THE COMPANY RETREAT: AN AUDITION FOR FEAR FACTOR?
For decades, companies and other organizations have been spending (some would say wasting) thousands - even hundreds of thousands of dollars - pulling together groups of employees for out-of-office retreats.

But rather than improving communication between coworkers or building trust, some team-building exercises can backfire, argues Ben Dattner, a workplace consultant and an industrial and organizational psychologist.

"Unfortunately, organizations frequently miss opportunities to actually build teams during team-building," Dattner said in a recent National Public Radio interview. In fact, some "team-building" exercises that use competition or extreme sports like parachuting or rock climbing can actually (PLEASE BREAK HERE) "bring out hostility and conflict rather than building any sense of shared mission," Dattner said.

Practically speaking, participants may also find themselves distracted or even worried about all the huffing-and-puffing from their out-of-shape coworkers rather than focused on their team-building goal.

"Corporate retreats should not be auditions for Fear Factor," Dattner added in a recent Forbes.com interview. "It doesn't have anything to do with work; it just shows how macho people can be." Or how wimpy.

Then there's the potential for naughty, frat boy behavior. Some off-campus retreats have unleashed the "wild and crazy sides" of certain employees, resulting in out-of-control parties, a few ruined reputations, and more than one hangover.

Those definitely are not the results companies have in mind when forking over thousands of dollars in planning for a business retreat. And it's not the image companies want to project to hotels or their local communities.

There are also costs to consider. A retreat can involve a half a dozen employees or a thousand. Depending on size or location, the price tag can range from a few hundred dollars for a picnic in the park to more than $500,000 for a no-limits-to-luxury meeting on a private, Caribbean island.

Still, by and large, companies find retreats useful for developing their employees' skills in collaborating, handling difficult situations, communicating and managing conflict. Among the most requested kinds of retreats, according to the Society for Human Resources Management, are ones that: focus on cooperation between departments; work on trust issues (especially when there has been a merger or acquisition); improve feedback; and deal with office politics.

So, how do companies avoid all of the afore-mentioned fear factor pitfalls? It's called planning. (SEE SIDE STORY)

As far as bad retreat behavior is concerned, most often it can be traced to alcohol. So eliminating open bars as an option may help to keep a damper on things.

Other approaches companies can take to ensure more productive retreats include allowing all attendees to have input about the agenda, said Dattner in the Forbes.com interview: "If they're important enough to bring to a retreat, they should be asked what they'd like to address."

Also, retreats should not be just standard management meetings. Employees will be far more engaged if they're given the chance to look at the big picture and have some kind of impact.

"You should think long-term and on fixing things at a higher level," Dattner told Forbes.com. There's always a temptation to think, 'Oh, we're all together so let's do some long-term planning and whatever, but we can also get some work done.' What you should be thinking is, 'Let's get together and look at things really differently from the way we are used to.'"