I have developed a three phase methodology to deliver results. I learn about your company. I manage your planning meeting. I stick with you to help you deliver results.

Over the years, I have participated in too many "feel-good" offsite meetings that don't make a difference. The symptoms were all the same: too ambitious agenda for the time allowed; Too many ideas and with not enough focus on executing them when the session is done; Not enough homework done before, during or after;  Poor time management causeing critical decisions to be made as people are running to catch their plane home. If you have experienced this before, you will never again in my sessions.

• previous strategic plans
• any existing competitive or marketplace analysis
• sample client proposals
• sample client PowerPoint presentations 
• a selection of marketing and sales collateral

• your key staff, your assessment of their responsibilities, abilities, strengths and weaknesses
• your products, services and your assessment of strengths and competitive vulnerabilities
• your major business process (at a very high level) and how you run your organization

Using the agenda developed, I facilitate your off-site meeting. The meeting generally takes place over the course of 2 to 4 days, sometimes broken into two sessions separated by a few weeks in order for the management team to research alternatives and new proposals that surface during the early discussions.

Like most strategic planning sessions, the agenda explores the company's Vision, Mission, SWOT's and Critical Success Factors to stimulate discussion and focus your energies towards critical actionable outcomes. That said, my real focus is on driving the participant's to set priorities, make the difficult trade-offs, and build a plan with actionable items, timelines, and responsibilities. Binders of strategy that sit on a shelf don't produce better results.

I believe that true value of the strategic planning process is on the execution of the decisions and commitments made during the session so that is where I focus.

The third phase of my methodology is the post-session activities. I prepare a report documenting the major discussion points, the conclusions and the recommendations from the session and most important, the action items of commitments made, responsibilities and timelines for delivery. Optionally, I offer to return to the client's on a quarterly basis to follow-up on progress in executing on commitments made during the planning sessions. These follow-on activities allow me to stay in-tune with changes in your business and position me to continue to add value to your business throughout the year.