As a communicator, I always find management retreats are a field of flowers - and landmines.
Flowers: there is never a better opportunity to take measure of the important performance markers for your organization:
past and ongoing corporate priorities
the senior executives’ policy, program and organizational obsessions
the particular management and performance concerns of your boss and/or the head of your agency
A management retreat also offers the opportunity to:
improve your personal relationship with the other managers through side meetings
identify opportunities where your team can add value to other managers’ work
demonstrate the ongoing value of your comms shop and secure your financial and human resources
establish comms as a top-line priority
Landmines: if you don’t remain alert and participate throughout the management retreat, you can end up bearing a heavy burden:
it is very easy to say that communications is an essential component of every organizational priority - and that leaves you responsible for everyone’s success
realizing that there are poisoned relationships between your key contacts and senior management
falling victim to budget “restructuring”
harming your professional reputation through heavy drinking
In addition, most communicators spend their every day with their head buried in operational detail: we have little time to look at the larger management priorities.
This can be a tremendous risk for communications manager, especially at a management retreat. You have to arrive prepared, and that means being aware of:
your unit’s budget pressures
the government’s budget priorities
trends in management and performance measurement in the government
your colleague’s organizational concerns, which may be bubbling just under the surface
organizational perception of your unit’s capacity and performance
Otherwise, that landmine could end up exploding.
