What a crazy year 2020 has been! As companies have had to pivot their policies and ways of working to keep their employees safe – yet motivated – it’s becoming increasingly important that a company’s leadership team continue to communicate effectively and be in sync with their decision-making to drive business. I have found that the best-run companies take a proactive approach to staying connected and facilitating discussions among their top people so that operations proceed smoothly.
A leadership team I am currently working with took this proactive approach when the CEO asked me to facilitate an all-day offsite meeting to reconnect and strengthen the team. After seven months of remote work he felt it was important to explore ways to improve as a team as well as look at how each leader operated within their function and the organization.
Prior to the session I asked each team member to complete a questionnaire I had designed which gave me feedback on areas that were working well and those that needed more attention. I then had a 30-minute interview with each member to discuss their responses.
The all-day session was structured into three segments:
Segment 1: An ice-breaker exercise to reconnect the team and lay the groundwork for the discussions and work ahead.
Segment 2: A presentation recapping the questionnaire which highlighted the team’s successes, key themes and areas of opportunity.
Segment 3: Discussion of a key opportunity area, chosen by the team, which they openly discussed, strategized ways to improve upon, and then created a realistic action plan for it with steps, timing and team commitment to start making immediate improvements.
There were many positive outcomes from this session but perhaps the best outcome was that it provided an opportunity to get the team together again and allowed them to reflect on and share their individual key learnings from this year without the distractions of the regular work day. And having me facilitate accomplished two things that were of importance to the CEO:
A neutral person led the meeting and the team members were able to participate freely and openly.
Team members remained focused and were able to have deeper discussions when creating their action plans.
Would your business and leadership team also benefit from this type of session? Contact me today at megan@wallscareercoach.com to discuss the opportunity within your company.