Company Retreat Bible — 60-Page Playbook
Charter, budget, RFP brief, contract redline, agenda blueprints, runbook, measurement.
How to use this playbook: Work through the eight sections in order. Each section has a fill-in template and decision guidance. Print the section you need, or use the whole document as the master template for the next retreat. Paired with
the full article.
01 The retreat charter (one page)
Complete before contacting any venue. Approve with the executive sponsor.
RETREAT CHARTER
1. Charter objective (one sentence): _________________________________
2. Retreat type: ☐ Strategic offsite ☐ Team cohesion ☐ Leadership development ☐ R&R ☐ Product launch
3. Attending cohort: _________________________________ (N = __)
4. Success metric (measured at 180 days): _________________________________
5. Budget envelope per head: € _____ all-in (rooms + F&B + meeting space + AV + transport + contingency)
6. Date window (preferred + alternative): _______________ / _______________
7. Destination region: _________________________________
8. Executive sponsor: _________________________________ Signature: _____ Date: _____
02 Budget worksheet
- Rooms (N nights × N rooms × ADR including breakfast)
- F&B (gross of 18-24% European service charge — budget the gross number)
- Meeting space (often rolled into F&B minimum on smaller groups; separate line on 100+)
- AV (in-house vs external — see Hidden Hotel AV Charges piece)
- Group transport (airport transfers + on-property)
- Off-site dinner / excursion budget
- External facilitator / speaker fee (if applicable)
- Contingency (10-15% on first-time retreats, 5-8% on repeat plays)
03 RFP brief structure
HOTEL RFP — [Company] [Retreat Type] — [Month Year]
Attendees: N = __
Dates: [Primary] / [Alternative]
Rooms: __ single + __ double over __ nights
Meeting space: __ m² plenary + __ m² breakouts (number: __)
F&B: breakfast inclusive · lunch __ days · dinner __ days · coffee breaks __
AV: ☐ in-house ☐ external permitted ☐ specific spec attached
Special requirements: dietary, accessibility, exclusivity, parking
Response deadline: [Date]
Decision date: [Date]
Contract execution by: [Date]
04 Contract redline checklist
- Cancellation sliding scale — push percentages lower at far-out dates
- Attrition — insert pickup-not-block measurement carve-out
- F&B minimum — separate from room attrition
- Force majeure — explicit stacking on top of attrition + cancellation
- Deposit schedule — cap at 50% pre-event, balance net-30 post
- Sister-property credit (multi-property chains only)
- Walk-through and dry-run rights (day before event)
- Pickup report obligation (30 days post-event, name-by-name)
05 Agenda blueprint A — Strategic offsite (2 nights)
Day 1
08:30 Arrivals + breakfast
10:00 Opening + charter recap (45 min)
10:45 Working block 1 — current state (90 min)
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Working block 2 — gap analysis (90 min)
16:00 Off-site walk-and-talk pairs (60 min)
18:00 Free
19:30 Dinner
Day 2
08:30 Breakfast
09:00 Working block 3 — 2027 priorities (90 min)
11:00 Cohesion block — cross-functional rapport (75 min)
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Working block 4 — commitments (90 min)
16:00 Close + next steps (45 min)
06 Agenda blueprint B — Team cohesion retreat (3 nights)
One working block per day, two cohesion blocks, one off-site, downtime evening of day 2. Full template in expanded PDF.
07 Runbook template (one page per day)
- Single point of contact at venue: name + phone + email
- Event lead from company: name + phone + email
- Daily 8 am stand-up location + agenda
- Contingency plan — AV breakdown / weather / illness
- Dietary requirements register (CSV)
- Transport schedule
- Print of agenda + map
08 Post-event measurement framework
- T+72h sentiment NPS — qualitative comments archived
- T+90d retention check — attending vs non-attending cohort
- T+180d charter-objective review — did the stated metric move?
- Carry-forward log — what to change for the next retreat