We have a number of retreats that we provide for leaders this includes virtual retreats
Each retreat is highly tailored to the team and longer term organisational goals. This customizing is based upon discussions with the senior team leader and/or any pre-retreat assessment.
Our retreats can range from 1 day to 1 week but an example is below;
Day One (Assessment, Divergent thinking, and Brainstorming)
The Performance Balance
- Assessing Our Balance: Technology, Management, Leadership
- Managing Things and Leading People
- Soft Skills, Hard Results: The Power of Emotional Intelligence
Transformation Pathways
The Pathways framework has evolved over many years of best practices research and very successful use with hundreds of management teams. The process used here is a highly iterative one. It is tailored to the main areas that participants want to focus upon feel they need to address in more depth.
Here’s the typical process used in a one or two-day workshop:
- Differences Between Surface-Level Change Versus a Deeper Level of Cultural Transformation
- Overview the Six Key Areas of the Compass Model (“Pathways Framework” below)
- Gap Analysis (comparing current performance with desired performance) around each of the Transformation Pathways
- Identifying the Team/Organization’s Most Critical Pathways to Higher Service/Quality
- Identifying the Team/Organization’s Most Critical Pathways to Higher Service/Quality
- Establishing Key Action/Implementation Ideas
Pathways Framework
Focus and Context (Vision, Values, and Purpose)
- Common Pitfalls and Traps
- Centering the Organization’s Vision, Values, and Purpose
Customers/Partners
- From the Outside In: Bringing the Voice of the Customer Into the Organization
- Strengthening Internal Partnerships for a More Customer-Centered Organization
- Working with External Partners (suppliers, distributors, alliances)
Strategy and Direction
- Aligning Strategy, Structure, and Roles for High Performance
- Establishing Clear Goals and Priorities
- Designing a Goal Deployment System for Disciplined Follow Through
Measures and Rewards
- Balancing Leading Indicators (operational and service/quality) with Lagging Indicators (financial)
- Establishing a Feedback Rich Culture for Continuous Learning and Improvement
- Traditional Management-Based Reward Systems and Recognition Practices versus Leadership-Based Approaches
- Keys to Effective Reward and Recognition
- Continuous Improvement Through Reviewing, Assessing, Celebrating, and Refocusing
Processes and Systems
- Managing Processes at the Tactical, Cross-Functional, and Strategic Levels
- Vital Steps to Strategic Process Management for Higher Performance
- Aligning Key Organizational Support Systems
- Identifying Symptoms of System Problems That Impede Organization Effectiveness/Execution
Learning and Development
- Key Elements of Effective Education and Communications Strategies, Systems, and Practices
- Aligning Skill Development in Technology, Management, and Leadership with Organization Improvement
- Common Reasons That Most Groups Aren’t Teams
- Twelve Point Team Effectiveness Framework
- Symptoms and Causes of Organizational Innovation/Learning Disabilities
- Keys to Innovation and Organizational Learning
- Building a Strong Planning Process and Infrastructure for Successful Implementation of Organization Changes
Day Two (Convergent Thinking, Priority Setting, and Planning)
Visioning our Preferred Future
What would success look for us? We draw upon a variety of visioning techniques depending upon the group’s experience and needs.
Clarifying/Reinforcing Values
This section is highly tailored to each team. In some cases, We facilitate the team through identifying their 3 – 5 core values. In other cases, current values are revised or refined. Either case is usually followed by planning for living or revitalizing the values.
Purpose
Depending upon the team/organization and priorities, this section may articulate a statement that revitalizes, summarizes, or otherwise brings alive a mission statement to engage the heart of everyone throughout the organization.
Leadership Behaviors
Agreeing on the key behaviors that will bring alive Vision/Values/Purpose. Deciding how much further to take this work in building team/organizational culture (e.g. leadership competencies, training, performance management systems, 360 feedback tools, promotion criteria, etc.)
Strategic Imperatives
Establishing, refining, or reaffirming three – five key goals for the coming year. These are strategic (high leverage) and imperative (must-do) to move the team/organization closer to their vision.
- Establishing our three – five Strategic Imperatives
- Clarifying roles, responsibilities, project teams, timeframes, etc. for each imperative
Management Team Development
An organization’s culture ripples out from the dynamics of the team leading it. A team can’t go to a different place while continuing to behave the same way. To change “them” the team must change “us.” Drawing on thirty of experience working with hundreds of management teams, Jim tailors this section to the developmental needs of the team.
- Addressing Moose-on-the-Table Issues.
- Assessment of What the Team Should Keep, Start, and Stop Doing (this may have been brought forth from a pre-retreat assessment).
- Using Individual and Team Strengths to Build the Team and Address Any Serious Gaps Needing Attention.
- Establishing Team Development Plans.
Action Planning
Throughout the two-day retreat, dozens of action ideas and issues are generated. At this stage, all these plans and ideas are clustered, prioritized, and assigned individual or team follow-through responsibilities.
Executive Team “Stump Speech”
Key communication themes or messages need to be identified and coordinated as executives leave the retreat so they are seen to be in alignment and consistent with each other. This section usually forms the base for communicating the longer-term changes and/or Improvement Plan.
Next Steps
The management team or other support professionals leave the retreat with a strong consensus, clarity of focus, and plenty of action plans to implement.
What Executive Teams Get From This Powerful Retreat Process
- Clarify/redefine management and leadership roles and responsibilities
- Leverage team and organizational strengths
- Pinpoint performance gaps and priorities to be addressed
- Pull together change and improvement programs and initiatives under one process and master plan
- Integrate strategic, improvement, and implementation planning
- Build the executive team around concrete plans and strategies
- Strengthen the executive team’s dynamics and processes
- Assess organizational effectiveness, leadership readiness, and establish plans for change/improvement
- Develop a strong consensus and buy-in for organizational transformation within the management team
- Action learning (versus theoretical education) on the key elements of team and organization leadership
- Better understanding and management of the interconnected elements to building an even high performing organization