A business retreat creates space for strategy, planning and the conversations that help you grow. It also creates space for the funny, unexpected moments that help people connect as humans.
One morning on our recent retreat, one of the women came downstairs for breakfast looking a little worse for wear.
At 1.30am, the people in the room next door had eight people crammed in for a party. 🤯
She showed far more patience than I would have. She eventually called concierge, who came up and sorted it out.
Problem solved.
The next evening, I popped into her room before dinner to make sure her neighbours hadn’t returned.
“If they come back, call me,” I said. “I’ll ding-dong-ditch them if I have to.”
She laughed, and suddenly we were talking about our ding-dong-ditching adventures over the years.
A childhood memory comes back
When I was growing up, ding-dong-ditching was called a knock-and-run.
You’d creep up to someone’s front door, knock as loudly as you could, then sprint away before they answered.
I was exceptionally skilled at it.
When I was about ten, my family stayed at a very fancy hotel in Singapore. I asked my dad, one of the most rule-following humans you’ll ever meet, if he wanted to do a knock-and-run.
He had no idea what I meant.
I positioned him beside a hotel room door, belted it with both fists and sprinted down the hallway laughing my head off.
Poor Dad stood there trying to decide whether to run, apologise or hand himself in.
It’s still one of my favourite memories.
That story had been tucked away in my brain for years. A noisy hotel room and an offhand comment brought the whole thing back.
The conversations that happen in person
That’s one of the things I love about a business retreat.
We do the deep business work. We talk about strategy, positioning, growth and the decisions that shape what comes next. People have honest conversations about what is working, where they feel stuck and what they want their businesses to become.
Those conversations matter.
Spending several days together also gives the spontaneous, wonderfully human moments time to emerge.
A noisy hotel room leads to a childhood story from Singapore. A faulty light switch brings back memories of playing Murder in the Dark. One person shares a story, which reminds someone else of their own.
Before long, everyone is laughing and learning things about each other that would never come up during a standard networking conversation.
Connection grows between the sessions
Business owners spend plenty of time talking about what they do.
We explain our offers, our audience and the problems we solve. We discuss revenue, marketing and the plans we have for growth.
A business retreat gives those conversations more room to develop. You eat together, walk between sessions and chat before dinner. You see the whole person behind the business.
Those shared experiences build trust. They help people feel safe enough to ask for support, share an idea or admit they are having a difficult time. They also create opportunities for conversations, collaborations and referrals to happen naturally.
A schedule can give people the structure to learn together. Time gives them the chance to know each other.
Make room for the unexpected
There is a lot of value in stepping away from your usual environment.
You gain time to think without the constant pull of emails, meetings and daily tasks. You hear different perspectives. You can look at your business from a little further away and make decisions with greater clarity.
You also remember how useful it is to laugh, tell stories and connect with people beyond their job titles.
Those moments stay with us long after the business retreat ends. They build connection beyond the usual “So, what do you do?”
So, next time you meet someone new, ask them what mischief they got up to as a kid and see where the conversation takes you.