Following up on my intro post to the Executive Strategy Meeting topic I wanted to share some valuable lessons learned. The 4 hours we spent together was tremendously useful, however we agreed that we had some things to work on to improve.
Lesson #1: Stick to the schedule
We had a tendency to be long winded in our updates and run over the allotted time. We agreed that we needed to stick to the schedule to make sure we are focusing on the important things and train ourselves to manage our time and give true executive updates. Obviously if there is a particular issue that requires more time, we make that time, however it has to be voted on.
Lesson #2: Meet Quarterly
Everyone has a different meeting frequency; many companies meet on a weekly basis. For us, we are in such close communication regularly that meeting weekly would be too often. We had originally planned to have this strategic meeting monthly but after our first run we realized quarterly would be better. A quarterly meeting allows us to have substantial meetings where we can dive into topics and spend quality time brainstorming and developing new ideas.
Lesson #3: Break up the meeting into two days, 4 hours per day
Our original meeting was on a Tuesday morning and we all know that any time during the week can be hectic. We quickly realized that 4 hours was not enough for us. Going forward we decided to break it up into 2 days each with a 4 hour session. Our next meeting will start Friday afternoon and then round two on Saturday morning. Friday would be a high level technical review, discussion of risk management topics, and then our ‘round the room’ updates from each member. Saturday is for bigger picture items like our technology innovation discussion and to address any questions or challenges from the prior day.
Lesson #4: Round the Room needs an agenda everyone must adhere to
For our first meeting we found that everyone had a different format and list of topics for the ‘Round the Room’ so we decided to lock in the topics and limit everyone to 25 minutes. The agenda is (a) high level quarter review, (b) resource review – top & bottom performer, (c) short term / long term goals or projects and (d) questions / challenges for the team’s input on Saturday.
Our next meeting is schedule for late April, we’ll let you know how it goes. If you have had success with your meetings please share…
