They yawned. They paced. Do we HAVE to be here?
No, it wasn’t me taking my kids to see their great-uncle Ned to hear his stories about trains, AGAIN (insert groan, rolled eyes).
This week, it was enlisting leaders for a half-day planning session for the Board of Directors of my local Chamber of Commerce.
Is it really important? Can’t you just send us notes? Between the inherent restlessness of busy, energetic people and the situational ADHD of our ever-pinging phones, the idea of focusing on anything for half a day seems, well, just weird.
So why bother? What’s the return? Let’s talk about that…
Time: research shows that for every 1 minute of planning, you gain 10 minutes in execution. Yes, really, 10 times return on investment. Spend 4 hours, get 40. What could you do with 36 more productive hours?
Focus: You have a lot of energy. Not infinite, but a lot. Think about the sun. Spend enough time under its millions of kilowatts and you might get a sunburn. Focus a few of those kilowatts through a laser – you can cut steel, or pretty designs in anything. Focus yourself and your team, and the energy you’ve been using being very busy will become as productive as that laser.
Speaking of energy: A planning session, done right, ends with participants saying “I’m re-energized.” “I’m excited about our future.” “I can’t wait to work with Justin on…” “Wait until our clients see what we’ve come up with – it’s going to be explosive!”
Wouldn’t you like to hear your team saying that? Wouldn’t you like to feel like that? Time, focus, renewed energy – that’s the ROI for good planning time. Try a focused planning session! You, and your team, may fight it at first, then you’ll fight for it.
While this is simple, it is not easy. I offer a free 90-minute consultation to you get headed in the right direction. We can decide in 5 minutes if that is a good investment for you. Or it could be there’s someone you care about that needs to see this – be sure to share!
Contact me to schedule a free 90-minute consultation
