"What's this BIG PICTURE?thing you keep going on about and how's it supposed to help me??"

That was exactly the email that arrived in my inbox today, which prompted me to explain.

We're part way through August, one of the most disrupted work months of the year for most businesses and many Business Leaders are already looking ahead to at least September, if not the final quarter of the calendar year. Thinking about Strategy. Thinking about Targets. Thinking about their Teams needing a reset, a refocus, a regroup, a recharge, in order to finish the year on a high. Aware that their teams need to be thinking about the bigger picture. Yet wondering how to achieve that, with a fresh approach that will catch people's attention.

Enter the BIG PICTURE?.

Let me ask you:

• Have you ever felt as though your people are so busy working IN their business that they're struggling to work ON their business and how they take their team or area to the next level?

• Ever wished that you could pass more responsibility and accountability onto your Managers and Junior Leaders, so that you can spend more time planning the direction and executing the growth of the overall organisation?
• Do you harness the creativity and problem solving of your teams, or find that you frequently have to rely on coming up with the ideas yourself?

Previous clients

I've run BIG PICTURE workshops for a number of clients, for a variety of reasons and with a range of desired outcomes. Here are just a few examples:

1. A recruitment company where the Board of Directors wanted to engage their Senior Leadership team in translating the longer term business objectives into actionable plans for the next 12 months.
2. A branding and communications company where the 2 Owners have set up an Employee Ownership Trust to transfer ownership of the business over the next few years. They were keen to have their junior leaders stepping up to take more ownership of the direction of the business and getting used to Leading; not just leading their people, but the direction of the business.
3. A group of small business owners, most of them solopreneurs, who spend a large proportion of their time physically delivering the service offered by their business and so wanted some time to step back and create their business strategy for the coming year.

Really positive outcomes were achieved for them all!

????? for the whole BIG PICTURE? approach. It was great to see my team apply their naturally creative streaks to how we build the business. They loved it! And we've got some really positive actions to take, that they're not just bought into- they came up with the ideas!

How does it work?

The BIG PICTURE? board replicates the structure and business functions of any organisation. Participants use their A2 version as a foundation for thinking about their own part of the company. In simple terms:

• What's their/their team's vision or purpose?
• How do they make their ideal clients aware of the business and what you do?
• What sales activities are they employing, to convert prospects into clients?
• What are their key offerings? How do they deliver them?
• How do they take care of their customers, ensure their satisfaction and give themselves a great chance of retaining them?
• What relationships are they harnessing, with partners and suppliers, whether those relationships are internal or external to their own organisation?
• What management and admin tasks and functions are in place?

I loved the fact that I could FINALLY have a “bird’s eye” view of my business. I can easily see what’s missing in my plan, neglected areas requiring attention and opportunities to be pursued.

Prompts and discussions might include:

• What technology is in place that they're not currently taking full advantage of? What's the first step in making that happen?
• What are they measuring and tracking? Do the whole team understand the KPI's, KRA's or objectives; where they've come from, what happens if they're underachieved/overachieved?
• What would be the impact of e.g. a 10% increase in one of the key deliverables? For recruitment businesses, an uplift in the average placement fee. For other businesses, perhaps a 10% increase in average customer spend or most commonly sold product value?
• What processes are in place that aren't being followed, leading to corners being cut and information being missed / sales being missed. What processes could be streamlined or eliminated, which would speed things up or make employees happier, without harming the end result?

How does it work on the day?

The day is split into 3 key parts.

1. We work in groups on a 'side hustle' first thing in the morning, getting used to the concept of the board and the symbols. Having fun with colour, the symbol stickers, making connections between different parts of the business. Introducing the idea that there are NO rules....
2. Setting them up beautifully for the main part of the day, which is then spent creating a blueprint of their current team or part of the business; culminating in selecting a small handful of the most impactful actions to take in the coming 3 - 6 months.
3. We wrap up the workshop with some future planning. Visualising the amazing things they've achieved and then reverse engineering them.

A really fun, interactive and thought provoking session that will benefit my business massively.

So, if you think a conversation about how this kind of workshop could benefit you and your business, drop me a message to arrange a chat, or book it directly into my diary using this link: Chat about a BIG PICTURE workshop.

If we're not already connected, do that here: Connect with Briony

Your style was perfect for us - professional but friendly, challenging but fun. I'm sure we'll work together again!

About the Author

Briony Platt is the Owner and Director of 'Lean into Learning', a Training Consultancy focussed primarily on Team, Management and Leadership Development. With a passion for empowering people and creating enjoyable and satisfying workplaces, Briony incorporates both DiSC behavioural profiling and BIG PICTURE? thinking into workshops and leadership development programmes, to help drive better results for corporate clients. Connect with Briony on LinkedIn to learn more about she can benefit your organisation.