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Retreats Are No Place for Clowns

Group of clowns

Four bad attitudes that kill a partner meeting. Plus notes on location and scheduling.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Retreats

The success of any retreat depends upon active participation by the  majority of the participants.

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Participants will be less willing to speak up in any of these situations:

  1. Participants see the meeting as being primarily for the benefit of the one who leads it.
  2. Participants are intimidated by the way the leader conducts the sessions.
  3. Certain participants dominate discussions, using up a greatly disproportionate percentage of the “air time” of the group.
  4. Participants are intimidated because one or two partners, usually power partners, are always negative, repeatedly telling people “that will never work” or “we tried that years ago and it failed.”

All participants should be advised: “If you keep on being negative or insisting that ideas won’t work, then suggest a better way or shut up.”