The Management Team Annual Off-Site Planning Meeting

We’ve passed the mid-point of 2009. Are you confident that the latter half the year will be better than the first half? How about 2010? Are you hoping that things will be better or do you have a plan in place that is fueling your optimism? Are you worrying about things that are outside of your control or addressing issues that are well within your control? Let’s focus on some items that are within your control:

1) Employees: Do you have the “right people” in your organization? This starts with your Leadership Team. Do they share your values, embrace your company’s culture and Get it, Want it and have the Capacity to do their jobs well?
2) Clients: Do you have the right clients? In other words, is your Target Market clearly defined? Are you trying to be all things to all people or do you have a profile of your Ideal Customer, someone who truly values the things that differentiate you from your competitors?
3) Issues: How good are you and your Leadership Team at solving your company’s problems? Do you treat symptoms or are you getting to the heart of issues and solving them in a timely manner so they don’t linger for days, weeks, months and sometimes years?
4) Accountability: Again, starting with your Leadership Team, are your people accountable for what they say they will do? Does everyone in your organization have a clear sense of their roles, responsibilities and accountabilities?
5) Alignment: Is everyone clear on the Vision for your organization and are they all in the same boat rowing in the same direction? What is the cost to your organization when some are rowing in one direction, some another, some not rowing and some not even in the boat?

An effective Leadership Team devotes time to work “on” the business. This involves rising above the day to day activities associated with working “in” the business and focusing on the company’s overall health. Given the difficulty that most businesses currently face, it’s now more important than ever for you to plan your Management Team’s Annual Off-Site Meeting to develop a strategy that meets market conditions. The objectives for the planning session are three fold:

1) Increase Team Health: A healthy team is reflected by trust, commitment, accountability and results.
2) Create a Clear Company Vision: A clear vision lets everyone in the company know where it’s going and exactly how it will get there.
3) Identify the Issues List: There’s good therapy in getting all the issues (not symptoms) out on the table so they can be solved. Are your issues clear or are they buried deep within the organization?

The Agenda for Day 1:
1) Review the previous year’s results. How did we do?
2) Review the previous quarter’s Key Priorities. Did we complete them?
3) Team Health Exercise
4) Organizational Checkup. Is our organization’s health improving?
5) SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis
6) Issues List
7) 3 Year Picture, at a high level

On Day 2:
1) Review the Issues List
2) Review the 3 Year Picture
3) Complete the 1 Year Plan
4) Establish Key Priorities for the next quarter
5) Identify, Discuss and Solve Issues
6) Next Steps and Conclude

Accomplishing the stated objectives of improving Team Health, Vision and Problem Solving involves time to think clearly without interruptions and distractions. This is why holding the meeting off-site is crucial. To accomplish the items listed on the agenda takes focus, energy and effective communication. It must be clear that there is an expected return on this investment of time and money. Viewed this way, the Annual Planning Meeting is a boon to the company, not a boondoggle for the Leadership Team.

It’s important to communicate the Agenda and the Outcomes to everyone in the organization. This can have a calming effect. Better for people to know the plan than for everyone to wonder what might happen next. The Management Team Annual Off-Site Meeting is time well spent and when done effectively will more than pay back the investment of time and expense.