Strategic Planning Facilitator: A Wise Addition To The Process

You want your business to thrive, and to ensure it’s reaching new heights each quarter you must implement regular strategic planning into your routine.  

Strategic planning is “… an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. “ according to the Balanced Scorecard Institute.

For more resources on strategic planning, you can view my previous blog posts

Why Your Business Should Be Strategic Planning

The 5 Benefits of Strategic Planning For Your Business

While strategic planning can be completed solely by those within the company, some businesses are finding that bringing in a strategic planning facilitator helps them to yield better results from the overall process.

This blog post will outline the duties of a strategic planning facilitator and why it might be a good idea to add one to your company’s process.

What is a Strategic Planning Facilitator

A strategic planning facilitator is a consultant hired by a company to guide a business through their strategic planning meeting.

If you don’t hire an outside facilitator, you or whoever is leading the meeting takes on the role of facilitator.

There are many benefits associated with hiring an outside strategic planning facilitator which will be highlighted below.

The responsibilities associated with being a strategic planning facilitator might include

• Assisting in explaining the planning process to the teams
• Advising the CEO on the selection and organization of the planning teams
• Briefing the strategic planning team on methods and tools
• Leading the team through the planning process
• Organizing and conducting the most important events
• Encouraging the team to achieve tasks and meet agreed upon milestones.

Save Time In Advance

Preparing for a strategic planning meeting can be extremely time-consuming.  Hiring a facilitator can take most of the logistical preparation duties off your plate. This is always a welcome benefit for those typically tasked with that duty.

Provide Outside Perspective

When those within a company are having conversations about the business, they are very close to the situation.  Sometimes it’s difficult to fully see a case for what it is when you are in it. That’s why bringing in a strategic planning facilitator allows you to hear an outside perspective on the strategy and issues at hand.

While an outside perspective isn’t exactly necessary, it can be beneficial to hear what a neutral party thinks about a decision.

Stay on Track

It’s simple to get off track when having a meeting, especially if that’s the culture of your company.  Having a strategic planning facilitator allows you to stay on track throughout the process, so you are only addressing relevant topics that will help you achieve the goal of the planning session.

Facilitators are used to dealing with many people with various personality types so he or she can help to keep the meeting moving in a positive direction despite any disagreements or tough conversations that might take place.

Allows Everyone to Fully Participate

When one person from the company is facilitating the meeting, they’re unable to also fully participate.  Hiring a strategic planning facilitator ensures that every person who is a part of the planning committee can be present and participate as much as possible.

It’s common for more outgoing personalities to dominate the conversation.  Having experienced strategic planning facilitator helps to keep those present engaged, so everyone has a voice.

Provide a Proven Process

Strategic planning facilitators bring their skill set to the stage throughout the process.  Instead of trying to figure it out as you go, using a proven method allows you to ensure you are following a framework for strategic planning success.  

Having a proven process also reduces the risk that those in attendance will waste time.  Clearing the schedule to hold a strategic planning meeting means that every minute counts and the time spent planning should be used effectively.

How to Know Your Business Needs a Facilitator

Now, despite knowing what a strategic planning facilitator does and the benefits associated with bringing one to the table, you might be questioning whether your business is ready for that commitment.  Here are a few telltale signs that it’s time to hire a facilitator for your strategic planning meetings.

You must address tough issues

When you know in advance that tough topics or concerns must be addressed during the meeting, it might be best to bring in a facilitator.  This is especially true if there is a history of communication breakdowns when discussing tough issues as a company.

You Struggle to Stay on Task

If your meetings lead to conversations about everything under the sun beyond the purpose of the meeting, you will surely benefit from having a strategic planning facilitator.  Consider the opportunity cost associated with having this meeting. There’s no time to waste.

You Don’t Communicate Well

If your team has difficulty communicating with each other well, especially regarding tough issues, save yourself the headache of facilitating the conversation by hiring an outside specialist.  They’re from outside the company, so they can bring out the best conversation amongst those involved to help reach the ultimate goal.

Moving Forward

Deciding to hire a strategic planning facilitator is an important one.  You must ensure you hire the right person with the best experience and personality to work with your company.

The benefit of bringing in a facilitator will undoubtedly improve the process and developing a top-notch strategic plan will hopefully lead to increased business success and employee satisfaction.  Happy employees are engaged employees and engagement leads to success, so it’s always important to keep that correlation in mind.

To learn more about increasing employee engagement, download my free book, 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement.  

 

Building Corporate Culture By Design, Not Default

Designing the corporate culture of a business is a crucial component of long-term success.   It’s not enough to just let it develop over time without care, thought, or purpose. You must think about how the culture should look and feel within your company.  This should not be one more thing to add to your to-do list, but instead an integral component of your company, just like your products, services, and employee choices.

Understanding Corporate Culture

Before you decide to cultivate the corporate culture of your company, you must have a firm understanding of what corporate culture is.  According to Investopedia.com, corporate culture is the “beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions.”

You can read more about the specific benefits of creating a corporate culture and how it impacts various businesses here.

Determine Foundational Values and Beliefs

Creating the corporate culture of your company should involve an open conversation between everyone in the organization from the top down, but it shouldn’t start that way.  

Begin the process by having a meeting with the leaders of  your business to develop a baseline understanding of what the foundational values and beliefs are related to

• Goals
• Strategies
• Customer interactions
• Investor relationships
• Community
• Dress code
• Business hours
• Office setup
• Employee benefits
• Hiring decisions

While there’s no guarantee that the ideas you develop during the beginning of this process will make it to the final stage of your corporate culture plan, this is a great place to start before you involve your full team.

Gain Employee Insight on Corporate Culture

After developing a foundational overview of the values and beliefs of your organization, it’s time to bring in your employees.

Depending on the size of your organization and the current culture, this can be done anonymously via a digital format, or in person by having a traditional roundtable conversation.

If your company is smaller and used to open communication, an in-person roundtable meeting might be best.  

If your company is larger, or you believe some employees might not feel comfortable giving their honest opinions in the open,  it might be best to send out an anonymous digital survey.

Whether this stage is completed in person or virtually, you must set the purpose for the conversation.  Explain why you are gathering this information. Ensure they understand the end goal and why their input is essential.  Explain to them your next steps in the process.

This helps them become fully engaged in the development of the corporate culture and allows them to respond to the questions with the background knowledge and foresight necessary to give their best responses.

Gain Buy-In

Once you have a conversation with your employees and flesh out the final corporate culture of your company, it’s time to gain buy-in.

Everyone might not be excited about the new culture you’ve set in place.  Maybe it’s because they feel the current culture is good enough. Perhaps it’s because they don’t want to see change.  

Whatever the reason, it’s crucial to gain buy-in, if only from a few employees to start.  This is because when you start a new mission or process, those who believe in it will start the domino effect of support.  These supporters will act as role models and express to their co-workers in a peer to peer conversation the benefits of this new initiative.

You might need a bit more of a boost in increasing employee engagement in the corporate culture process.  If you are seeking additional support, download a free copy of my book, 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement where I share best practices for getting your employees engaged in your company’s success.

Implement the Corporate Culture

Now that you have a corporate culture in place that you’ve designed, it’s time to implement it.  Setting a plan in place is the simple part. Incorporating it in your day to day business practices will test whether you can maintain this culture.

Make sure you stay focused on your ultimate corporate culture goals, and if necessary, you might need to teach and reteach your employees how to operate within this new culture.

Lead by Example

Here’s a bonus tip as you’re designing your corporate culture and expecting your employees to buy-in to the process and follow along.  You must with no doubt lead by example.

Remember that you are being watched at all times by your employees.  Everything in business comes from the top down, so your employees will follow your lead.  

If you start out strong in modeling the new culture then get lax around month 2, they will believe the initiative is not very important, and they will get lax as well.  However, if you’re serious about it and model the culture on a daily basis, they will see you and hopefully become more serious about it as well.

Make the culture a part of who you are as a leader.  Be the biggest cheerleader and supporter of the new corporate culture and hold yourself to a higher standard than your employees.  That means if you want your employees to shoot for the stars, you need to be on Neptune. It wouldn’t be the expectation that the majority of your employees land on Neptune with you, but some will rise to the occasion, others will fall short, but at least they won’t still be on planet Earth.

Above all else, remember, your energy is contagious. It’s your role to guide your employees in the design and implementation of your company’s corporate culture.

Defining a Winning Corporate Culture

What is Corporate Culture

According to Investopedia.com, the corporate culture definition is  “beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions.”

The corporate culture of a business is reflected in many ways including how it structures

• Goals
• Strategies
• Customer interactions
• Investor relationships
• Community
• Dress code
• Business hours
• Office setup
• Employee benefits
• Hiring decisions
• And more

A company’s corporate culture is generally implied and develops organically over time based on the traits of its’ employees.

Since corporate culture makes up much of an organization’s viewpoint, developing a defined optimal culture can be crucial for long-term success and scalability.

Corporate Culture Examples

All businesses have a corporate culture, whether it has been identified or not. Some companies stand out as having a positive, supportive, and inspiring culture that makes it an exceptional workplace.  

Here are 3 well-known companies, that have developed a well respected and positive corporate culture according to Entrepreneur.com.

Zappos

Zappos is an online shoe store that emphasizes building a strong positive culture.  Half of the weight of the hiring process is based on the results of a cultural fit interview. It is given to determine whether a new employee would fit in with the current company culture.

They go a step further by offering any employee $2,000 if they choose to quit within the first week if they determine the job is not a good fit.

Instead of promotions and raises going to those in the top social circle, they are awarded to employees who pass skills tests and showcase improved job skills.

The corporate culture of Zappos demonstrates that maintaining a positive and fair work environment is a necessity.

Twitter

Twitter, one of the top social media platforms, has defined its corporate culture as one that is team oriented and laid back.

By offering rooftop meetings, free employee meals at the headquarters, and even yoga classes, Twitter wants to ensure their employees are happy because satisfied employees are willing to go above and beyond while on the job.

Squarespace

Squarespace has risen in popularity as one of the best website creation platforms and is regularly voted as a top workplace in New York City.

With 100% health insurance premium coverage, flexible vacation offerings, catered meals, a fully stocked kitchen, monthly celebrations, and even a relaxation space in the office, there is no wonder professionals love working at Squarespace.

The Importance of Corporate Culture

As the previous examples demonstrate, the corporate culture of a business can shape how it operates.

With Twitter’s laid-back team-oriented environment, discussing necessary changes and new initiatives is likely more comfortable to do.  

Along the same lines, interdepartmental collaboration is probably a painless process.

If the culture was one of no teamwork and being afraid to communicate, crucial conversations wouldn’t take place or would be met with so much static they would lose value.

Developing a corporate culture has three main benefits.

Define Identity

Defining the corporate culture helps a business to identify its values and identity.  Without an idea of the culture, it’s difficult to develop a set of consistent values.

Increase Retention

A company with a strong culture attracts better employees, and once hired those employees stay longer.

This leads to a reduced turnover rate, fewer new hires, and improved chemistry amongst employees because their team remains consistent.

High turnover rates are a clear sign of an issue within a business’ corporate culture.

Define Image

The corporate culture defines the image of a company. Depending on the type of business, customers and clients can see how employees are treated which can boost sales and customer loyalty.

Social media platforms showcasing parts of the company culture can bring potential customers or clients to the business because they are attracted to the culture they see.

The image is also a part of attracting high-quality employees.

Defining Corporate Culture

The concept of defining corporate culture is a very personal one.  

Not just to the management team or the CEO, but to the entire business as a whole.

No one can define your culture for you.

It should be developed after receiving input from every member of the organization from the custodial staff to the President.

Here are 15 questions you can ask to start defining the corporate culture of your company.

• How is feedback managed?
• Who gets promoted?
• What behaviors are rewarded?
• What five words describe the company?
• How does the management team support and motivate employees?
• Who fits in and who doesn’t?
• What causes conflict and how is it resolved?
• Is risk-taking encouraged?
• What’s one thing you would change about the company if you could?
• What makes you proud to work for this company?
• How would you describe the organizational politics at the company?
• Who in the organization has the power to get things done?
• What kind of flexible work arrangements are available
• How does the organization support your professional development and career growth?
• What role do company values play in hiring and performance reviews?

Just as a reminder, these questions should not only be asked to the upper management team.  Allow all employees to provide input. The more information that’s collected, the better understanding you will have of the current corporate culture, potential areas of growth, and areas that are thriving.  

A critical component of corporate culture is high employee engagement. If your employees are asking, what is company culture, it’s important to get them engaged in the process.  If increasing employee commitment is a part of the corporate culture that you need to improve, click here to download a free copy of my book, 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement. When you develop a positive corporate culture with fair practices and policies that engage your employees, your business has a higher chance of success over time.