Leaving the office can be good for the strategic planning process, according to distribution industry consultant Brent Grover, but leaving your technological connection to the real world behind is even more key to a productive meeting. Last week Grover addressed questions, including one about the best venue for strategic planning sessions, during an interactive Q&A, Inside the Little Black Book of Strategic Planning for Distributors: Ask the Author.

Download a Free Chapter: The Little Black Book of Strategic Planning for Distributors Submit your email address below to receive a chapter of Brent Grover’s new book. When you submit your email you will be signed up to receive weekly distribution news updates.

Grover acknowledges that a change of venue can be stimulating. Perhaps this is why many distributors he’s worked with think a strategic planning session should be held in a cabin at the top of a mountain somewhere. “It sounds romantic,” Grover says, “but unfortunately you waste a lot of time getting there.” And because most locations still have an Internet connection or cell phone signal, planning team members will still be tempted by a relentless stream of emails, voicemails and text messages.

“The idea of a strategic planning meeting is to get away from all that and to think about a year from now, and think about three years from now. I would rather have the meeting in the company’s conference room if everybody would turn the phones and computers off and just focus on the meeting,” he says.

Grover acknowledges that even behind a closed door, distractions can still pop up. So if you want to leave the office, look no further than a convenient and inexpensive venue in your own city for a change of scenery, without the need for a change in altitude.