{"id":3085,"date":"2017-07-31T06:34:22","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T11:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=3085"},"modified":"2017-07-10T11:52:31","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T16:52:31","slug":"how-to-run-a-great-annual-leadership-team-offsite-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/how-to-run-a-great-annual-leadership-team-offsite-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Run a Great Annual Leadership Team Offsite Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Editor\u2019s Note: \u00a0Peter DiGiammarino is a professional CEO and founder of growth strategy consulting firm, IntelliVen. \u00a0IntelliVen is also an author on Flevy, producing a series of frameworks covering a variety of management and leadership topics. \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/author\/IntelliVen\">View all this Flevy materials here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * *<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3086\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/111129-F-WS541-004-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"111129-F-WS541-004\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/111129-F-WS541-004-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/111129-F-WS541-004.jpg 524w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Most leaders find it difficult to adequately prepare\u2014assuming they even know how\u2014to facilitate a high-powered, executive offsite. The truth is that it is nearly impossible for a leader to\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\"><em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">facilitate<\/em><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\"><em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">participate in<\/em><\/span>, let alone also\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\"><em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">lead<\/em><\/span><em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">,<\/em>\u00a0their own offsite. A better strategy is to hire experts who use proven approaches, tools, and methods to prepare and facilitate a great annual leadership team offsite meeting.<\/p>\n<p>The ten tips and resource links below will help the thoughtful leader to get out in-front of the planning process and make clear to the board, top team, and employees that the organization is in good hands and well-led.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Plan the Plan<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Inform the board and the management team that it is time to work on plans<\/span>\u00a0for the coming year.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">The management team can be as small as three to five members or as many as 15 to 20.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">If there are more than seven, pick three to five to serve as an executive committee.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Prepare a time-line of steps, outputs, and review points<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Assign a process leader who will manage planning as a project.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Schedule offsite session and line up facilities and facilitation support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Trade Perfection for Completion<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Do not try to build the perfect plan.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">The plan will get better every year.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Pull together this year\u2019s plan knowing that next year\u2019s will be better.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">The key is to pull the plan together and get it done.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Financials Matter but so does Everything Else<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Plan more than financials.\u00a0<\/span>There are many dimensions to a plan. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">A Financial plan<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">A Market plan<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">A Product plan<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">A labor plan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Many think primarily in terms of a financial plan and never get around to the others but all are important<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Preparing each\u00a0requires the team to think through how to make the financial plan believable.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Aggressive, but Achievable<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">For the<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">\u00a0board to approve the plan it has to be judged\u00a0<em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">doable<\/em><\/span>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">That said the board does not want a plan that is too easy.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Strive for a plan to have a specific, say 75%, probability of being achieved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Plan of Attack<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Assign each management team member a\u00a0<em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">page of the plan<\/em><\/span>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Assign every important part of the organization (e.g., every function \u2013 such as marketing, sales, delivery, development, etc.; every major client; every offering; etc.) to a member of the management team to develop its plan.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">The result serves as the foundation for personal performance goals. The sum forms the entire plan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Strategy Is How You Plan to Win the Game You Are Playing<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Separate Strategy from Operations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">The\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Strategic Plan<\/span>\u00a0and the\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Operating Plan<\/span>\u00a0are two distinct outcomes of a well-conceived annual planning process.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Ask each leader to work with her\/his team to prepare a Strategic Plan for their assigned area of responsibility.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Review their Strategic Plan to\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">ask questions to gain clarity and also to push up thinking, give guidance, and add to the evolving overall Strategy<\/span>\u00a0for the entire organization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ask each leader to work with her\/his team to prepare an Operating Plan for similar review, questioning, and guiding.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Strategic Plan<\/span>\u00a0is short, high-level, and prepared from the top-down. It covers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">What the organization is\u00a0trying to accomplish.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How the organization is going about doing it.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Current year strategic initiatives focused on what has to be done differently going forward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Except for the current year initiatives,\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">the Strategic Plan does not change much from year to year<\/span>.<\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\">\n<tbody style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">\n<tr style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">\n<td style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">It is best to work on strategy and then reconvene to discuss operations after a separate effort working out how to implement the strategy.<\/em><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Formulate and review strategic plans separate and apart from operations.\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Once conversation moves from strategy to operations it is difficult to then lift up and get back to discussing strategy<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Operating<\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Plan<\/span>\u00a0is more detailed and is prepared from the bottom-up.<\/p>\n<p>It covers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How the organization will do what it does.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How the organization will create demand for what it does.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How the organization will grow.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How well the organization is doing relative to its past, plan, and peers.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How current year strategic initiatives are to be implemented.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table width=\"389\">\n<tbody style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">\n<tr style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">\n<td style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">The sum total of what each leader plans to do must at least equal, and ideally exceed, the overall plan.<\/em><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Each leader drafts their\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Page-of-the-Plan<\/span>\u00a0to show how s\/he will do what the organization is counting on from her\/him to achieve the planned financial results, accomplish the strategic initiatives, and lay the foundation for future years.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Evolve Top-down and Bottom-up<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Iterate<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Strategy and Operations impact, constrain, and push each other iteratively as they develop during the planning process, and continuously as things play out over the performance period.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Work with the\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Strategic Plan<\/span>\u00a0and the\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Operating Plan<\/span>\u00a0to bring the top-down strategic view into harmony with the bottom-up operating view to meet somewhere in the middle that makes good sense to the team and, ultimately, also to the entire organization and to the board.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Involve the Board<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Seek board input\u00a0<\/span>throughout<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Share top-down, big picture strategy, draft initiatives, and prospects to get their best thinking and guidance\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\"><em style=\"font-weight: inherit;\">before<\/em><\/span>\u00a0going offsite.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">It may seem easier to not involve the board until the plan is done but\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">involving the board sooner heads off surprises and almost always adds value to management thinking.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Tell the Story<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Bring the past, present, and future into focus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The board, management team, and employees all count on the organization leader to help them understand \u201c<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Who we are, where we have come from, where we are now, where we are headed,\u00a0<\/span>and<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">\u00a0what we must do next<\/span>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The strong leader opens a board discussion and kicks off management planning sessions, and All Hands sessions with an inspiring description of the following to bring their leadership to life:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Where the organization has recently been and how it is today in terms of whose problem the organization\u00a0solves and why customers buy.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How the organization does what it does, creates demand for what it does, and how it grows.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How well the organization performs relative to: how it has performed in the past, how it had planned to perform, and how its peers perform.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">How the organization has progressed with Strategic Initiatives over the past performance period.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">What is most important to do differently next.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Go Offsite<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Break away from the press of the day-to-day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Get the best out of \u00a0leadership by convening a facilitated offsite session.\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit;\">Outside help maximizes the chance to advance team skills, relations, and results<\/span>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Learn how to orchestrate an Annual Planning Offsite.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Learn how to settle on what you sell to whom and why customers buy it.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Learn how to set the context for change and strategic initiatives.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit;\">Learn how to assess and develop the ideal leadership skill set.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor\u2019s Note: \u00a0Peter DiGiammarino is a professional CEO and founder of growth strategy consulting firm, IntelliVen. \u00a0IntelliVen is also an author on Flevy, producing a series of frameworks covering a variety of management and leadership topics. \u00a0View all this Flevy materials here. * * * * Most leaders find it difficult to adequately prepare\u2014assuming they&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/how-to-run-a-great-annual-leadership-team-offsite-meeting\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">How to Run a Great Annual Leadership Team Offsite Meeting<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":3086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[408],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3087,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3085\/revisions\/3087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}