The Problem – Lack of alignment and one way communication in annual management meetings
The annual management meeting was an important tradition and opportunity for communication, but was often little more than a collection of uncoordinated presentations from each of the functional heads, and with little input from meeting attendees..
The Solution – Goal alignment format
I conceived and developed a new format for the annual management meetings called the “goal alignment meeting.” Before the meeting, all the objectives to be presented for each functional area were aligned to key strategic initiatives. During the meeting, breakout sessions gave meeting participants an opportunity to review the goals for consistency across functional areas and for their degree of support of overall company objectives.
This approach provided a high degree of interest, feedback, consensus and buy in and the meeting was regarded as one of the best that the company had ever held. It became the standard format for annual meetings in the following years.
Attendee comments:
“This was the best and most productive meeting of its type that I’ve ever attended.”
“I wish we’d implemented this type of program many years ago. We would already be miles ahead of our competition in all areas of our business.”
“An excellent meeting with all players committing together toward a common set of goals.”
