ARE YOUR TEAMS ALWAYS GOING IT ALONE?
Experience shows that planning sessions run by team members often become expanded staff meetings, rehashing old positions and leaning toward the strongest members' views.
An Outside Facilitator for Strategic Planning maintains a climate of openness and participation - minimizing personality and departmental differences and encouraging opinions that differ from the leader's.
The Strategic Planning Facilitator constantly works to keep discussions on track and realistic. Working together to develop plans the team becomes committed to implementation when it returns to the office.
In addition, the facilitator's personal experience as a Strategic Planning Consultant in business operations and strategy, supplies a source of insights and new perspectives to your team.
FACITITATION OF BRAINSTORMING & IDEA SESSIONS
Strategy Makers LLC can bring in a unique dynamic to your brainstorming and idea sessions. "Group Think" and the presence of strong character individuals often creates an environment where the best ideas never see the light of day. There is a balance between establishing structure and permitting free idea flow that we can facilitate. The utilization of brainstorming & idea sessions can be intimidating, especially when self run. They too often loose focus and have a hard time coming up with consensus on the best idea. Isn't it about time your groups incorporate such a powerful tool in the way you do business?
STRATEGIC PLANNING MEETING FACITITATION
Facilitation of strategic planning meetings can either be part of our strategic planning process offering or run independently within your existing process. It creates an independent third party to help manage meeting structure, organize ideas, or to break away from an established meeting dynamic that may stifle innovative thinking. The three important components of a strategy planning meeting are:
1.) Preparation - participants should come understanding what will be discussed and having the proper base line information at hand to make educated decisions. This usually involves basics around revenue and expense items as well as market and competitor information.
2.) Ideas & Discussion Phase - presentation of ideas and discussion around each. A mediators responsibility will be to focus the discussion as well as permit independent thinking and avoiding "Group Think".
3.) Consensus & Measurements
- refining ideas, building consensus around which are most plausible and offer the best direction fitting with overall goals. Also brings in the need to measure each strategic initiative and develop goals & measurement methodology.