Here’s what happens behind the scenes after you book an offsite, away day or training program from me.
Stage 1: I’m hungry
You cook up a new strategy, mix in some new team members, want to spice up your team with new ideas, dissolve some silos or generally fix a problem, so you call Cindy
Stage 2: Let’s eat
You call Cindy, determine a time a place and a guest list for the dinner party.
Stage 3: What are you hungry for?
Cindy asks you about your appetite, your allergies, the ingredients and your palate.
Stage 4: Check the recipe
Cindy does a little foraging: talks with your exec team, interacts with the wider team, maybe spends some time interacting and observing what really happens in meetings and work days
Stage 5: Source the ingredients
Cindy looks at any in-house documentation that’s appropriate, in order to make sure that everying for your meal is perfect: strategic plans or dashboards, work in progress documents, meeting minutes, whatever we need to make it great for you
Stage 6: Procure the right ingredients
Source the best ingredients: the best ideas relevant to your outcomes.
Stage 7: The secret spice
Now we add flavour to the menu by working out the processes, games, activities and interactions which will give you your desired outcomes at both a conscious and an unconscious level
Stage 8: Create the menu
Make sure that what you see at the end reflects what you were after, taking into account the information gleaned in the kitchen of your organisation. Design the day. Make the handouts, talk to the venue.
Stage 9: Set the table
Pay attention to the aromas, pick up any spills, check that you have the right glasses and the right cutlery in the right places, the right people seated at the table, that they each have a way to participate while also eating what they are hungry for, in the service of the overall dinner party cohesion.
Stage 10: Serve the meal
Deliver the program: Check that you got what you ordered. Include some unexpected palate cleansers, surprise tastes and smells. Lay out breadcrumbs that lead to a fabulous gingerbread hous in a forest (sans witch). Let the team discover as well as absorb
Stage 11: Dessert
Finish up with a tasty dessert: all deliverables, action plans, artifacts of the meal, plans, flipcharts, metaphors, photos. Take a souvenir photo.
Stage 12: Feel replete
You go back to normal operations but with a renewed sense of purpose, cohesion and a sense of being fed just right, not just in your stomach but in your life and your work too.
The sooner you tell me you’re hungry the sooner we’ll be cooking up a menu to delight your senses, make your team easier to manage, dissolve those silos, work on the important problems first and deli
Talk to me about what you’re hungry for, and we’ll get something cooking!
Featured image: Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
