wolfpack at lewis creek orientation
DESCRIPTION
Orientation for Octtober Wolfpack GatheringTRANSCRIPT
WOLFPACK @ LEWIS CREEK
Orientation and Preparation for the Wolfpack Gathering at Lewis Creek Company in Burlington, VT
October 22-‐24, 2014 BUILDING ENERGY BOTTOM LINES
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Table of Contents
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Here’s what you will find in this document
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Expect Change Carefully Timed: What Happens When
Arriving Wednesday to Connect over Dinner
Thursday We Focus on Each Company
Visit to Lewis Creek Builders
Friday Deep Dive with Lewis Creek
Friday Summary and Future Plans
Prepare to Engage! Ground Rules Assignments
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Being a Good Group
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Expect Change Gathering as a peer network is a stimulating experience. It’s success requires preparation and full participation. This document provides a summary of what to expect and how to prepare.
By the time we sit down for dinner in Burlington Wednesday evening you will probably be equal parts anxious and excited. Chances are you and everyone at the table will still be wondering how their company presentation will go tomorrow and thinking about one last review when we get back to the hotel.
Two things will help you relax and feel confident that it will go just fine. The first is early preparation – more on that later. The second is that, as you will soon find out, nobody has this all figured out and everybody is on your side.
In this document we’ll review a few strategies to help you prepare for the gathering and your part in it. We’ll go over the schedule, what your responsibilities are at each stage in the process, and what we hope to accomplish along the way.
In addition, there are a few simple ground rules that will help keep things moving, everybody engaged, and the spotlight shining where it belongs.
By the time we pack up to head home you can be sure that we will all know and care for each other more deeply. We will have seen ourselves in the challenges faced by others and resolved to take concrete actions to improve what we do. Best of all we will be clearly focused on and committed to making measurable progress on a short list of well defined goals.
Prepare to engage!
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Carefully Timed: What Happens When
THURSDAY 7:30 Breakfast
8:00 Orientation
8:10 Building Logic
8:50 Building Shelter
9:30 Black Mountain D/B
10:10 BREAK
10:25 Emerald Builders
10:55 New Commons
11:35 DeMetrick Woodworking
12:05 LUNCH
1:00 Uncarved Block
1:40 Walker D/B
2:20 Wolfworks
3:00 BREAK
3:15 Lewis Creek
4:00 BREAK
5:00 Travel
5:30 Lewis Creek
7:00 Travel
7:30 Dinner
9:00 Return to Hotel
Here is an overview of the schedule for our gathering.
You will notice that in order to give due attention to each company that we will all need to endeavor to pay careful attention to adhering to the schedule.
From beginning to end we all need to stay tuned to and honor this timing.
FRIDAY 7:30 Breakfast
8:00 Orientation
8:15 Stakeholder Interviews(30min./3 teams)
10:15 BREAK
10:30 Stakeholder Interviews(30min./3 teams)
12:00 Interview Team Huddle
12:15 LUNCH
1:00 Insights and Guidance for Lewis Creek Team
2:30 Insights and Guidance for Lewis Creek Owners
3:00 BREAK
3:15 Company and Individual Commitments
3:45 Shared Topics Review
4:00 Meeting Review
4:15 Schedule Next Gathering
4:30 END
WEDNESDAY TRAVEL TO BURLINGTON
6:00 Check In to Burlington Hilton
6:30 Meet in Lobby to travel to dinner in Burlington
7:00 Dinner at Guild Tavern
9:00 Return to Hotel
9:30 Cram for Thurs. Presentation
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Arriving Wednesday to Connect over Dinner
We start out by gathering together over good food and drink in a convivial environment that reflects the local culture. This is our time to share stories and connect with each other and our host.
Everyone should plan on arriving on Wednesday with enough time to check in and be in the lobby by 6:30 where we will depart for dinner at the Guild Tavern in Burlington. This will be an opportunity to reconnect socially and start the non-stop talking we will be doing for the next couple days. I'm not sure it has been said explicitly, but anyone in your company is welcome to participate in our gatherings (and be included online). In addition, if spouses or partners are traveling with you they are welcome at all meals.
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Thursday we focus for 40 minutes on each company
This segment serves each company in three ways:
• It provides a "look under the hood" at how each company is organized and is working (with benefits in both directions)
• It allows the company to seek and gain insight and guidance from this defacto "Board of Directors"
• It invites your peers to help the company to "see what they’re missing" by offering new perspectives
At 7:30 breakfast will be available in our meeting room and the day's activities will begin promptly at 8.
Following a brief orientation by the facilitator each company will have 40 minutes to share the status of their company, including performance metrics and the challenges and opportunities they face.
This time goes fast so you should be well prepared with a 15-‐20 minute introductory presentation followed by facilitated engagement with the network in response. .
To assure each company gets the most from their time you should come prepared to share and explain (to the best of your ability):
• Annual Operating Budget and a corresponding
• Profit and Loss Statement
• Balance Sheet (if you have it)
In addition we will be working on the importance of sales and marketing metrics. Please share what you have, as well as any other Bottom Lines metrics that you track and find useful.
40 min.
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We shift our focus to Lewis Creek Builders
When we arrive at the Lewis Creek office we will be greeted by their staff. This will be our chance to hear from and get to know the key people in each department of their company.
They will take turns describing what happens from first phone call to project design, construction start to final walkthrough, as well as their ongoing service to the relationship.
They will describe procedures, show us their systems, and answer our questions as they walk us through the process. They are generously inviting us to observe how they work. We owe them our focused attention.
Lewis Creek will get the final time slot before we take a break at 4PM. They will set the stage for our engagement with their company and call attention to the things they specifically hope to gain from our visit.
From 4-‐5PM we will take a break. This is the time to make some calls. Check-‐in with your family. Take a shower. Catch your breath.
We’ll meet in the lobby at 5PM to travel to the Lewis Creek office to meet the staff and learn how they practice.
We will then travel back to Burlington for dinner at the Ice House. This will be an opportunity to get to know the "key stakeholders" we have just met and will be interviewing in the morning.
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Friday we really get to know Lewis Creek Builders
These 25 minute interviews will follow a common script. Each team will ask each person the same questions. These questions explore both personal and company aspirations and invite observations that lead forward.
By the time we break for lunch we will have accrued a deep understanding of the people and operations of Lewis Creek and be prepared to offer them insight and guidance.
This will be both in response to the guidance they are expressly seeking as well as what we have observed and they may find revealing.
On Friday morning we will meet again for breakfast at 7:30.
At 8AM we will break into three teams to interview 6-‐7 "key stakeholders" in the full operation of Lewis Creek's business.
This deep dive provides us with a fuller understanding of Lewis Creek’s challenges and opportunities. What we observe will provide the foundation for guidance and insight.
This is why we are here!
We will assemble with their full team to reflect together about what we have learned. We will invite them to query us.
Our goal is to provide Lewis Creek with discrete and achievable goals that everyone present understands and embraces.
What we identify together will be distributed to specific operational domains. Goals will have short and long term targets for completion. Responsibility will be distributed appropriately and balanced across the company.
We will conclude our focus on Lewis Creek with an owners only debrief at 2:30. This will be an opportunity for candid conversation appropriate for the owners only.
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We conclude by looking forward
Each company will reflect on what they have learned and determine what their most important areas for focus and development will be going forward.
We will each share these insights with each other in this final phase of our gathering. We will each identify three measurable goals that will make a significant difference in our operations in the next six months.
These will be the goals we report on during the next sequence of monthly conference calls.
After a break we will conclude our day by sharing our company and individual goals and commitments, reviewing what has accrued in our "parking lot", evaluating the success of our gathering, and scheduling our next meeting for the spring.
The gathering will conclude at 4:30.
Before we conclude we will review the topics that emerged and were capture in our “parking lot.” We will expect to explore these online following our gathering.
We will also take a moment to evaluate the experience we just shared. What worked? What might we do differently? What next?
Finally we will determine who will be our host and what dates we will plan on gathering again in the spring of 2015.
We will also designate a Wolfpack member to serve on the Bottom Lines Steering Committee.
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Prepare to Engage! To get the most from this experience we each need to devote a bit of time to preparing ourselves to be active and involved participants.
This includes preparing and assembling the documents you will share, outlining the topics you want to present, and trying it out to get a feel for the timing.
In addition, you may want to review some of the online discussions, company briefs, or visit member websites. The better we understand each other the more usefully we will be able to provide insight and support.
INVENTORY YOUR DOCUMENTS
Print out and review your Operating Budget, Profit & Loss Statement, and Balance Sheet. If you have budgets and P&L’s going back two years plan on bringing those. Take note of what may be missing or what needs attention and plan time to get everything in shape (to the best of your ability). If you are having trouble, ask for help.
SET GOALS & PLAN YOUR PRESENTATION
Make a list of things that you want to get out of this experience. This might be challenges you are facing, opportunities that have presented themselves, or business practices you are having difficulty mastering. Also plan to share your successes and aspirations. Let us know what’s working and where you hope to be in both the short and long term. Plan your presentation to cover what’s most important. If necessary leave out a few things.
BRING THINGS TO SHARE
You may have been getting a lot out of a book or online resource. Bring these along to share. If you have images of projects you’re proud of, include a few (but be brief). If you have a form you created that is working great or a marketing piece you want input on, bring them along. There will be times at breaks for folks to share this stuff.
GET MENTALLY FOCUSED
Set aside one hour a week leading up to the gathering to work on preparation. Give yourself time to prepare and to think about why you joined Bottom Lines and what you are hoping to get out of it. Write things down, make lists, create outlines. Making time ahead of time helps avoid having to pull things together at the last minute when the phone is ringing and suddenly the printer is out of paper.
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Ground Rules Learning to behave effectively as a group is one of the organizational skills we want to help Bottom Liners develop. We do this by practicing!
All groups benefit from agreeing to some basic ground rules. These guidelines help the Wolfpack make the most of the time we have committed to sharing with each other to achieve a common purpose.
PAY ATTENTION TO TIME As you may have noticed, the schedule is rigorous. Everyone deserves an equal share of time to present, to be heard, and to listen. • Quietly get ready to start your
presentation five minutes before your time.
• Plan your presentation to allow at least half the time for engagement with the group.
• Focus on key issues and listen for insights that emerge.
• End on time!
RESPOND BRIEFLY Our engagement with each other is one of the most valuable features of our gathering. Ask questions and offer insights as succinctly as you can so everyone has a chance to contribute.
SHOW UP ON TIME Better yet, show up early! See a theme here? Moving a large group back and forth to restaurants and to the Lewis Creek office requires that we all be ready to go at the designated hour. Help keep things moving by listening to the plans and following them. If you can help with driving, say so and be ready at the door.
MIX IT UP While our days are tightly scripted there are times and spaces between where we can visit with each other and our host. Make an effort to rotate socially. Sit with different people at meals. Travel with a different mix. Most importantly, determine to get to know the Lewis Creek staff.
FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION Every phase of our agenda has a distinct purpose and you should be clear about what we’re doing and what your role and responsibilities are. This means no interruptions for calls, email, texting, etc. Everyone needs to pay attention and contribute.
USE THE BREAKS To avoid distraction while we are meeting, use the breaks to check email, make calls, or respond to texts. This is also an important time to get up and move around. Just be sure to be ready to return to your seat on time.
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Assignments We’ve all got some work to do before we arrive in Burlington. Set time aside to give these assignments your attention well before you are packing for the trip.
We will also each be responsible for capturing what we learn, sharing what we observe, and most importantly, giving Lewis Creek our full attention and best intentions.
PREPARE TO SHARE YOUR FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS Your first assignment is to prepare and print ten copies of your financial documents. We may eventually go paperless, but for now we want hard copies to markup and make notes on. You need to bring an Annual Operating Budget and Annual Profit and Loss Statements back to 2012 if you have them. If you can produce a Balance Sheet bring that.
OTHER REPORTS OR FORMS If you have other business documents that you like or depend on bring them too. This may be sales tracking, production reports, job costing, or even a great invoice.
CREATE A BINDER Bring a 2” binder with you and hole punch anything you plan on sharing. Create dividers for each company. This will allow you to organize and find the documents we share.
COMPLETE THE SURVEY Make sure you make the time to take the online survey. Info about this will be found on the Wolfpack Basecamp.
TAKE NOTES While you listen to others make notes that will help you offer them insight or ask questions. When its your turn to present keep notes about what others offer you. Capture everything that has meaning for you. Review all this before setting your next goals.
TAKE A TURN Each of us will take a turn keeping notes for another presenter. These are intended to help them capture as much as possible that is said and shared during their presentation.
LISTEN CAREFULLY AND SHARE USEFULLY Two of the most important activities we will do are to visit Lewis Creek and hear how they operate and the next morning to interview their key employees. What we hear and observe will form the foundation for the insight and support we will share afterward. Our purpose is to help them discover and set useful short and long term goals that everyone in the company can embrace and enthusiastically pursue.
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Being a good group One of the important leadership skills we will all be working on learning together is how to behave as an effective group. These three practices are intended to help us do that.
CAPTURING GOALS While we are together we will gain insights and be inspired to pay better attention to the domains of our businesses. Consider how to translate these insights into plans to act. Record measurable goals and identify them by business domain: Sales, Production, Administration, Owner, and Team. For each goal determine if it is short or long term and preferably who will be responsible for success. When the list is complete we’ll identify priorities.
Before we leave we will each commit to three short term and three long term goals and share them with each other.
BACKUP NOTES During your presentation you’ll want to take notes. Because it will be hard to both present and capture everything that is said we’ll each take turns making backup notes for each other. Think of it as a buddy system.
We will use a Google Docs Spreadsheet to take notes in a single shared file.
PARKING LOTS
Meetings often end up following paths to topics that are not related to the purpose of the meeting. Good facilitation requires the group to recognize when they have strayed. It is useful to have a place to “park” these ideas and topics and a process to return to them later. When we stray we will park the topic on a flip chart page and get back on course. At the end of our meeting we will review what we “parked” and decide what to do with what was recorded.
We will also keep one other parking lot for resources. These are the books that get recommended, forms someone relies on, websites or software that are worth knowing about.
During each presentation we will each take turns being the scribe.