Create a Dynamic Strategy for 2012

In today’s world, all business owners—that includes me—need to be planning virtually every day. Things are happening too quickly, too dramatically, and on too broad of a scale to push planning and business model revisions off to the end of year. We have to be constantly revisiting our plans and trying to anticipate new competitive threats, staff changes, and unexpected changes with suppliers and customers. Planning has to be on-going.

That said, there is a need for and there are benefits from a different type of reflecting and planning at year-end. Here’s an idea I have tried with considerable success.

One Day Year-End Thinking, Analyzing, Strategy, and Planning Retreat

Have the retreat at a nice place, convenient for everyone to reach. Don’t spend lots of bucks taking people to exotic places. Your out-of-pocket should be $1,000, tops. Break the day into two parts.

The Morning Session

In the morning, have your key people attend. I’m guessing that means five or six people, plus you. Also invite five or six astute, perceptive, and creative thinkers you respect from outside your organization. This group will vary based on the type of business you are in and the strength of your personal network. It could include someone from a marketing firm, a merger and acquisition consultant, a VC or private equity principal, a college professor with a relevant expertise, an intellectual property attorney, an expert on executive and employee compensation, or a wizard on web development and another on social networking.

The point is to get some really smart successful people in the room along with the best of your team. It’s a cost effective way to get some really bright, capable people helping you grow and strengthen your business.

Sit these people down around a table, no theatre style seating, after they have done their networking and had breakfast. Steer the discussion around major topics you want to raise and feel comfortable sharing. Again, in every case the agenda will be different, but these think-tank types of open discussions are great for raising and openly discussing significant potential issues and opportunities for your business. Examples of discussion points include:

• What new products or services are you considering launching?
• What new strategic alliances would you like to form?
• What new markets are you thinking about pursuing?
• What products or services do you need to protect as intellectual property?
• What new or additional facilities, equipment, and other resources do you need?
• How can you use technology and social networking to drive revenues?
• What new funding do you require to grow?
• Should you be growing only organically or are there potential acquisition targets available?
• What keeps you awake at night?
• Where is your business vulnerable?
• What will be the key factors for success for your business in the next one to two years?
• How can your company do a better job of giving back and become more socially responsible?
• Do you have the right culture?

Come to this part of the day with a 30 minute (at most) bullet point overview of your business as it is that day. Be as open as you can with the information you share. I am on an advisory board for a privately owned technology company. The company leadership never shares financial results with their outside advisors, leaving me wondering, if they don’t trust us with sensitive information, then why bring us together? It’s obvious to us that part of the reason the company is losing money is because they are so secretive with their numbers. What’s the big deal of us knowing what we already suspect? Without knowing the dimensions of a company’s challenges and opportunities it is tough to come up with meaningful new ideas in a short discussion period.

After going through your overview of the company, open the meeting to discussion. If you have the right people in the room, and if you have provided them with sufficient information, relevant important new ideas will flow. If you have the success I have had with this approach to year-end thinking and planning, the time will fly; enthusiasm within the group will power everyone to get involved.

Have someone from your company be responsible for keeping good notes of discussion points and ideas raised during this session.

Feed the group lunch and then let the outside attendees head back to their offices with a t-shirt with your logo or some other appropriate little thank-you. The right people won’t be there for any compensation. They will be investing half a day focusing on your company because they like, respect, and value the work you are doing.

The Afternoon Session

Have the person who kept notes from the morning session briefly review the key points that had been covered in the morning session with the remaining attendees. As a group, talk through the significant ideas, issues, opportunities, and suggestions that were generated in the earlier discussion. Additional new good ideas will be generated from your own people now that they are in the swing of thinking outside the box.