Team retreats
We understand that teams thrive when every member feels genuinely engaged and believes their work reflects their best selves. At The MDB Group, we design retreats that foster deeper trust and create a comfortable environment for team members to connect meaningfully. These experiences aim to restore calm confidence in public-facing professionals navigating challenging situations, while also strengthening camaraderie across teams and departments through dynamic group activities.
Our retreats cover a wide range of focus areas, including team building, leadership development, and adapting to organizational change. To ensure lasting impact, we work closely with our clients to identify clear objectives and tailor each retreat to meet their unique needs and aspirations.
Front-Line Managers at a Social Service Organization
The MDB Group was engaged by a large social service organization to conduct a series of retreats for their front-line managers, addressing three key objectives:
Strengthen connections between team members.
Enhance leadership skills.
Demonstrate the organization’s commitment to employee growth and development.
These goals were informed by a company-wide survey that highlighted morale concerns among staff.
In a one-day retreat, participants began the day reconnecting with their sense of purpose and the reasons they chose this meaningful line of work. The second half of the retreat focused on leadership development. Activities included identifying personal leadership styles, addressing shared challenges, and building a framework for ongoing leadership growth. A keynote address by leadership expert Karen Ford set the tone, followed by interactive sessions where participants applied leadership principles to real-world scenarios.
Mid-Level Managers at a Government Agency
The MDB Group partnered with a large government agency to design a retreat for a team of mid-level managers experiencing ongoing discord. The primary goal was to improve morale and streamline decision-making processes.
The one-day retreat emphasized teamwork and collaboration. Activities included an in-depth exploration of team roles to foster better understanding among colleagues. A highlight was the “elephant in the room” exercise, which provided a structured space for participants to voice concerns and work collaboratively toward solutions.
By the end of the retreat, participants reported feeling more aligned as a team and confident in the pathway created for improved group dynamics and decision-making.
Senior-Level Executive Team
The MDB Group collaborated with New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to lead a leadership retreat for the Commissioner and his senior cabinet, which included 22 Deputy Commissioners.
To tailor the day to their needs, we conducted individual check-ins with approximately 15 members of the cabinet, gathering insights on the most pressing issues. The retreat focused on three main themes:
Streamlining decision-making processes.
Reducing inefficiencies such as unnecessary meetings.
Redefining the organization’s mission statement.
Following the retreat, The MDB Group facilitated two additional sessions with the Senior Cabinet. These follow-ups were designed to finalize the revised mission statement and assess progress on the commitments made during the retreat. The result was a clearer vision for the agency and a stronger alignment among its leadership team.