at wlatham@lathamconsulting.com.
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