Top Tips for Effective Strategic Planning Meetings ACE Conference 2015 Connie Lindstrom Benchmarking Jonathan Olmscheid Assurance & Advisory Svc. Jamey Cline Business Development
Top Tips for Strategic Planning Sessions Background: Goals & Basics of Strategic Planning Planning Before You Plan Ideas for Conducting the Session Follow-Up Making the Session Worth the Time Group Discussion & Ideas
Why Strategic Planning? But we have lots of good specific goals already! But we developed a good strategic vision last year!
Why Strategic Planning? But we have lots of good specific goals already! If this is your company, strategic planning helps by: Putting the short term goals in context of long-term goals: easier to prioritize projects, allocate resources effectively, and stay on target. Getting an aerial view of your business in historical and industry context: better-informed day-to-day choices and management.
Why Strategic Planning? But we have lots of good specific goals already! If this is your company, strategic planning should provide an overview of direction.
Why Strategic Planning? But we developed a good strategic vision last year! If this is your company, strategic planning helps by: Identifying gaps between vision and reality: where are the potholes in your road to success? Closing up reporting and resource problems. Realigning priorities based on new information.
Why Strategic Planning? But we developed a good strategic vision last year! If this is your company, strategic planning should provide specific action items.
Why Strategic Planning? No matter where you are in the planning cycle, strategic planning sessions encourage: Sharing ideas: more time, more free-form opportunity to move beyond the formula of 1) old business 2) new business 3) lunch. Better communication: everyone gets a chance to talk; board and management team learn each other s communication styles. More active participation moving the organization forward: coming up with ideas=higher buy-in. Christianson & Associates, PLLP
How Often? Points to Consider Board and management turnover rate Lots of new people=good idea to provide context and get everyone on the same page Stable teams=good agreement and understanding, but is everyone too complacent? Urgency Is there a big change or crisis looming? Better buy-in for the need to set aside time to plan if you can identify (or create) a burning platform.
How Often? The overall goal of any business is profitability so find the right balance between conducting business as usual and creating passion for improvement.
Pre-Planning=Effective Planning Who s Attending? More= Diversity Fewer= Efficiency Essential: board members, CEO Good idea: management team (CFO, general manager, plant manager) Maybe: HR executive, former board/advisors
Pre-Planning=Effective Planning Where Are We Going? Off-site= Commitment/Focus On-site= Convenience/Cost Consider: Will we be interrupted onsite? Will everyone take it seriously if they can run out for a few minutes? Can key people attend if we are off site? Can we afford the perception of being removed from reality?
Pre-Planning=Effective Planning How Long Is This Going to Take? Longer= More Ideas Shorter= More Engagement Consider the goals of communication and understanding: time to digest ideas and info presented is key to developing good action plans. Suggestion: One day to cover material, evening to relax, next day to map out takeaways and strategy.
Pre-Planning=Effective Planning Who s Leading the Discussion? Internal Help= Knowledge of Business Outside Help= Knowledge of Process Remember the goals: pick someone who will: Encourage everyone to talk Ask dumb questions Keep things on track Take good notes
Pre-Planning=Effective Planning What Are We Talking About? Initiator/Driver of the Session and Facilitator work together to: 1. Articulate a high-level goal (reason for meeting) 2. Develop an agenda 3. Conduct a survey of attendees
Why A Survey? Maximizes diversity of opinions Maximizes effectiveness of the agenda Encourages quiet participants to feel their ideas are part of the conversation Encourages people to think and question others about the big issues BEFORE the meeting starts Helps show contrast between perception and reality
What to Include In a Survey Assessment of business concerns SWOT analysis questions Quantitative questions (multiple choice, ranking, etc. to show averages and relative importance) Open-ended questions on topics to include/cover
How to Build and Conduct the Survey 1. Find examples and tailor to your needs 2. Survey all attendees (and maybe more ) 3. Consider web-based survey tools 4. Keep it short and make it easy to complete 5. Assign a contact who can answer questions 6. Allow plenty of time for answers and analysis
Building the Agenda & Running the Meeting 1. Articulate the high-level goal (why are we here?) 1. Is this a general five-year plan meeting? 2. Are we addressing a problem? Ex: a) Are we diversified enough? b) Do we have a succession crisis? 3. Do we already have a specific objective? Ex: a) Be prepared to increase production b) Become a community-integrated bio-refinery c) Minimize cost of production d) Sell the plant
Building the Agenda & Running the Meeting Even if answering why are we here? IS part of the high-level goal, there should be some discussion at the start of the meeting. None of the rest of the conversation makes sense without this context.
Building the Agenda & Running the Meeting 2. Provide industry context A. Industry performance and analysis B. Forecasts markets, etc. C. Important trends, policies, and regulatory issues West Central East
Building the Agenda & Running the Meeting 3. Review company performance A. Historical performance big wins, failures, historical performance of strategic planning efforts? B. Benchmarks against comparable organizations C. Frank assessment of committee structures, policies, procedures, communication and trust issues D. Assess survey results: is there a divide between the perceptions on the survey, and the reality of benchmarks and historical reporting? Is there a gap between board and management? Is this a problem?
Building the Agenda & Running the Meeting 4. Do a SWOT analysis: combine survey results with other reporting to get a realistic picture. Strengths Weaknesses Internal Factors Opportunities Threats External Factors Positive Negative
Building the Agenda & Running the Meeting 5. Review the mission statement. Use this moment to think back on all the data you ve just reviewed that s where you ARE. Mission statement informs where you WANT TO BE. Now you can jump in and.
Building the Agenda & Running the Meeting 6. Tackle the topics!
Plan for Action and Follow Up 1. Take a breather first! Discuss the details of your plan after a break (Day 2?), when everyone s had a chance to think over all the information. Tip: Your facilitator should organize and be ready to present recap and notes at the beginning of the new session.
Plan for Action and Follow Up 2. Set the goals. Remember: where are you now versus where do you want to be? The gap informs the goal. Types of Goals ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATION FINANCIAL PRODUCTION RISK MANAGEMENT Examples Specific: Create board recruitment committee General: Draft a mission statement Specific: Management send weekly board update General: Brainstorm ways to improve trust Specific: Meet KPI targets Specific: Set KPI targets General: Figure out what our KPIs are! Specific: Reduce labor cost General: Investigate yield improvement technology Specific: Create risk management education for board General: Research procurement changes
Plan for Action and Follow Up 3. Create the roadmap. Identify specific actions Set a timeline Assign resources Critical Issues Or Goals Action Items Timeline Resources Required ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATION FINANCIAL PRODUCTION RISK MANAGEMENT???
Example of a Simple Strategic Planning Document Critical Issues and Goals Action Items Timeline Resources Required Organization Goal Hire CEO 1. Empower committee to : a. determine if search firm needed b. Define responsibilities 2. Launch search Jan 1 2016 Committee, Search firm fees Communication Goal Follow Robert s Rules of Order 1. President requires meeting to following Robert s Rules of Order 2. Provide board with copy of Robert s Rules of Order Next Board meeting Communication, book with Rules Financial Goal Be a profitability leader 1. EBITDA between average & leaders in peer group a. Compare with no WDGS plants b. Make one factor in bonus compensation c. Measure on a 4 quarter rolling average Measure at fiscal year end Reports, staff to interpret reports, change bonus goals (HR) Risk Management Goal - Review risk management policy a. Review and provide detail to policy b. Revise authorization limits of staff c. Verify reporting & segregation of duties d. Prepare training plan for risk policy e. Review annual audit requirement to verify compliance Jan 1 2016 Time, Budget for outsourcing, risk management committee time
Great! We Have a Strategic Plan! Now What? 1. Update and review the plan quarterly at least. Reporting and follow-up should be included in your action plan. 2. Everyone s plan and method for documenting progress and changes will be different; do what works for you. 3. Does part of the plan need to include goals or performance reviews for senior management/ceo? This is one way to keep goals front of mind.
Group Discussion How often do you hold strategic planning sessions? Regular intervals i.e. every other year, etc. As needs arise? Who attends the sessions? How do you plan for it? Who plans? Who runs it? Do you use an outside facilitator?
Group Discussion Onsite or offsite? Include recreation or all business? How long does the meeting go?
Group Discussion Was your session successful? If so: why do you think yours are successful? If not: What would you do to change them? Or what would you do instead? How will you put the outcomes into action?
Questions? Jamey Cline jcline@christiansoncpa.com Connie Lindstrom clindstrom@christiansoncpa.com Jonathan Olmscheid jolmscheid@christiansoncpa.com