Turning disruptive change into a strategic transformation almost always requires making hard strategic decisions. I've found that the best way to make these hard decisions is in a strategy workshop (or strategy lab).
Over the years I have developed a strategy workshop process that brings your leadership team together around these hard decisions:
I bring the process and facilitate the discussion.
You set the context so that your team fully engages.
Your leaders bring their expertise and unique perspectives to make sure our decisions are well grounded in reality.
Our debates and discussions through the process lead to a deep shared understanding of the situation and the various options,
And lead to shared commitment to the right path forward.
Everyone leaves the workshop as ambassadors for the decisions made, ready to lead implementation throughout the organization.
Workshops typically are either two half-days or two full-days, with a team dinner in-between to reflect on what was uncovered in the first half of the workshop.
What Makes Me an Effective Facilitator?
Leading a workshop well requires a few key ingredients:
Structure: Workshops should help teams make decisions better and faster. That won't happen without a well-defined process and flow. Over the past 20+ years I have been refining a process we developed at TeleChoice called the Strategy Lab. The lab starts by uncovering truths and putting them in context. It then moves to identifying strategic options and evaluation criteria. The bulk of the process is spent methodically evaluating options in a format that encourages discussion and debate that leads to joint deep understanding and a shared decision.
Productive Tension: Too often bad decisions are made because leaders are so focused on consensus and harmony that they suppress their individual opinions and concerns. Sometimes my clients believe their own hype, failing to see their own weaknesses or to acknowledge real threats to their plans. One of my strengths is drawing people into the debate so that we all see a more complete picture of reality. When appropriate, I don't hesitate to challenge leaders to dig deeper in defining and defending what they believe about the business.
Progressive Flow: One of the challenges in facilitating workshops is discerning between distracting "rabbit trails" and productive discussions. A second challenge is shutting down unproductive lines of discussion without shutting out the leaders introducing the topics. I manage workshops with a clear understanding of our goal. I encourage everyone to participate and I listen attentively to determine which lines of discussion will move us forward to our goal. One person described my style as "verbal jiu jitsu" — absorbing and deflecting misdirected comments while affirming the one making them. The end result is a free flowing discussion that is always moving "downstream" towards the decisions that we need to make.
Endgoal Focus: My job as facilitator is make the most efficient use of time for the leaders participating while ensuring that we are making the most effective strategic decision possible. Making a perfect decision is unlikely at best, but as the saying goes "perfection is the enemy of good." My goal is to quickly lead the team to making a great decision that everyone is on board with and that everyone deeply understands why it's the right decision.
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