Top tips for a successful strategy day

It’s all too easy in any business, but especially in a small one, to focus on the day-to-day at the expense of thinking about the big picture.

It has probably never been truer than it is now as we come out of months of lockdown and uncertainty, with an exaggerated over focus on being in the business rather than on the business.

For Meantime heading into Q4 with new team members and a new London HQ, it was time to look to the future of B2B public relations with a bright new strategy and plenty of energy.

With that in mind, we headed off to the seaside to spend a day in Deal on the Kent Coast for a strategy day.

Meantime’s five top tips for a successful strategy day:

One

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your strategy be, but taking time out to have a useful conversation and involving everyone will be an essential part of your strategic planning journey. Be clear about objectives, what you hope to achieve on the day, and how you will carry that forward.

Two

A strategy day, even by the seaside, is still a meeting and you must prepare for it properly. Set a clear agenda with objectives, brief people in advance and explain if there is prep needed.

Three

Create the right environment for the team to feel safe and empowered to share new ideas, revisit old systems, and share information. Appoint a facilitator to carry through the day, set timings, and motivate where needed.

Four

Be clear on action points, conclusions and take-outs, and plan post event communication. Make visible notes as you go along, engaging the whole team to be part of what you are generating.

Five

Breathe life into your strategy, live it every day as a team, be in and on the business.

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Abraham Lincoln