Last week I was having a conversation with a Home Care company owner who I met when I was speaking for their annual conference. Apparently my message had sparked some insights and questions and he came up to talk after my presentation. We stood there for probably thirty minutes after everyone else had left the room talking about his business and some of the challenges he was facing.
It was very interesting because he is one of the largest companies in his franchise system, and the leader who others look to for information and advice.
When I got home the next afternoon, there was an email from this owner waiting for me. He was asking if we could set up a time for more conversation. He was really intrigued by our discussion and wanted to explore working with me to grow his business and get ready for the future.
We set up a time to talk, and based on the conversation it looks like we’ll be working together to develop and implement strategies to grow his business.
We Begin with an Executive Strategy Retreat.
Whenever I work with a new Home Care company that wants strategic advice on how to grow their business and get ready for the future, we begin with an off-site leadership retreat. As I like to say …
“If you can get all your key people in the same room, I can help you get them all on the same page.”
Over the past 40 years, I have led over 500 of these leadership retreats with a variety of health care organizations, from hospital systems and physician group practices to senior living communities and healthcare at home; Home Health, Hospice, and Home Care. Since 2002, I have focused on serving Home Care companies and we have led dozens of retreats for their top teams.
One of the things that makes these retreats unique is how we use the Storyboarding Technique to make ideas visible and stimulate thinking. I learned storyboarding from Mike Vance who was the Dean of Disney University in Florida, and worked directly with Walt Disney. We use index cards, felt markers, and push pins to document the outcomes of our conversations. Then we summarize all of the key decisions into a focused strategic action plan.
An important part of this process is separating creative thinking from critical thinking. Brainstorming is easy. Separating the ideas into critical actions is more difficult. That’s where having an experienced facilitator can make all the difference in the outcomes of your strategy retreat.
Nine Strategic Questions
The foundation for leading a Home Care Executive Retreat is the strategic questions that leadership teams need to answer.
Here are the nine questions that form the basis for our strategy retreats. Depending on the time available and the unique needs of the company, we decide which questions to digest in our conversations.
Want to get your Leadership Team together?
One of the things I’m doing more of this year, as I’m “Rewiring” my Home Care work, is leading Executive Retreats for a select few Home Care companies. If you would like explore this for your team, let’s talk.
