GLIDE’s Harm Reduction program provides humanizing, low-barrier, and respectful services that support the health, wellness, and dignity of people who use drugs in San Francisco. In 2019, the GLIDE Harm Reduction program recognized that, given a growing staff and increased funding opportunities to support innovative harm reduction interventions, it was imperative to improve their function and effectiveness as a team. The program decided to hold a staff retreat and hired Facente Consulting as the retreat facilitator.
Facente Consulting led the creation of the agenda and facilitated the day-long retreat. The team was enthusiastic about the momentum generated and generated several concrete and actionable ideas for effective team-building. Examples included: quarterly mini-retreats, longer weekly staff meetings with focused time for addressing team challenges, commitment to living the team’s values in everyday practice, and ideas for working with organizational leadership to successfully move priorities forward.