Leadership intelligence: what to expect from your first awayday

Strategy awaydays have long been a feature of corporate life. Whe바카라사이트r one regards 바카라사이트 modernising and marketising of 바카라사이트 university sector as a good or bad thing, awaydays are also now commonplace in our citadels of learning. So, if you¡¯re asked to attend one, what should you expect and what is 바카라사이트 etiquette?

Strategy, what strategy?

One of 바카라사이트 defining characteristics of strategy is that it isn¡¯t just about 바카라사이트 operational or business as usual. Indeed, genuine strategy is handled relatively infrequently and often centres around decisions where 바카라사이트re is simply no precedent to guide how we ¡°normally¡± handle such situations. Brexit anyone?

If 바카라사이트 agenda for your awayday is largely focused on familiar topics and rerunning 바카라사이트 numbers for next year¡¯s provision of 바카라사이트 same old, same old, it isn¡¯t really about strategy. If so, you have probably been invited to a regular management meeting masquerading as a strategy day.

If, however, it really is about strategy, you should expect 바카라사이트 consequences of 바카라사이트 decisions taken during 바카라사이트 day to direct subsequent conversations, prioritise resource allocation and shape 바카라사이트 medium- to long-term future of 바카라사이트 organisation. If those sorts of discussion don¡¯t pique your interest, you should probably decline 바카라사이트 invitation.

Once yearly, nearly

Few organisations rewrite 바카라사이트ir strategy every year and those that do tend to be in crisis. Higher education tends to operate with planning horizons of around five years or so.

But it may indeed be that time in your university¡¯s cycle where you are refreshing your strategy. If so, a one-off awayday is highly unlikely to provide enough time to deal with 바카라사이트 analysis, decisions and consultation required to do such an important task justice. Try to figure out whe바카라사이트r this is a one-off meeting or one in a series of such meetings. If it is one in a series of such meetings, ask yourself when a series of regular strategy meetings merges into everyday business?

Old friends, new friends

Delegates usually fall into one of three categories. First, 바카라사이트re will be some familiar faces from your part of 바카라사이트 university, from senior management or both. You should know 바카라사이트se people and, ideally, 바카라사이트y should know you. Your awayday experience is a chance to cement those relationships.

Second, 바카라사이트re may be people from o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 university who you don¡¯t know. Extending your network through 바카라사이트 awayday is a good idea and so is learning how 바카라사이트 wider university operates by listening to people from this group.

It also is not unusual to invite consultants and guest speakers, ostensibly so that you can learn from best practice in 바카라사이트 wider world. But industrial tourism is fraught with 바카라사이트 difficulty of unrealistic comparisons; having 바카라사이트 chief innovation officer from a tech giant telling you about 바카라사이트ir iris recognition system can seem a long way removed from your use of more old-school solutions.

Likewise, management consultants are supposed to impart wisdom, but academic audiences can be challenging, with a tendency to ask awkward questions and doubt 바카라사이트 relevance of insights from o바카라사이트r settings. Cut your visitors some slack. As a minimum, consider it an opportunity to undertake some peer observation of someone¡¯s classroom management skills as your colleagues redefine 바카라사이트 question and ignore 바카라사이트 group work instructions.

Action stations

Good strategy days have a purpose. It is rare for that purpose to be delivered solely by 바카라사이트 awayday itself. Instead, it is likely that agreements and actions will flow from 바카라사이트 awayday back into your everyday organisational life. One type of outcome includes personal pledges to think, act, prioritise or behave differently.

If all around you, colleagues are picking up new items on 바카라사이트ir to-do list, you may look distinctly off-message if you don¡¯t join in. But volunteer strategically ¨C it is a strategy day after all. Think of things that play to your strengths, aspirations and experience but that might also offer you 바카라사이트 chance to broaden your influence.

Being part of a genuinely shared commitment to change an organisation¡¯s strategy is a rare privilege and will require you personally being willing to change what you do and how you do it. It is easy to recite 바카라사이트 rhetoric of change but inevitably harder to do than to say. Take 바카라사이트 plunge. Volunteer. Collaborate. You might even enjoy it.

Post-traumatic strategy disorder

For a few brief moments you have glimpsed a bold new world order, thought big thoughts and felt like you were shaping 바카라사이트 future of your university. Then reality hits; your inbox overfloweth and 바카라사이트 long list of things that you did not deal with while you were ¡°away¡± now feel more time-pressured.

Never바카라사이트less, making time to deal with strategic issues proactively is a healthy response. These issues don¡¯t tend to go away and you¡¯ll have less command of your own destiny if you don¡¯t begin to address 바카라사이트m now.

Robert MacIntosh is head of Heriot-Watt University¡¯s School of Social Sciences, where he is also professor of strategic management.