Strategic Planning Retreat
A key discussion point in your business strategic planning meeting:
How managers and teams can add high value
In business strategic planning meetings and retreats, Steve Lishansky helps team identify how to deliver high value. This, in turn, reduces the sense of overwhelm that so often creeps into teams – and companies as a whole. By managing the value you and your team provide, you’ll “ascend the spiral of success” to become highly successful individuals – and a successful, growing team and organization.
Top performers provide high value
At Optimize International, we have identified this critical, consistent characteristic of top performers: The very best performers consistently provide the most value.
Managing and fulfilling commitments of great worth – for internal or external customers or the entire organization – is the primary distinguishing factor of the best and most valuable performers in any organization. These top performers exemplify higher levels of innovation, customer loyalty, and personal and group motivation.
The ascending spiral of success
Successful people can demonstrate a clear link between their actions and the value these actions produce. When there is a clear link between a specific project and how it fulfills important goals, team members will view the project as valuable, and they are more likely to apply their creativity, innovation, and personal productivity. Plus, they’re more likely to be happier, effective, with a feeling of satisfaction.
Team members who are engaged in high-value work or projects rarely complain about being overwhelmed. Instead, they are highly charged, excited, and challenged. This is the ascending spiral of success at work.
The downward spiral of overwhelm
On the other hand, professionals who are busy with projects that don’t have clear and meaningful value often describe themselves as overwhelmed. Overwhelm is almost always accompanied by:
- Lack of clarity on the value of a project or importance of an activity
- High levels of activity on low-value projects and issues
- High-value projects that have not being given high priority
A typical downward spiral looks like this:
- Customers request lots of projects to be completed.
- Customers change their priorities and demands regularly.
- People get frustrated at the constant changes.
- Misunderstandings and miscommunications between key parties worsen.
- Productivity plummets.
- Customers get upset and complain.
- Associates feel pressured and overwhelmed.
The key: Manage the value you provide to others
The bottom-line message is this: “Stop managing activity and start managing the value you and your team provide to others.” Your customers will respond with more and better business. Your employees will demonstrate more creativity, innovation, and enthusiasm for their work, resulting in massive increases in productivity. The resulting customer satisfaction and loyalty will translate into higher sales and profits.
The hallmark of highly successful individuals and organizations is that they deliver value and, consequently, are highly Productive, Profitable and Fulfilled™.
