Is this team-building with a plan bolted on?

No. It's a planning workshop. The games and props are how we teach serious tools so they stick, and you leave with decisions, owners and dates.

We quote after a 30-minute call, once we know the size of the group, how long you have and what you need decided by the end.

Leadership retreat agenda: a three-day example

A good leadership retreat agenda moves from where you really are, to options and choices, to goals, owners and an operating rhythm, with preparation before and follow-through after.

This is the shape we use for most three-day retreats, with timings. Swap the times to suit your venue, and treat it as a starting point: every retreat we run is designed with the team in a consultation first.

For executive and SLT retreats, leadership offsites and multi-day strategy retreats.

Book a 30-minute call

A meeting room glass wall covered in sticky notes, sorted under four headings: Ideas, Themes, Choices, Goals. — Ideas, themes, choices, goals

Before the retreat

Most of the work happens before anyone arrives.

6 weeks outConsultation: agree what success looks like, who is in the room and how each decision will be made.
4 weeks outDiscovery one-to-ones with every attendee, and customers if it helps.
2 weeks outSend the agenda, who decides each item, and a pre-read of under ten pages.
1 week outCollect written pre-work: the three biggest issues, one thing to stop doing, draft priorities.

The three days: an example

We agree and set every agenda with you, based on what your team needs to achieve. This is one example of how the days can run.

Evening zero

17:00Arrive and settle in.
19:00Dinner. No agenda, but one question on each table: what would make this retreat worth it?

Day 1: where we really are

09:00Serious planning. Silly props. opens the retreat: two hours to get people laughing, talking and thinking strategically.
11:00Break.
11:15The numbers: what last year actually delivered.
12:30Lunch, in a different room.
13:30What came out of the one-to-ones, played back as themes.
15:30Facts, then reactions, then meaning. What is really going on?
17:00Close. Evening free, coaching available.

Day 2: options and choices

09:00Recap, and a confidence vote on where we stand.
09:30Options: write first, then 1-2-4-All.
11:00Value each option before anyone argues for it.
12:30Lunch.
13:30Choices: what we will do, and what we will stop doing.
15:30A pre-mortem on the favourite plan.
17:00Close. Team dinner.

Day 3: goals and rhythm

09:00Goals written as outcomes, three at most, each with an owner.
10:30Experiments for the bets we are less sure of.
12:00Lunch.
13:00The operating rhythm: check-ins, reviews and who decides what.
14:30Read the decisions back, and a final confidence vote.
15:30Book the 30-day follow-up, then leave.

After the retreat

Within 24 hoursA one-page summary of decisions, owners and dates.
Weeks 1 to 4Coaching for the people who own the next steps.
30 days laterA follow-up to check progress and reset anything that has drifted.

Adapting it

Two days
Merge days 2 and 3: options in the morning, choices and goals in the afternoon. Keep evening zero.
A week away
Add a customer day, a deep dive on the biggest bet, and more time to reflect between sessions.
A new team
Spend more of day 1 on how you will work together before you plan anything.

Who'll be in your room

Matt Roberts

Strategy consultant, co-founder of ZOKRI

Matt on LinkedIn

Two-time SaaS founder. Co-founded Linkdex, backed by Amadeus Capital Partners and 500 Global, and led it to a trade sale.
Eight years building operating systems inside companies from tens to low thousands of people.
Has been a founder, CEO, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Product Officer, and began his career in ad agencies, so he speaks the language of every function at the table.

Collette Easton

Executive coach

Collette on LinkedIn

Built and sold three companies over 20 years, most recently as CEO of Yard Digital.
Association for Coaching accredited, and an APMG-accredited Neuroscience for Change Management Practitioner.
Speaker at BrightonSEO 2026.

500+ workshops facilitated100+ organisations20+ years in strategy execution

The ZOKRI team has worked with Legal & General, Absa, SAP, Microsoft, Sage, Chargebee, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, News UK, ITV, ASOS and Virgin Atlantic.

Questions people ask first

What should a leadership retreat agenda include?

Time to agree where you really are, time to choose what you will do and stop doing, and time to agree goals, owners and a rhythm to keep it on track. Most agendas skip the first part.

How much free time should a retreat have?

More than you think. Evenings and long lunches are where people reflect and talk honestly. Packing every hour leaves no room for the conversations that matter.

Last updated 23 October 2026

Tell us what has to be decided.

Thirty minutes with Matt Roberts. Tell us who'll be in the room and what you need by the end, and we'll tell you how we'd run it.