After Day One Workshop and Dinner it will become quite noticeable how much more energised the executive team has become  and how many new ideas have started to flow from them.  This day aims to identify what the organisation is good at, and, what it's not good at.  This can be quite be tough but adding these to all the great ideas coming out of Day One the team can clearly articulate and prioritise a sound list of actions in a  "Road Map".

 

Morning Session  08:30 - 10:30 hrs

Strengths and Weaknesses

 

First part of the SWOT Analysis, which looks internally at the organisation.  Usually I break the management team into smaller groups and get them to come back with their points.

 

It is important that the analysis looks at all aspects of the Value Chain from R&D and Design, Sales and Marketing, Procurement, Manufacturing, Warehouse Management, Delivery, Customer Services, Account Management, General and Administrative support (i.e. Finance, HR), Corporate Governance and Regulatory Compliance.

 

By this stage the team is becoming more confident and this discussion has to be open and frank. Nobody's suggestions are ignored and all are mapped onto a matrix on the wall chart.  Once all are listed we look at them all and put them in a list of severity or opportunity so that later, when we come to do the concentration of effort analysis, we can address the most pressing.

 

Break

 

Morning Session  11:00 - 13:00 hrs

Opportunities and Threats

 

In this session we look at what external opportunities and threats the group believe will influence the market over the next three years.

 

Quite a lot of info will have been gathered in the Future Scenario Session on the first day, but in this session we concentrate on on what those opportunities are and how the company will position itself to take advantage of them and what threats (risks) must the team take action on to avoid being effected severely by them.

 

The Antiva Consultant often finds in this session that the Board has not set up a Risk Committee to regularly review current and future risks and the consultant will spend a little time on the importance of proper adherence to Corporate Governance and the appropriate set up of a board and its associated committees such as remuneration, internal audit and risk.

 

Lunch

 

Afternoon Session  14:00 - 16:00 hrs

Concentration of Effort Analysis

 

By this stage the walls of the conference room are literally covered with output of the previous sessions and its important now to draw all this together and start to develop a list of key actions that will develop into a road map over the next three years. Where gaps or shortcomings have been identified we discuss what plans we might take to address them and a list of mini-projects are identified and assigned to individuals for action.  All are listed and given a priority rating so that they can understand where the concentration of effort of management must be.  The output of the session will be used in drawing up the Road Map of activities.

 

Break

 

Afternoon Session  16:30 hrs - Finish

Reporting Framework

 

It is no point going through all this analysis and development of a strategic plan if everyone goes away from this session and there is no follow-up.  This session is about discussing the reporting requirements and the project management controls that need to be put in place to continuously review how each action is being undertaken and monitoring success against each one.  I usually suggest that a Task List session is held once a week at a set time and that a telephone conference line is set up so that all parties can call in and they do not all have to be on the same site.  It is imperative that the meetings are compulsory (except for those on leave) and that diaries should be worked around this time.  The meetings should last no more than half-an-hour and a person appointed to maintain the project schedules.

 

Production of a Documented Road Map

 

The Antiva Consultant will work with a nominated executive to produce a draft of the Road Map for consideration of all the team.  This needs to be done on the soonest possible day after the workshop.