Strategic Meetings

CLG helps you run your meetings as platforms for initiating or sustaining change by ensuring that every aspect of the meeting reinforces the “new way.” As a result, your meeting is a launching pad to catalyze change – a dynamic gathering where each person knows what is required and begins to make changes that last.

A major concern for your senior management is ensuring that your meetings are worthwhile and profitable endeavors for all constituents. CLG’s research shows that the price tag for key gatherings often runs well into six figures, yet less than 20% of executives who foot the bill believe that their conferences actually yield lasting impact.

The Risks

The risks associated with a non-strategic approach to planning your meetings are best viewed through the eyes of those who will be sponsoring and participating in them. Meetings are a dynamic part of the change process. That’s why CLG emphasizes the importance of what happens before and after your meeting, as well as during the session.

CLG works with you to ensure that any meeting is fully linked to your strategic/change initiative, recognizing what must feed into the meeting and what must flow from it. Because we base our approach on the science of behavior, CLG brings a process for creating critical linkages between the strategy and the people most responsible for impacting your results.

Without a tireless focus on advancing the strategic/change initiative, your meeting sponsors might find themselves undercapitalizing on the opportunity of a scheduled “routine” meeting. CLG works with you to keep a “routine” meeting, or any other gathering of your key people, energized. We assist you in sustaining the momentum of the change initiative, rather than letting the meeting design and delivery drift back to reinforcing “the old way.”

Your meeting participants have high expectations for their investment. During your planning phase, consider that attendees have most likely adjusted their workload and travel plans to be there, and will anticipate a meeting that gives them the knowledge, tools and the “spark” they need to accelerate achieving their goals and objectives.

CLG Addresses your Challenge through ABS

Applied Behavioral Science (ABS) provides the foundation for you to target, plan and achieve desired outcomes with greater certainty. Using ABS, we directly engage you and your key senior leadership members in the design, development and delivery of your meetings. This process ensures that successful outcomes are achieved at three levels:

• Your organization moves faster and further, giving you return on your investment
• Your leaders will build credibility and trust within the organization
• Your employees will return to their workplace energized and enabled to perform at a higher level

CLG’s application of ABS also helps you evaluate your meeting history, perform stakeholder analyses, and identify and pinpoint desired behaviors needed from key leaders and participants before, during and after the meeting. Further, CLG partners with you during meeting design to build in the prompts for desired behaviors, the opportunities for leaders to demonstrate the pinpointed behaviors during the meeting, and the reinforcers for behaviors after the meeting. We also show you how to embed ongoing sources of reinforcement, long after the meeting has concluded.

Making Lasting Changes

To make lasting changes in your organization, you must align and activate desired behaviors. We show you how to conduct meetings that are expressly designed to get the outcomes you want. At CLG, we have helped many clients from diverse industries realize their strategic initiatives and achieve their business plans.

Whether it’s a strategy kick-off session, a leadership conference or an annual meeting, CLG works with you to create a meeting that leaves the attendees with the clarity and on-site experiences they need to begin implementing the change you seek. We help you create a meeting that inspires your group and fosters focused individual commitment, conveys critical points with maximum impact, ensures that your meeting’s momentum translates into successful execution of your goals, and clearly defines the next steps.

Learn more in our related case study, High-Gain Meeting - Changing Behaviors Transforms Salesforce.