by Patrick Thean and the Rhythm Team
We are thrilled to host our 5th Annual Breakthrough Conference once again in Charlotte, NC, this October 24th and 25th, at the Charlotte Marriott City Center. Charlotte is Rhythm Systems' home base, and we want you to enjoy it as much as we do. Here are some recommendations to enhance your stay once the conference is wrapped!
Verne Harnish notes in his book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits that the difference between organizational vision and organizational alignment as drivers toward success is a whopping 99%. He demonstrates that vision = 1%, while team alignment = 99%.
Think about the power of that assertion for a moment. Why is it that organizational alignment is exponentially more important to success than vision? The importance of organizational alignment, can't be understated - but how do you achieve it? How can I increase the level of organizational alignment in my company culture? What type of work structure allows you to achieve increasingly better business performance? You need to get into a Rhythm of 3 Year Strategic Planning, Annual Planning, Quarterly Execution Planning and Weekly Team Meetings.
Did you know that nearly half of all companies fail to meet their financial targets? Much of this lack of success can be traced back to poor annual planning sessions. Perhaps you talked about the targets and set them, but you failed to create an action plan to get there. I understand - there is an amazing amount of work that goes into facilitating a winning planning session. We know how hard it is, as our Rhythm experts have facilitated thousands of successful planning sessions to set our customers up for success. This blog will give a high-level overview of the five keys to creating a winning annual plan.
Strategy & Annual Planning Sessions tend to drum up lots of emotions. For some, planning is exciting and fun, while others approach it with a sense of dread and worry. What’s even more challenging is throwing all those people and all those emotions into a room for two days together to have tough discussions.
At this point in the year, many companies are gearing up to plan for the next year. Before you lock down your budget for your next year, ensure that you spend a few days with the executive team to assess where you are on your strategic plans and growth targets and really think about where you may need to make additional investments to grow your business. Your annual planning session is a key part of your business rhythm; this is where you develop and advance your 3-5 year growth strategies or Winning Moves, map out the annual initiatives to get you there, and create your blueprint for your entire year of execution. In order to get maximum value out of this expensive time with your team, it is critical to have each person in the room prepare well. The strategic planning session is an important part of your annual meeting to ensure your plan will help you hit your goals.
I’ve observed a common theme in client companies. I should say, a specific type of client companies. The type that successfully grow year after year. Not companies that had a great year because of the economy, or a tariff, or a one-time software win, or companies that had some government protection that made their success easy. I’m talking about companies in competitive markets and industries who won over strong competition year after year.
What makes an Annual Planning session successful? Meaningful discussion around the right topics is a start, but you don't get there by happy accident. To maximize your team's valuable time, you want to make sure your session is set up for success. Here are some tips to lead into the session prepared to make significant breakthroughs in the year ahead.
In any industrial company, there are business goals to hit, KPIs to measure and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to complete. In manufacturing companies, the business goals and KPIs carry a different weight because of the raw material costs, labor costs, supply chain issues, and other factors involved in getting your product to market. Strategic planning has a special role in manufacturing so you know where your business is starting from and what end goal you want to achieve. Quarterly planning is key in accomplishing those targets.
It sounds so simple. But, I was just discussing scaling up meeting rhythms with one of my colleagues, and she told me that it took her last company three years to get into a cadence of meetings that actually accelerated their team's progress! They learned through a lot of trial and error (and probably a lot of wasted time in meetings that were unnecessary and some productive time lost catching up in hallway conversations when a meeting was needed but didn't happen).
"Spectacular keynote speeches, incredibly, relevant, informative breakout sessions. Thank you!"
“Loved the human element of business that these sessions brought to the conference”
“Very powerful speakers on Breakthroughs… keep it up!”
“Just kudos. I really enjoyed the speakers. Great insights!”
"The registration/check in process was fantastic! Easiest and friendliest group of people. Thank you!”
The secret’s out - our attendees love our Breakthrough Conference. We have some clients who have attended and brought their teams every single year. Want to know what you’ve been missing?
Ready to speak with a mid-market expert? Find out how we help high growth companies execute their growth strategies and win!
