‘Team building’ part of Fort Smith directors’ retreat

Team building, understanding expectations and discussing board operations are parts of the agenda for a Saturday (April 16) retreat by the Fort Smith Board of Directors.

The retreat begins at 8:35 a.m. and is being held at the visitors center at Lake Fort Smith State Park. The public is welcome to attend and a city transit bus is expected to shuttle directors, city staff and other attendees. The bus departs at 7:45 a.m. from a University of Arkansas at Fort Smith parking lot located across Waldron Avenue from the Stubblefield Center.

According to a memo from Fort Smith City Administrator Ray Gosack, goals of the retreat are:
• Team build;
• Understand decision-making styles;
• Develop expectations and agreement about how the board will operate; and,
• Establish 3 to 5 strategic priorities on which the board and staff will focus (time permitting).

Ron Holifield, with Keller, Texas-based Strategic Government Resources, will facilitate the retreat.  Holifield previously served as assistant city manager in Plano, Texas, as well as city manager in Garland, DeSoto, Farmersville and Sundown, and on the city manager’s staff in Lubbock. In 1996, he left city management and purchased Government Relations Specialists which he grew into the 49th largest lobby firm in Texas, before selling it to an employee.

Holifield has interviewed the director’s and each director has conducted an online “Team Dimensions Assessment” report with Holifield.

“Ron will expect each of you to actively engage in the retreat so that its outcomes represent your views,” Gosack noted in his memo to the directors and Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders.

The retreat is scheduled to end at 3 p.m.

Link here for a report on the board’s 2009 retreat, and link here for a January 2010 story  that lists the director’s thoughts on 2009 and goals for 2010.