A “Strength’s” Based Retreat.

Some years ago in the mountains above Scottsdale, Arizona Air Conditioning By Jay held a three day retreat designed and implemented by Business Navigators.

All 40+ members of the ACBYJ team were invited by President Bryce Johnson to attend. All they had to do was to prove they had read Marcus Buckingham’s book, Now, Discover Your Strengths.

The first day was spent in reviewing all 34 strengths for each of the participants.

The second day was spent in a communication field exercise intended to take advantage of their strengths. Teams were created with the members composed of a good mix of different strength’s.

The exercise had two parts.

1. HIDE– Each of the six teams was given a stuffed Hedgehog to hide more than ten minutes walk away from the meeting cabin. They created written directions (a treasure map) which showed how to find their hedgehog.
2. SEEK– The teams exchanged the treasure maps and then went out into the Mountains to “Find the Hog”.

The first team to place their Hedgehog on a table near the cabin won the prize.

The day ended around a campfire lit by the individual torches which were ignited first by Bryce’s torch.

This video is a visual summary of the retreat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVHPrMKhZ-8

Sharing # 3 Part two Between Management and Employees.

The third area of resistance to sharing for employers is…

3.        “They don’t have the ability to understand the complexities of the numbers.”

That argument is demonstratively not true!  My experience has shown me

That given thirty minutes a month for “Numbers training” it takes about three

Months for inside and field people to “Get it”.

Men who work in the field understand numbers and percentages very well. Just

look at their focus on batting averages, rankings and which winning team

combinations will ensure their team a place at the finals.

The sharing of information can happen in various venues.

• Personal coaching situations
• Internal newsletters
• Departmental meetings
• Intra departmental meetings
• All company meetings
• Posted goals with weekly or monthly updates

The most important part of the sharing process is that all are made aware to what degree we are close to or far from a goal. And all are given the opportunity to suggest what we might do differently “to make things better”

Sharing as a main focus of your company culture is achievable. The result can be profitable growth.

Perhaps more importantly, when you create a positive, fun environment at work people will stay and want others to join.

I was driving through Findlay, Ohio the other day and heard a recruitment ad on the radio for a local jewelry store.

It was impressive that they were spending marketing dollars on recruitment but, what struck me was the tag line. After explaining what a wonderful work atmosphere the store enjoyed the announcer said. “We look forward to coming to work every day! Do you?”

When you create that “Better Mousetrap” the world of workers will beat a path to your door.

Next: Ask your employees – The “Reverse-Flow Meeting”