Meridian Group - Company Culture Consultants

Strategic Planning Meetings: Converting Strategy into Action

Any company can achieve the high impact of involvement in any area of effort, including the pursuit of a strategic direction. The secret is employee involvement.

Over the years, Meridian Group has helped dozens of clients build a stronger sense of strategic direction. While we are rarely experts in our clients' subject matter (such as engineering, retail distribution, or computer chip wafer manufacturing), we are experts in building strong teamwork, and excellent communication and decision-making processes. Last month, over a delightful and tasty lunch, a new client John Cline, the CEO of a regional warehouse and distribution company, posed his problem. "Our previous four strategic planning offsite meetings lacked follow-through. How can we change that?"

Let's start with some of the principles for building a successful work culture:

People want to be involved in decisions that affect them.
People closest to a problem know most about it.
People invested in a decision will be motivated to make it work.
It follows that the best decisions are those that involve the people affected.

How do you deeply commit the senior management team to the annual offsite strategic planning meeting? How do you say, "It's Your Strategy?"

Over lunch with John, I suggested a detailed process, which is summarized below:

Meet with the top management group. Let them know that this year they are responsible for the plan but as their leader you will guide them through the decision process. (As a reminder of the general form of a participative decision process check out www.meridiangrp.net/4step.html . This is the same process you can use for managing the overall retreat and each of the prioritized issues.)
Talk with each manager individually. Interview them if you have not already done so (see www.meridiangrp.net/interview.html ). Listen particularly for their concerns about direction, issues with past strategic plans and hopes for future plans. Listen, don't tell. Keep notes.
After talking with each executive, look over your notes for common themes and issues. Briefly outline these at the next executive meeting making sure everyone discusses them and any other issues or concerns they have around strategy and the offsite. Ask the group to list the top six to ten issues or topics for the offsite meeting and turn these into a one-page questionnaire for each of them to take to their own department meetings for completion. Each manager's team should respond to the questionnaire. This expands the participation process and builds wider commitment to the plan. Generally, the questionnaire should cover the following:

Rank order the following six to ten issues that the executive team plans to discuss at the offsite.
Is there anything else you would like to see discussed, answered or resolved?
What would you most like to see as the outcome of the offsite—what must we decide for it to be a success for you?
Other comments, suggestions or issues?
Compile all the questionnaire responses and discuss them with the management team a week before the offsite. Have them decide on the offsite agenda/schedule and how the company will be managed in their absence (how communications will be kept open).

Later in the lunch conversation, John asked, "How long do you think a strategic planning meeting should be?"

I replied, "I am used to them being two or three days but that is a decision the group should come to based on how much material they have to cover and how much time they feel they can take away from the office. You can pose the question but they should decide themselves. That is part of building ownership of the plan and guaranteeing follow through."

A process like this gives ownership of the offsite to the leadership group. It makes it "Their Offsite" and "Their Strategic Plan." Using this process, John will have a top-flight plan. Just as important, he will have a motivated team that follows through on their own, something he sorely missed from the previous off sites.

A high level of involvement is the key to building a committed, motivated and creative workforce where each person takes personal responsibility for what happens. In these difficult times, getting everyone pulling in the same direction with all their energy will be your key to success.

I just finished reading a remarkable book which I recommend, It's Your Ship by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, Warner Books, 2002. The message is familiar: "Success comes from involving employees in decisions." His book is remarkable because he actually included his sailors in decision making and then wrote about his experience. He tells how he got everyone on-board, building ship-wide ownership and ship-wide responsibility. His ship was rated as the top performer in the US Navy.



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	A Better Workplace --- Meridian Group's Newsletter, Number 10, 8-11-02

	Strategic Planning Meetings: Converting Strategy into Action Any company can achieve the high impact of involvement in any area of effort, including the pursuit of a strategic direction. The secret is employee involvement. Over the years, Meridian Group has helped dozens of clients build a stronger sense of strategic direction. While we are rarely experts in our clients' subject matter (such as engineering, retail distribution, or computer chip wafer manufacturing), we are experts in building strong teamwork, and excellent communication and decision-making processes. Last month, over a delightful and tasty lunch, a new client John Cline, the CEO of a regional warehouse and distribution company, posed his problem. "Our previous four strategic planning offsite meetings lacked follow-through. How can we change that?" Let's start with some of the principles for building a successful work culture: People want to be involved in decisions that affect them. People closest to a problem know most about it. People invested in a decision will be motivated to make it work. It follows that the best decisions are those that involve the people affected. How do you deeply commit the senior management team to the annual offsite strategic planning meeting? How do you say, "It's Your Strategy?" Over lunch with John, I suggested a detailed process, which is summarized below: Meet with the top management group. Let them know that this year they are responsible for the plan but as their leader you will guide them through the decision process. (As a reminder of the general form of a participative decision process check out www.meridiangrp.net/4step.html . This is the same process you can use for managing the overall retreat and each of the prioritized issues.) Talk with each manager individually. Interview them if you have not already done so (see www.meridiangrp.net/interview.html ). Listen particularly for their concerns about direction, issues with past strategic plans and hopes for future plans. Listen, don't tell. Keep notes. After talking with each executive, look over your notes for common themes and issues. Briefly outline these at the next executive meeting making sure everyone discusses them and any other issues or concerns they have around strategy and the offsite. Ask the group to list the top six to ten issues or topics for the offsite meeting and turn these into a one-page questionnaire for each of them to take to their own department meetings for completion. Each manager's team should respond to the questionnaire. This expands the participation process and builds wider commitment to the plan. Generally, the questionnaire should cover the following: Rank order the following six to ten issues that the executive team plans to discuss at the offsite. Is there anything else you would like to see discussed, answered or resolved? What would you most like to see as the outcome of the offsite—what must we decide for it to be a success for you? Other comments, suggestions or issues? Compile all the questionnaire responses and discuss them with the management team a week before the offsite. Have them decide on the offsite agenda/schedule and how the company will be managed in their absence (how communications will be kept open). Later in the lunch conversation, John asked, "How long do you think a strategic planning meeting should be?" I replied, "I am used to them being two or three days but that is a decision the group should come to based on how much material they have to cover and how much time they feel they can take away from the office. You can pose the question but they should decide themselves. That is part of building ownership of the plan and guaranteeing follow through." A process like this gives ownership of the offsite to the leadership group. It makes it "Their Offsite" and "Their Strategic Plan." Using this process, John will have a top-flight plan. Just as important, he will have a motivated team that follows through on their own, something he sorely missed from the previous off sites. A high level of involvement is the key to building a committed, motivated and creative workforce where each person takes personal responsibility for what happens. In these difficult times, getting everyone pulling in the same direction with all their energy will be your key to success. I just finished reading a remarkable book which I recommend, It's Your Ship by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, Warner Books, 2002. The message is familiar: "Success comes from involving employees in decisions." His book is remarkable because he actually included his sailors in decision making and then wrote about his experience. He tells how he got everyone on-board, building ship-wide ownership and ship-wide responsibility. His ship was rated as the top performer in the US Navy.