Template

Strategy offsite (half day) template

Half a day away from the daily work: where the company is, the few choices that matter, and three priorities for the year.

180 minutesFor Founders and leadership teamsAgenda room
Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

  1. Where we are, honestly25 min
    • What is working better than we expected?
    • What are we pretending not to know?
  2. What has changed around us25 min
    • What do customers want now that they did not a year ago?
    • Who is doing this better than us?
  3. Where we want to be in three years30 min
    • If it went very well, what would be true?
  4. The few choices that matter45 min
    • What are we choosing between?
    • What will we stop doing?
  5. This year's three priorities35 min
    • If we could do only one, which?
  6. Who owns what, and how we check20 min
    • Who owns each priority, and when do we look at it again?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

Honestly. Growth comes from one channel, and it is slowing.

Choice. Go deeper with small teams, or build what large companies ask for. Chosen: small teams.

Stopping. Custom work for enterprise pilots.

Running it well

Ways to change it

Two hours, small companyWhere we are, the one choice that matters, and three priorities.
RemoteSplit it over two mornings. Nobody chooses well in the fourth hour of a video call.

When to skip it. When last year's choices are still right and half done. Finish them.

Questions

What should a strategy offsite cover?

An honest look at where the company is, what has changed outside it, where it wants to be, the few real choices, and the year's priorities with an owner on each.

How long should a strategy offsite be?

Half a day to two days. Half a day is enough if people read the facts beforehand.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

More templates

Budget review meetingSpending against the plan, line by line where it matters, and the decisions that follow.Decision meetingOne decision, the choices on the table, and a written record of what was chosen and why.Quarterly planning meetingOnce a quarter: look honestly at the last three months, choose a few things for the next three, and check there are enough people to do them.Daily standupFifteen minutes, three questions, everybody once.Weekly team meetingThe numbers, everybody's one priority, and the decisions that cannot wait.All-hands meetingThe whole company in one call: where things stand, what is next, and any question people want to ask.Leadership team meetingThe people who run the company, once a week: the numbers, what is stuck, and the decisions only this group can make.OKR planningThree goals for the quarter, how each one will be measured, and what stops to make room.

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