How to structure a Business Review for a meaningful discussion!
How many times have you been in business reviews, where there has been an enormous pre-read, hours of presentation and questions, and yet still the real discussions seem not to have taken place?!
Sometimes this happens simply because ‘this is how we do business reviews’, i.e. people have become accustomed to this sort of ‘high activity, low outcome’ approach to set piece discussions, visits by senior people etc. It is a huge wasted opportunity. Surely a business review with senior leaders is the opportunity to sort things out and get help.
We talked in previous articles It is called Power(ful) Point(s) for a reason! how to cut out huge powerpoint pre-reads and presentations.
We have also explored in various articles the importance of a culture trust to enable people to be open, and thus have the real discussions, rather than hope to 'avoid blame'.
Here I would like to offer you a simple structure to the preparation and the face to face session, which will enable you to have the discussions that will add value.
For the ‘Business Unit’:
1) What is your goal?
2) What are the key context points e.g. disruptive competitors entering the market or changes in regulation?
3) Key challenges
4) Key opportunities
5) What have you tried and learnt?
6) What will it take to 'over deliver'?
7) What in your plan is most likely 'not to work out'?
8) What help do you need?
It is your business, these are your people, and your key resources are energy and time - so use them well!
Peter Soer
CMO, Coach, NED
Other articles by Peter:
3 ways to stop doing stuff that doesn't make a difference!
What it takes to create & drive a movement in a big organisation.