Strategy workshop
“Everyone has a different idea of where we're going.”
Your leaders agree one direction. The format fits the job: anything from two hours in your office to two days away. Your leaders make the calls, and you lead them. I run the room, and bring in what I’ve seen elsewhere when it helps.
Sound familiar?
“I’m not sure we’re building the right thing.”
Maybe it was never quite settled. Maybe it made sense a year ago.
“We have a strategy. Nobody could tell you what’s in it.”
It’s in a deck somewhere, and every leader remembers a different version.
“Every decision still comes back to me.”
You can’t hand decisions over when nobody’s sure what the company is aiming for.
“We get stuck arguing about what our goals should be.”
That’s a question your strategy should answer. If it doesn’t, the argument comes back every quarter.
What we do
We start with a conversation with each leader, so we know where the views really differ. In the room, your leaders make the calls, and you lead them. I run the room, and bring in what I’ve seen elsewhere when it helps. We write the strategy down short, on half a page, so people actually read it.
What it looks like when it works
You’re sure you’re building the right thing, and you can say why.
Ask any leader where you’re going, and you hear the same answer.
Decisions stop coming back to you.
Setting the quarter’s goals is quick, because the direction is settled.
How it runs
1
Before: a conversation with each leader, so we start with what’s really going on.
2
The workshop: in person or online, as long as the decision needs.
3
After: I follow up when we agree, to see what’s working and what isn’t. If it needs more time, we add working sessions over the following weeks and months.
You leave with
A short strategy your leaders agreed together, and the first decisions that follow from it.
Formats
Flexible, from two hours to two days, depending on what you need to decide
In your office, away somewhere, or online
Working sessions over the following weeks, if it needs more time
A follow-up session for your wider leadership team
It was reassuring to hear the mistakes we've made are typical ones many businesses make and there is a way forward without starting from scratch!
People Leader, seed-stage SaaS startup
Case studies
A strategy reset that broke a risky dependency
Seed-stage SaaS startup, about 30 people
A seed-stage SaaS startup of about 30 people reset its strategy in a one-day offsite, broke its dependence on a single platform, and pivoted fast when that platform changed.
Read more
+
From e-commerce playbook to media strategy
Founder-led UK consumer startup, about 50 people
A UK consumer startup asked for OKRs. We checked the business model first, found it was really a media business, and drafted OKRs to match.
Read more
+
Try it yourself first
Strategy
The One Page Strategy
A free one-page strategy template: four parts, half a page, and a way to write it with your whole leadership team.
Read →
Strategy
1-2-4-All: a brainstorming method where everyone is heard
A simple way to brainstorm with a group of up to 20, so the quiet voices get heard and the best ideas come out. About fifteen minutes.
Read →
Who you’ll be working with
I spent six years at Google, then two at Amazon, where I led a 100-person organisation. Since then I’ve worked with 16 startup leadership teams, as a facilitator, trainer and coach.
I run every session myself.
What usually comes next: Product vision · OKR workshop
Know someone this would help?
Richard runs strategy workshops where the leadership team agrees one direction, and the leaders make the calls.
Next steps
Start with a free, 20-minute Clarity Call. Confidential, and no preparation needed.
“
Clarity in difficult business situations
What I appreciated a lot while working with Richard was his approach towards clarity in difficult business situations and finding a solution that fits for the team… which helped us a lot in developing our own business to the next level.
Susanne Palli
CEO
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