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Culture Retreats

Culture retreats are an opportunity to introduce and reinforce behaviors and thinking that contribute to a healthy, high performance culture. In these customized, interactive experiences, faculty and staff:

  • Explore thinking and behaviors that increase individual and organizational success.
  • Learn a common language and tools for effective interactions.
  • Gain greater understanding of each other and how to strengthen collaboration.
  • Focus on issues relevant to the department/unit and university.

Customization

Retreat leaders define the purpose and desired outcomes of every retreat. The more the leader is clear about purpose, the more relevant and focused the retreat will be. (Read more about the role of the leader.) Examples of retreat purposes include:

  • Strengthen teamwork
  • Build relationships between sections and groups
  • Communicate priorities (blue chips)
  • Discuss priorities and the most effective way forward for achieving priorities
  • Identify barriers to collaboration and determine strategies for reducing those barriers

Retreats will be one-day long, two-days long, or some other length, depending on the purpose of the retreat. Each retreat is uniquely designed to be relevant and focused on the group's needs.

What to expect if you’re attending a retreat 

Hear what faculty and staff across campus are saying about attending a culture retreat.

  • Business casual dress
  • Breaks throughout the day to provide opportunities to check in with your coworkers
  • Information about tools and mindsets to create a high-performing environment: Review a list of possible concepts covered in the retreat
  • Experiential learning and reflection on experiences
  • Interactions with partners and with the full group of retreat participants
  • Introspection on personal effectiveness and contributions to team effectiveness

 

Scheduling a retreat

Retreats for your team – Ideally, teams will attend retreats together. This allows the team to learn and apply the tools as a group. Here are some resources if you’d like to plan a culture retreat for your team.

Retreat attendees participate in one of the many interactive exercises.

Note: If you or a member of your group needs accommodation based on the impact of a disability, please contact L. Scott Lissner, ADA coordinator, at 292-6207 or lissner.2@osu.edu to discuss your specific needs, or to speak in confidence. Once arrangements have been made, please contact Renee Fawcett at 247-1847 or rfawcett@hr.osu.edu to inform the retreat facilitators.

 

Culture Facilitators

The first group of Culture Facilitators celebrates at training.

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"The changes in the Emergency Department over the past year as a result of our retreat have been palpable, as have been the results we have seen in terms of improved teamwork, staff morale, accountability, operational performance and patient satisfaction scores. Faculty, staff, and leadership from the ED recently attended a reinforcement session and left feeling invigorated, with clear goals for moving forward with our cultural change."

--Mark Moseley, Medical Director of University Hospitals Emergency Department and Clinical Decision Unit

Excellence to Eminence.
We are The Ohio State University.