Regroup…is this a new management trend?  Not a chance!  Regroup is simply an opportunity to end one month’s business cycle, recap the performance of your company and outline a plan of success for the new upcoming month.  Why does it work?  Because it allows each person on your team to assess their performance from the previous month and make any necessary adjustments for the new month.  Here’s how it works:

Scheduling and preparing regroup:  Regroup should be scheduled during the slowest time of each month and should start early in the morning, if possible.  A solid and productive regroup takes about two hours and will require about one hour of preparation.  Be certain to have a blank chalkboard or a standing easel for taking notes and keep distractions to a minimum.  Regroup is also a time to build on the creative ideas from each person on your team, so make regroup a special part of each month and allow everyone to have equal time to share their feedback.  Simply stated, there are no wrong questions or topics discussed at regroup and your team will respect and respond positively to this level of communication freedom.

Tip From the Coach:  As a leader within your company, it is critical for you to attend regroup and actively participate in them.  Your preparation for each regroup should begin by reviewing the agenda from the previous month, to assess if the to-do list from last regroup was accomplished.  Then, review your new regroup agenda making certain your gameplan is consistent with your company goals and expectations.

Running the meeting:  The agenda for each month’s regroup should begin by reviewing the financial information important to your company.  This might include actual revenue/income versus budget performance, customer/client retention percentages, collection issues or expense performance versus the budget.  Then, address any problems experienced during the past month or any upcoming issues that will impact your business.  Next, map a calendar of activities to develop new revenue opportunities.  This might include a monthly event to thrill your customers/clients, a new marketing plan, or a special focus on your new large prospects.  This part of regroup is where the creativity of your team really starts to roll and if you listen closely, you will hear many “golden” ideas.  Lastly, recap the team goals for the new month and close each regroup on a positive note!

Tip From the Coach: As a leader within your company, take detailed notes during regroup, then send a brief memo to your team recapping the day and include a to-do list for the upcoming month.

Meeting individually with your team:  At the close of each regroup, plan to meet briefly/individually with those on your team to recap the day, cheer their success, and discuss their specific performance. During this meeting ask your team member if he/she needs any additional support or training to develop their skills or the skills of the team.  This is the most important part of regroup as time spent developing your team for future opportunity, will make for pro-active leadership and planning strategically for the future.  This also means you will always have team members ready to be promoted to their next position, with a focus on their career paths and goals.

Tip From the Coach: In the same spirit of these individual meetings, ask your managers to have similar meetings with each member of his or her team.  This will help to grow their skills as a leader and you will want to attend the first few meetings to be certain the agenda for the individual meetings are exactly as you expect.  In fact, as a leader within your company, always “inspect what you expect”.  A good rule of thumb!

Want to hear more about this important topic or ask some additional questions about running a regroup meeting? Send an E-mail to ernest@powerhour.com and The Coach will E-mail back to you a free invitation to be a participant on a PowerHour conference call, tied to the topic above.