The short and sweet premise is that the workforce around the nation, especially the knowledge worker segment, is changing it’s expectations and many workplaces that embrace the change can see a dramatic increase of productivity and employee loyalty. If you care at all about employee engagement, this book seems to be a must-read.

Now, I haven’t had a chance to read the whole book yet (free copy *cough* *cough* I’d love to review it *cough* *cough*), but the first chapter is free to download at the authors’ website, caliandjody.com.

How do the authors claim the workplace is changing? Smart employers are realizing that employees aren’t satisfied with traditional ideas about work/life balance and traditions that they believe add little value- like the traditional 8-5 workday. To adjust to these changes, the authors developed ROWE: the Results-Oriented Workplace Environment, which most-notably has been instituted at Best Buy, where the authors developed the program.

A fantastic example of the thoughts in the book are expressed in an interview at Ferris’s site, concerning a subject the authors call “Sludge.”

Sludge is when someone says, “10:00 a.m. and you’re just getting in? I wish I could come in late every day.” The belief being expressed here is that work happens between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The person who isn’t in the building at 8:00 a.m. is therefore not working.

Of course, to a certain extent, we’re all knowledge workers now. The person could have been at home coming up with the next great idea. Yet they’re being slammed based not on what they produced, but where their body was at 8:05 a.m. It’s ridiculous.

Throughout what I’ve seen about ROWE, there’s a common call to give up tracking people’s time and forcing them into a traditional schedule filled with meetings and micro-management, and instead letting them know what results are needed and giving them the freedom to accomplish their tasks.

I can’t wait to grab a copy of this book- ROWE looks like the key to employee engagement that the current workforce is looking for, and what many workers will soon be demanding from their employers. Would your workplace be able to pull it off?

Engage all your employees. Don’t leave anyone out of the planning process because in a smaller organization you run the risk of alienating some people. Although you may not think it’s appropriate to include everyone on staff, how will it look if everyone but two or three members aren’t included? Find ways to engage everyone in the process.

Recognize your constraints. As the owner, you probably have grand ideas and big plans. But remember not to overwhelm your staff by thinking too big or grandiose. Recognize your constraints and create a realistic strategic plan.

Have a clear vision. Being crystal clear about what the owners want to achieve is critical to the success of any privately-held business. Do you want to grow or stay small? If you want to grow, by how much (see the preceding valuation discussion)? What future do you want to create for your business? It’s really important for you to be clear about your owner’s vision. Because if you’re fuzzy on your vision, it will never materialize.

Just do it! I know this slogan can be overused, but it fits perfectly here. It seems like setting aside time for planning in smaller organizations is hard because you don’t have a person who can dedicate their time to strategic planning. Take the time to make strategy part of your culture. After the effects of executing your strategic plan are felt, you’ll realize that you didn’t have time not to do it. I promise!

Inviting everyone
The old cliché too many cooks spoil the broth couldn’t be closer to the truth. While it’s imperative that key employees have a voice in planning, not everyone has to literally be at the meeting table. Too many people in the room can lead to chaos and confusion, resulting in a strategic plan by committee instead of through educated decisions and leadership. Groups of 10 to 15 are the ideal size for strategic planning meetings. If you have more people than that, you can always
break up into small teams.             

Neglecting to conduct any research before the meeting
If you neglect to conduct research before the meeting, you get into your session and realize you don’t have information you need in order to make sound strategic decisions. The only way to have a solid strategic
plan is to incorporate information about your external environment and your internal operations. Some research is better than none. So if you find yourself in a pinch the day before or the day of the meeting, do what you can to get data about your customers needs, your competitors
  actions, and your employees opinions.

Holding an annual retreat
Huh? Isn’t this section about holding strategic planning meetings and therefore retreats? Yes, it is. But one common thought process in strategic planning is that you have to hold a retreat. Setting aside a couple of days in an off-site location where everyone gathers in their sweatshirt and jeans drinking cocoa is a typical vision of a strategic planning meeting. Oftentimes a retreat is an annual event and all strategic decision making is reserved for that occasion.

Strategic planning should be a habit, not an event. Hold your strategy meetings regularly (more than once a year) to realize enhanced performance. With that said, annual retreats are okay, but make sure that they aren’t your only meetings of the year.

Getting through the agenda no matter what
Strategic planning is hard work. It takes a lot of mental energy to
pull all the pieces of the puzzle together, see the future, make strategic decisions, and organize it usefully. At every strategic planning meeting I’ve facilitated, people are mentally exhausted by the end. Getting through the agenda is usually what it takes to have a completed plan. 
However, sometimes it’s just not possible to get it all done.

Do have an agenda so everyone knows the structure
of the day, but don’t be so rigid that you stick to it no matter what. Try some of these tips to help the mood stay light throughout the day: Loosen up a little bit. Have some fun. Interject some games and downtime. Take breaks and switch gears from time to time.

Assuming everyone thinks like you
Of course everyone thinks like you do, right? As a good leader, you know that’s not the case. Unfortunately sometimes you forget what’s obvious and end up structuring a meeting based on your own preferences.
In reality, it’s pretty hard to step into other people’s shoes and ways
of thinking. But in strategic planning, you want everyone in the room
engaged. To get everyone engaged, make sure to secure a comfortable
environment. People feel the most comfortable when they’re operating
  in their own thinking preference.

Ignoring the elephant in the room
Would you like to see a strategic planning meeting go down in flames, or any meeting for that matter? Forge ahead, even though you know you have some staff issues. If any key staff member is upset or has an outstanding problem, your strategic planning meeting may likely be disrupted. That
  person may sit in the meeting like a brooding elephant and finally blow his top and get the meeting of course.

The best way to handle staff concerns is to have a one-on-one discussion with every person who will be attending the strategic planning session. Give your employee the opportunity to voice issues or concerns privately. Make sure that you clarify that your intent is to clear up any problems that may inhibit his or her full participation during the strategy session.

Ending on a low note
You did it! You successfully made it all the way through your meeting.
You accomplished everything you intended. You have the key pieces of your strategic plan in place. You’re feeling great. Everyone is slowly packing up their stuff and heading out the door, but you sense a feeling of exhaustion and maybe a little anxiety. You’re wondering why.

What just happened is you unintentionally ended your strategic planning meeting on a low note. In most cases, you have more to cover in your meeting than you have time for. You end up rushing the last part of the meeting to get it all done. I recommend, no matter where you are in your agenda, structuring the last half-hour to end on a high note by getting everyone excited about the new strategic direction.

Overlooking life after the meeting
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in planning for the meeting and the meeting
itself, that follow-up is often overlooked. Committing time and resources
to implementing the plan is almost more important than the plan itself.
Don’t underestimate how much effort it takes to execute your plan. Here are a few tips:

• Within a week after your strategic planning meeting, send out a timeline that contains the next steps and deadlines for completing the plan. Make sure to communicate this timeline to everyone in your
  organization so your employees know what is happening with the strategic planning process.
• Send out the strategic plan on the deadline you set, regardless if it is complete or not. As with the previous tip, you reinforce
  the importance of the plan.
• Post a visible result of the planning session in a common area.
  Items to post include your mission, vision, and values statements
  or a poster of your strategic plan.
• Do not, under any circumstance, cancel the next meeting in your
  planning or implementation process. As the leader, you are responsible for setting the example that the strategic plan is important. Canceling a meeting signifies it is not important. After all, execution is arguably
    more important than the planning itself.

Here’s to holding your most successful strategic planning meeting ever.
And, as a post script, with a little tweaking these tongue-in-cheek
tips can help you make all meetings more effective - something everyone
would appreciate.

• A belief that employees are dangerous and lazy. If you treat people as if they’re worthless long enough, eventually they’ll either believe you (and behave accordingly) or they’ll spend all their energy trying to build a paper case that you’re wrong. Either way, your customers (and you) lose.
• A conviction that customers cannot be trusted. Managers at unhappy companies foster an environment in which customers are kept at arms’ length from everyone except the sales department. Needless to say, customers usually reciprocate this lack of trust and never share the needs and frustrations that might lead to new products — and new partnerships.
• A focus on policies, not principles. Although individual employees often recognize the damage that these rules have on loyalty and customer value, the lack of clear principles — that employee satisfaction matters, that creation of customer value is how we grow the business — means that the system stays in place until it’s tipped over by a more-principled competitor.
• An obsession with today, not tomorrow. Unhappy companies squeeze the same products and processes like stones for next quarter’s profit — and then wonder why it all seems that much harder the next quarter, and the quarter after that.
• Leadership in all the wrong places. Unhappy companies have leaders who make grand promises for revenues but never meet with customers; make grand demands for efficiency but never commit dollars to execution; and make grand noises about change but never do more than reshuffle the deck chairs.

Are you at an unhappy company? Do any of these sound familiar?

Modified thoughts from John R. Brandt

So how can you help your employees understand your strategy?

1. Clearly communicate your mission and vision to every employee, but don’t let those ideas sit in the corner collecting dust after that. Make those ideas a part of every day so they are not forgotten.
2. Involve employees in the planning process. Employees who have a sense of ownership of the plan are empowered and motivated to take action.
3. When creating your plan design it as an easy to follow roadmap. Managers should be able to clearly see the direction your plan is taking throughout the process.
4. Make goals and objectives that your employees can relate to. Include action items and measures that coincide with their daily tasks.
5. Prioritize parts of your plan to make it more manageable. If employees are overwhelmed by the scope of your plan they may "forget" to implement it.

These suggestions may help your employees share your vision. I also suggest having regular planning meetings to monitor your progress and keep employees on track. What do you think? Please share your stories and comments with me!

The reasons for EDS’s downfall, as discovered by Dick Brown were that 1) there was a great deal of internal competitiveness, 2) the 48 divisions with their own profit and loss responsibilities did not communicate with each other, 3) the divisions competed with each other and 4) there was no single corporate strategy to compete in the marketplace.

Brown initiated strategies to reunite the company and restore its competitiveness. He reinvented the brand by authorizing a commercial to air at the Super Bowl that portrayed EDS as a company that rided herd on complexity and “makes technology goes where clients want it to go”. The commercial was hugely successful. Furthermore, Brown recreated the company in that he demanded instant feedback on company projects and “unfiltered” communication. He demanded the development of a system whereby, with Web access, customers could rate EDS project performance at any time. This information was available to everyone within EDS. This system alerted EDS to any customer dissatisfaction. A merit system for employees based on delivering solutions to either internal personnel or customers was instituted. The result was the development of a new corporate culture that collaborated within the organization to support its customers.   

Brown’s strategy has been successful. As of 2001, EDS increased revenue by 7.5 percent, announced a 17 percent increase in quarterly profits and booked $80 billion in backlogged signed contracts. The turnaround of the company is attributable Brown’s corporate strategy which evolved its employees to embrace a new corporate culture with new objectives.