Client

Global Insurance Sector Management Team of a New York Corporate Finance business.

Requirement

The MD who headed the team was concerned that their annual meetings were unproductive and unengaging. They followed a one day format of: introductions, business presentations from each region then a presentation on strategy and tasks for the coming year from the MD himself. That evening, they would go out for some social activity.

Typically, by the middle of the second set of slides of the regional presentations (there were eight in all!), people around the room were bored and listless. Nobody asked questions or made comments to presenters. It was creeping death...

How to make it work better - and, in particular, to draw upon the insight and imagination of the many younger managers present?

The Oakwood City approach

After studying previous presentations and discussing matters with the MD, we revised the format, turning it into an event over one and a half days. We then facilitated the event. Key innovations were:

• Regional reports circulated in advance. Why waste time?
• Regional presentation to be written as local perspectives on a key global theme, to stimulate exchanges.
• We facilitated discussion following presentations on the first morning, drawing together strands of the presentations and developing actions in relation to the theme.
• Lunch with a presentation and Q&A by a senior industry figure.
• The afternoon began with a structured gathering of information on existing or anticipated challenges confronting each region.
• We ran mixed brainstorming and problem solving groups thereafter, engaging everybody in coming up with practical approaches to all the issues aired. All outputs and action plans were recorded.
• The delegates still enjoyed the night on the town - but it was not their farewell, rather an opportunity to further establish bonds.
• The final morning began with the presentation on strategy by the MD - but at a high level of key strategic goals.
• For the remainder of the morning, we facilitated brainstorming, discussion and planning of how to turn the goals into operational reality for everybody - making everybody a "stakeholder".

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