10 Opportunities for Engaging Your Team for Strategic Results

Ah, summertime—a season of sunshine, family trips, and, for many senior leaders, strategic planning meetings (mid-year check-ins and new fiscal year planning). These meetings hold immense potential to illuminate emerging opportunities, address threats, revise plans, foster team cohesion, and reaffirm strategic priorities. While multiple days of offsite meetings can yield high-level plans for exponential growth, the true power lies in the execution.

Engaging employees at all levels in the mission is the key to translating the energy and ideas generated during these meetings into tangible results. Drawing from my personal experience as both a participating leader and strategy meeting facilitator, I have compiled ten opportunities for engaging your team for strategic results.

1. Gain Perspective

Prior to your meetings, seek feedback from all departments and levels within your organization. By understanding market dynamics, customer needs, and talent requirements from the field’s viewpoint, you gain valuable insights for shaping your strategies. (You’re looking for common themes and patterns from the responses, not a checklist of issues.)

2. Build Performance Goals

Link individual performance goals to organizational priorities. This alignment ensures that employees focus on what truly matters to the organization. By evaluating projects based on their importance in relation to the overarching objectives, you foster a high-performing workforce that contributes daily value to business priorities.

3. Invite Insights

To promote inclusivity and harness the potential of high-potential talent within your organization, invite individuals from various departments to participate in a specific portion of your strategic planning meetings. Whether they join in person or virtually, ensure they are well-prepared, understand how they can contribute, and recognize the value they bring to the table. Embracing diverse perspectives can lead to innovative ideas and bringing talent into these senior meetings is a meaningful form of recognition.

4. Align on Key Messages

Before concluding your strategic planning meetings, take the time to align on three to five key messages that will be shared with your entire team. Establishing consistency in messaging is a simple yet effective starting point for engagement. When everyone hears the same message, it helps create a shared understanding, fostering engagement and unity across teams.

5. Assign Roles

Every department plays a vital role in the bigger picture. Clearly defining and documenting each department's responsibilities is essential for successful execution. Establish a systematic process for action planning, communication, tracking progress, and delivering results. This structured framework enhances collaboration and drives accountability.

6. Communicate Key Messages

Immediately upon returning from the meeting, begin sharing the key messages with the broader team. Utilize existing communication channels such as newsletters, team calls, town halls, and online portals to disseminate information effectively. Timely and transparent communication capitalizes on the momentum gained in the meetings and fuels employee engagement.

7. Connect the Dots

It is the responsibility of each leader to help employees understand how the organization's vision translates into their daily work. By clearly articulating how the strategic priorities and vision will impact their respective teams, leaders enable employees to comprehend the significance of their contributions. Employees who understand how their work aligns with the bigger picture will feel a stronger sense of purpose and connection to the mission.

8. Ask for Contributions

Involve your employees in building action plans by tapping into their expertise, interests, and capacity. Whether it’s building action plans, championing specific elements, or actively participating in execution, inviting broad knowledge and perspectives can drive more comprehensive and effective outcomes.

9. Share State of the Business

Providing employees with a high-level understanding of the business realities empowers them to make informed decisions and align their actions accordingly. Educating all employees on elements like financials, market dynamics, and emerging trends equips them to become responsible stewards of resources and encourages thoughtful engagement in their daily work.

10. Broadcast Needed Skillsets

As your priorities and plans formalize, growth-minded employees appreciate knowing the skillsets required to contribute at higher levels. In an ever-evolving business landscape, identifying new or evolved skillsets is critical to long-term viability. By transparently communicating the skills required to excel at higher levels, organizations empower their employees and create a culture of continuous learning.

Conclusion

Failure to meet business objectives can be detrimental to a leader's career. And effective execution goes beyond the confines of the meeting room. Engaging employees in strategic priorities is the key to delivering business results while fostering collaboration, ownership, and a shared sense of purpose. Leaders who intentionally involve their teams will witness a triple win—leadership success, organizational success, and employee success.

If you are an individual contributor, seize the opportunity to lead yourself well by actively participating, offering suggestions, and volunteering your skills and perspective in the execution of strategic planning priorities. Those who lead well, get recognized, and thrive.

Facilitating effective strategic planning meetings includes driving accountability for next steps when everyone goes back home. I facilitate strategic planning meetings for teams that consider market forces, business models, client experiences, and team success. I’d love to engage with your team.