Sitkins, who operates the Sitkins Group, Inc., insurance consultancy in Fort Myers, Florida, has invited Huval's management team to the Sunshine State as part of the agency's three-year commitment to analyze itself and focus on growing its business. Off-site planning meetings, or corporate retreats, are not new or unique to insurance agencies. Though some studies have shown that maybe a third of agencies do some sort of business plan, industry consultant Bill Schoeffler says that in practice he believes the number is much lower than that. That's a shame, says Schoeffler, because he believes that companies with business plans will be easier to manage than those without. Further, Schoeffler says he thinks that companies with plans will reach their goals more quickly than those without.
Many experts say management retreats are the best way to draft a business plan.
And it must be away from the workplace if managers have any hope of escaping telephone calls and other interruptions that come with an office environment. He says getting away from the office is especially important if you're working on trust issues, or building work teams. So you can meet on a beach in Florida, or a hunting lodge in Maine, or right around the corner at the local country club. Well, if you signed up with Roger Sitkins you'll have some time to sit on the beach and reflect. But that's a little misleading, because participants aren't just dawdling on the beach with their brains bobbing between business and surf.