Bringing your leadership team or board of directors together for strategic planning or quarterly review of your current plan requires preparing the participants for the journey. When asked to participate in strategic planning, most people roll their eyes and sigh deeply, envisioning themselves spending countless hours in a meeting room.
Leaders often view strategic planning as a daunting task, despite setting direction is one of their primary responsibilities. It’s another long meeting and more of their time. Most people will arrive engrossed in their phones, addressing emails, and putting out fires before the strategic planning meeting begins.
Building the Team
Businesses and nonprofits seeking budgetary savings often attempt to manage the strategic planning process internally rather than outsourcing facilitation. If you are facilitating the strategic planning meeting, your primary responsibility is to ensure that the meeting is productive. These tips will help you quickly establish cooperation and cohesion among people from different disciplines.
Although the team members know each other, spending the first part of your meeting reestablishing safety and trust is critical to high performance. Take the time to bring the group together. The team will accomplish more quickly by first establishing shared purposes, safety, and trust rather than immediately jumping in with the question, “Where do we see the organization in the next three years?”
Strategic Planning Agenda
First, develop the group’s shared purpose by drafting a detailed agenda for the meeting. Establish each item or topic for the meeting, including its start and end times. Provide a brief description of the item or topic, along with references to specific materials that will support the discussion. This will immediately calm the critical thinkers in the group who will want to know what the day will entail.
At the top of the agenda, tell the group the three P’s – purpose, process, and payoff of this meeting. What is the purpose of the meeting – why are we here? Share the process by which the meeting will unfold so participants know what to expect. Finally, what will be the payoff of the meeting? What will the result be so that they can see their accomplishments? For example, the purpose of the meeting might be to develop strategies and goals that will guide current and future leaders to achieve the company’s mission and vision. After calling the meeting to order, welcome the group, stating the purpose, process, and payoff, creating a shared purpose.
Create Safety
With an established shared purpose, the group now knows why they are at the meeting and what they will do. However, the group is still on an individual level and not ready to fully engage. It’s time to guide the group from “I” to “We” by reestablishing safety among one another. For a group member to contribute and participate, they must feel safe as an individual within the group. People want to know that others hear and value their ideas and opinions, making the meeting worthwhile for them. This begins with a basic understanding of “who am I” and “who are you.” This can be accomplished in the following three quick and easy exercises.
Introductions With a Twist
Have each participant introduce themselves, break the ice, and encourage people to start talking. The introduction includes the individual’s name, title, and the length of time they have been in their current role or at the company. If this a board of directors, also include the name of the company they represent. For the twist, ask each participant to share openly how they feel about being at the meeting. Introducing oneself and sharing feelings may seem redundant and odd to some, but the benefits will outweigh any naysayers.
The introduction serves as a check-in, encouraging everyone to begin sharing. This starts the transition from being an individual at the meeting to becoming a group member. Encourage the members to express their thoughts and feelings freely about being at the meeting. Comments like “I didn’t sleep well last night or I am tired and worried about a project deadline” are perfect. It allows the member to release tension and creates understanding for others as to why that person may be behaving in a certain way. It also allows the facilitator to gauge the group’s climate and adjust the approach accordingly.
Get To Know You
This exercise can be as simple as asking participants to ‘share one of their interests or hobbies.’ If it is around a holiday, ask them to ‘share their plans or family traditions.’ This moves the individual to a deeper level within the group by fostering personal connections. The group’s mood or climate will begin to shift positively as participants continue to connect.
Rule of Engagement
As the group begins to feel comfortable, the facilitator should solidify safety by establishing clear rules of engagement for the meeting. Rules of engagement are crucial to building and maintaining a successful dynamic. They clarify the group’s shared expectations, ensure safety, and foster a positive culture. Agreed-upon rules increase group engagement and participation, creating a shared identity that results in time well spent.
The group creates the rules by sharing what will encourage them to fully engage, feel safe sharing, and feel a sense of belonging and value. Determine what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable behavior and how they will treat each other during the meeting. Areas to consider are confidentiality, use of technology, respect, participation, listening, honesty, and understanding.
Create the list of rules with a positive tone. For example, using listen when others speak versus do not interrupt or challenge ideas versus do not criticize people. Most groups establish five to ten rules – a manageable and memorable list. If the group generates many ideas, work together to combine like ideas. Often, two or more ideas share the same intent. The intent is the priority. Once the group establishes the list, it must accept these as its rules. Each person must understand that they exist for the benefit of the entire group, and any member can remind others of the rules at any time. The group reserves the right to modify the rules at any time as needed.
Trust
Agreeing on the rules of engagement sets the foundation for trust. It is time to test the waters of trust by sharing thoughts and feelings relevant to the meeting. You want to ensure inclusion – member participation, involvement, and engagement. If any group member doesn’t trust another member, this will limit their participation. They will feel excluded and see the meeting as a negative experience and a waste of time. This exercise is called Hopes and Concerns.
Hopes and Concerns
There are various ways to approach the hopes and concerns exercise. The focus can be related to the group’s task or the meeting that day. Ask each person to share what they are looking forward to (hope) in the meeting. Followed by what they might not be looking forward to as much (concern). If this marks the beginning of a new planning cycle, consider discussing both the hope and excitement about the organization’s future, as well as any concerns and fears. Give the group a few minutes to write down their hopes and concerns about the question posed. Then, go around the room sharing answers to concerns, followed by hopes, and capture the comments for further discussion. Ask about hopes last as it ends the discussion on a positive note.
The exercise enables participants to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of one another by hearing each other’s thoughts. The information is also valuable to the rest of the planning. The group can discuss common themes and identify areas that can be addressed realizing hopes and preventing concerns from developing. The feeling of inclusion through participation, involvement, and engagement continues to develop. Trust is deepened as long as the rules of engagement are adhered to during the discussion. If violated, the facilitator must address the issue immediately.
Synergy
Through the building of safety and trust, the group has discovered “who am I” and “who are you” and is in the process of realizing “who are we.” Who we are is the foundation of synergy. The group has a shared purpose, a sense of safety and trust, and is ready to work together. In other words, the group establishes cooperation and cohesion to achieve the stated payoff of the meeting. They can deepen synergy by identifying people’s roles and responsibilities and understanding how to make decisions.
Roles
The first role of the group is that everyone is a participant. Next, establish other required roles. Does the group need a note-taker to accurately capture everything? If it’s a board, can someone else take on this role to relieve the board secretary? Does the facilitator need a timekeeper to help keep the meeting on schedule? If the group tends toward groupthink, should someone serve as a devil’s advocate to challenge ideas and introduce new perspectives?
Decisions
Most discussions will end with a decision. Many groups will keep their decision-making implicit and assumed. Sometimes, this relates to power and authority in the group or perceived power by the more expressive members. However, when the group agrees on how to make decisions, it creates a greater sense of security and inclusion, ensuring that everyone feels heard and valued. A consensus decision-making model is typically best for maintaining safety, trust, and ultimately, the group’s synergy.
It is a known fact that certain conditions are present in high-performing groups that accomplish their tasks, goals, and vision. The facilitator is responsible for achieving this group effectiveness. They get the team to work together, cooperate, and feel connected. The group needs safety and trust to achieve synergy, fostering collaboration and cohesion. When safety and trust are not prioritized, group members may shut down, fail to participate, or even worse, undermine and sabotage processes and decisions. The team-building exercises outlined will quickly and easily build the foundation for cooperation and cohesion. This synergy will get the group to focus on the task, making strategic planning significantly more productive.
Would you prefer to have your annual and quarterly strategy meetings professionally facilitated for better results? Please reach out! I help businesses seeking their greatest potential win by coaching and facilitating the company’s vision, strategy, annual plan, and quarterly objectives.
