Too many companies treat anual meetings as pit stops - a chance to drop briefly out of the race and recharge the engines. Great annual meetings, however, are more like green flags: They signal that a new race is about to begin. Your job, as grand marshal, is not only to wave the flag but also to explain what the finish line looks like.
That doesn't mean you have to bring up every grand plan that's ever crossed your mind. Instead, use the meeting to discuss one or two big things you want to accomplish in the next few years. For his meeting, Clate Mask, CEO of Ilusionsoft, a software company in Gilbert, Arizona, takes cues from the book Built to Last, by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras - specifically, Mask says, having a "big, hairy, audacious goal" that motivates the team.
The goal could be something tied to product development, market share, profitability, or revenue growth. Whatever it is, it must capture the big picture. Little, bald, timid goals - such as landing a particual account or trimming tech cost - are for everyday meetings.
To get his employees away from the day-to-day stress in their jobs, Mask hold his annual meeting off-site and builds in time for pleasure as well as work. this year, the meeting was three days long, so there was plenty of time for both. The downtime sharpened brainstorming sessions and strengthened personal bonds, he says. Plus, going off-site eliminated distractions. "If you want to inspire employees to think bigger and better, you have to create the setting for that", Mask says.
Don't be affraid to assign homework, says Steve Red, president of Red Tettemer, a 13-year-old ad agency that holds a retreat every year. In preparation, all employees read a book to discuss at the meeting. Some selections - such as Where the suckers Moon, an account of ad agency Wieden & Kennedy's ill-fated marketing campaing for Subaru - relate directly to the company's industry. Others are more inspirational. Once, Red assigned Seabiscuit and used it as a starting point for a discussion about beating established competitors.
Finally, the key to a great annual meetilng is to treat it not a something big but rather as the start of something big. For example, you could use your gathering to generate a to-do list for the year, making sure all items on it relate to your BHAGs. Establish small groups that meet at least once a month to discuss how each employee is progressing toward those goals, And Mask recommends displaying the goals prominently back home, rather than leaving them to gather dust on a conference center whiteboard. "I post it up on the wall so everyone can see - I blow it up and laminate it" he says, "If you don't see it all the time, it won't get done."
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