Company retreats soar toward offbeat

But an increasing number of companies are abandoning clubby sporting events and corporate pleasures for off-beat activities, and along the way, they’re accomplishing important company business. Really.

“Companies are using retreats to handle things they can’t do in the everyday course of business,” said Sheila Campbell, president of retreat consulting firm Wild Blue Yonder in Maryland and author of the book “Retreats That Work.” “A lot of strategy and planning are done at retreats. Executives are also looking at corporate culture and fostering teamwork.”

Managers are turning more and more to unconventional activities to build corporate culture and group connections.

Corporate team-building has made up about half of the client base at Grape Expectations, a four-month-old wine-making business in Henderson.

About 15 businesses, including construction companies, law firms, car dealerships and Strip resorts, have held group events at Grape Expectations’ 3,200-square-foot wine-making school at 1971 Whitney Mesa Drive. There, they start with red or white California grapes; they mechanically crush, stem and ferment the grapes, creating 240 bottles of wine per barrel in the process. They also name their wine and design custom bottle labels. The cost: about $2,100 a barrel, or $8.70 a bottle.

Charlie Peters, who owns Grape Expectations with his wife, Patty, said businesses enjoy the experience because it’s “fun, exciting and different.” It’s also effective for bonding, because the process takes eight months and requires at least four separate sessions. The companies that had employees load fermentation tubs with grapes this fall will gather again in May to reap the results.

Also, participants have to work together to agree on everything from the grapes they’ll use to the labels they’ll slap on the bottles. One business hired a psychic to divine its ideal barrel. The label discussions, in particular, have generated some “spirited debates,” Peters said.

Some companies are opting for extravagant adventures in the sky.

Several Las Vegas businesses have indulged in plane rides from the Zero Gravity Corp., which launched its local service in April. The Florida-based company’s flights are especially in demand among financial institutions and technology companies. Its biggest corporate event so far included 70 employees of computer maker Hewlett-Packard in 2006.

Zero Gravity’s flight experience takes five to six hours and includes advance training and a post-trip “regravitation” party. The flight lasts about two hours and includes 15 parabolic arcs that replicate the gravity of Mars and the moon, as well as weightlessness.

“There are no boundaries. It’s the ultimate freedom,” said Edwin Lorse, vice president of sales and marketing for Zero Gravity Corp. “It’s Zen-like and smooth.”

The flights build corporate rapport because co-workers who have shared an unusual experience are more likely to stay connected, Lorse said. Companies can also opt to have Zero Gravity bring in an astronaut for a motivational talk about group cohesion in stressful situations. In addition to using the flights as a bonding tool, companies have bought trips to reward workers for achieving corporate goals. The flights cost $3,500 a person.

Some companies are sticking to Earth in the hunt for retreat ideas.

The ever-popular river-rafting and zip-lining — cruising in a pulley hanging from a steel cable — are still in vogue among businesses trying to foster group morale, Campbell said.

Add to those outdoor exercises several up-and-coming retreat activities that meeting planners are increasingly booking, such as sending employees to culinary schools, where teams take cooking lessons and prepare meals together.

Observers watch the happenings and document which employees assume leadership posts.

“It’s interesting to see what roles people play and who becomes dominant,” Campbell said. “Some of those roles in the workplace transfer into the culinary class.”

Improvisational comedy is on the rise among retreat planners, too. Participants get a crash course in improv and make some practice runs before they begin their routines in earnest.

“Improv is terrific because whatever someone throws at you, you cannot reject it,” Campbell said. “If someone asks you how your four brothers are, now you have four brothers. It’s powerful for teamwork, because you can’t say, ‘No, I don’t.’ You have to take it and build on it. It’s a lot of fun.”

Stunt World Action Camp is also benefiting from an interest in unusual team-building activities.

The 4-month-old Las Vegas company has just started booking corporate business and is preparing for its first series of classes in January. Banks and tour operators are among the businesses that have queried Stunt World Action Camp, said Chuck Borden, the company’s founder and president.

“A lot of team-building activities, like white-water rafting, have been done,” Borden said. “This is very different, and it has special appeal because it can give people an idea of what it’s like to be a stunt person for a day. It has that Hollywood angle.

For $400 a person, participants at Stunt World Action Camp will spend half a day performing three to four “stunts,” such as 20-foot falls, rappelling and movie-style fighting.

Attendees can try other Hollywood-stunt techniques such as being hit by a car and being lit on fire. A $725, full-day version is available as well, and corporations booking larger classes can receive additional discounts.

“Even though we’re there to oversee the stunts, you do literally have each other’s life in your hands,” said Borden, a himself Hollywood stunt man. “We show them how they’re responsible for each other. As a team, it really bonds people, because the people who are down on the ground holding the air bag during the high fall are as important or more important than the guy who’s falling. It brings a team effort into the situation more than just going on a hike or a raft trip.”

Drama workshops are also increasingly on the meeting agenda. Shakespeare plays are a particular focus for many businesses, perhaps because of their universal themes, Campbell speculated.

Computer simulations involving scenarios that require real-time reactions are finding favor at retreats too, as supervisors look to improve their companies’ decision-making processes.

And art, such as drawing and collage-making, is jumping in popularity. Employees aren’t judged on their creative skills, but swapping out talking for drawing gives workers a new way of communicating. It can allow introverted staff members to express themselves; it might be easier to draw a group of boxes clumped together and then one box off to the side than to say, “I feel isolated,” Campbell said.

Art also requires retreat participants to shift from left-brain to right-brain thinking. And that’s valuable because the left side of the brain — the side that trades in logic — “often says, ‘Uh-oh, the boss is in here. Don’t talk,'” Campbell said.

Regardless of the activity, the best retreats will engender teamwork, even when that’s not the primary goal, Campbell said.

They’ll also force participants to think harder about an organization’s long-term objectives.

“Companies can get some great things out of retreats,” she said. “And if they’re well-done, retreats are hard work.”

This story first appeared in the Business Press. Jennifer Robison writes for Business Press’ sister publication, the Review-Journal. She can be reached at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4512.