Leadership Discussion Facilitation

System

I am looking for input/advice on how to proceed with an unfamiliar task.

I am the newest member of my business team. Based on a number of discussions on resources and priorities, we have decided that we need to regroup and ensure we are all in agreement on our business direction. I need to facilitate a discussion of the following:

1. Worldwide business priorities
2. Regional opportunities (which may or may not be fully aligned with the WW priorities)

I am learning a new industry and team, so I do not have much knowledge of our history here. As in most businesses, we have difficulty sitting everyone down together for an extended period of time. In order to facilitate this process, I think I should gather information from the team prior to a face-to-face meeting in order to find commonalities before the meeting.

I was thinking of sending out a matrix for each leader to fill out. They would list the most pressing business goals and functional activities to support reaching the goals. We would then meet and reach concensus on goals and functional support, while ensureing adequate resources to reach the goals. We would then communicate globally and cascade the information through each function.

Thoughts on other ways to proceed? I know this is pretty sparse info, but if you have any suggestions on different approaches I would appreciate it.

marc

This is a significant undertaking. My first thought is that you may not be the right person to lead the group. Your organization may be better served to bring in an outside person who is familiar with the process if not the business. If this does not make sense to you, then one of the senior members of your management team, who is most familiar with where you are and why you are there might be a better choice.

If you are still set on going forward, your description of the grid sounds like a decent approach. I would approach it a bit differently personally, but my approach would build upon my expertise, which would involve financial trends analysis for the company, accompanied by profitability analysis of major business segments. For me, understanding the big picture of a business is based on a thorough financial understanding of what works and what does not work.

ritaanz

With so little information, I find it difficult to make any suggestions. My understanding of your mission is to encourage an increase in sales. From reading the goals, this is a marketing research endeavor.

In my opinion, step 1 should be a business plan developed by top management. That plan should then be disseminated to the team/teams. The plan should outline the company's goals. Your task, should you accept this mission, x:o is to get the teams members to buy into it and come up with the business strategies to get there.

Assuming this project has the 100% backing of the supreme beings, there should be no problem getting everyone together and for the length of time necessary to hammer this out. If I were in your shoes, I would issue an agenda listing the objectives of this meeting and the questions that will be debated.

I hate to be the one to tell you, but this will take several meetings with group sessions in between.

Remember (not my quote)
Coming together is a beginning
Keeping together is progress
Working together is a success

Hope this gets you started.

Pork

Your personal interview with each senior leader is definately the starting place. Even to begin to have an open discussion with such a large topic will be very difficult to even begin. I would seek guidance from the most senior leaders on your mission to hold a facilitation meeting, and get more finite and specific on the issues from the senior leaders or peers. What is the expected outcome or decision/s that need to be made. Yours is kinda like going after a doctoral degree and taking on the world. Your primary professor would push you to refind your aims and purposes. Your post reads to me as way to broad.

PORK

smaces_twin

A SWOT analysis would also be a good idea. I'm sure you can google it for more info. I can give you a little if you need.

System

Thanks to all for the input so far. While I do feel somewhat unprepared for this undertaking, this is an excellent opportunity to learn by doing. However, in order to get a balanced view, I have also set up a meeting with some consultants we have used for executive coaching and other strategic planning to consider using them for this facilitation.

I am familiar with a SWOT analysis, and it makes sense to apply it here. I also like to idea of interviewing the rest of the the team as research prior to our first meeting.

My feeling is that we already have a good deal of the financial analysis available, and I will spend some time with our Controller as a first step.

Pork

But remember the financial analysis should not be your center piece. It is extremely important: however, "customer motivation to consum what, why, when, and how often" is what a company must be about. It does not matter if it is counselling services, swimming pool cleaner, automobile, or our BACON, if you do not satisfy the customer's needs the effort will be for NOT!!!

It is for this reason that our company is here for the long haul. The customer has always eaten PORK. It is our mission to put the most delicious and best looking pork with less fat and less dangerous concerns for the cooking of PORK OUT THERE TO SATISFY THE CUSTOMER. It is truly the other white meat and oh, so good! Who knows maybe someday, we'll get it so pure that even God's choose people will enjoy a slab of BBQ Ribs and a beer!

If you let the financeials drive your chain, you will never agree to get the FAT out of the PORK, that would be to expensive and cost to much good money because FAT adds weight and weight is pennies and $0llars and lots of it. It is easy to over feed and produce a FAT HOG, it takes a professional effort to get it just right and make lots of money in the process!

"Dandy PORK" stikes again!

System

Uh...I think I got your point - along with a strangely odd urge to eat bacon and ribs.