---

Guest post by: Mark Smiciklas Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

As a small business leader, one of the most important things you can do is develop a mechanism to include all employees in the vision of your organization. Some of the benefits of a shared company vision include:

* Employee satisfaction.
* Increased productivity.
* Unity.
* Dedication.
* Loyalty.
* Organizational pride.
* Faster and more disciplined decision making.

Kouzes and Posner, authors of the Leadership Challenge, state that “leadership is a dialogue not a monologue”. So how do you start the dialogue about company vision with your employees? The first step is to make the commitment to schedule that first meeting. If possible, the session should include every employee in your company and be organized to encourage participation, open discussion and the sharing of ideas.

I have had the opportunity to facilitate a few of these types of meetings and have witnessed how effective they can be. The company I work with sets up “strategy sessions” every six months. The goals of these meetings are to:

* facilitate the exchange of ideas.
* offer all employees an opportunity to participate in shaping the vision of the organization.
* provide an opportunity for the company to communicate vision, objectives, strategies, etc to their whole team.

The first session focused on the marketing of the company’s products and services. Through various small and large group activities, brainstorming, white-boarding, etc., the company harvested a number of great ideas from the group (18 employees). Some of the concepts flushed out during the marketing session found there way into the annual strategic plan.

The next session addressed strategic planning. During this meeting everyone received a copy of the annual business plan. This was a great shared vision strategy – employees saw that there ideas from the previous meeting were being used in the plan and they also had the opportunity to learn about, discuss and question the strategic direction of the organization.

In this particular case, the management group of the company established the final strategic plan. The process of including all employees in strategic discussions and offering the opportunity for honest dialogue and shared thought helped create a “shared vision” scenario – and a fertile environment that has positioned the company for future growth and success.

Related Articles

  Steering the Organizational Change Process
  3 Essentials for a Shared Vision: Aligning Management and Staff
  Reducing Cultural Challenges Saves Money
  Effective Team Building: Theorectical Framework
  Ten Top Business Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  It's Results That Define Leadership
  Top Internet Marketers Share How to Build a Six and Seven Figure Businesses
  There is a huge difference between see and foresee
  How To Make Business Partnerships That Work
  Be a LEADER who Inspires a Shared Vision
  Do We Really Need a Mission Statement?
  Where are you Headed?
  How a Vision Statement Can Influence Your Business Success
  Top Ten Reasons to Write Down Your Life Vision Today
  Vision check
  The Entrepreneurial "Perfect Storm"
  Improving Organizational Effectiveness in Turbulent Times
  Intention: Is Your Life Magical?
  Are You Applying Your Vision?
  Create the Memory of Your Future

Related Forum Posts

Re: The Way We Were
Re: Essential Leadership skills
Re: LEADERS
Re: Ideas For Business
Different Hats

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Site Speed

Green Cleaning Means More Than Clean

When Did You Last Put Your Ear To The Ground?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.