Most companies spend countless hours working on strategy, sales and growth plans, financial plans, and 5-year forecasts, also known as HIP (High-Involvement Planning™). They have numerous spreadsheets, presentations, and market data to support their plan. They bring in macro and micro-financial gurus to validate their information. The board approves the plan, and everything is ready to go.     Wait a minute. The company forgot to answer the most important question. Who will be responsible/accountable for making sure this gets accomplished? Do we have enough capable and available leaders to grow the top and bottom line 10%? Who is going to open and manage the new locations or the acquisition? Who is going to lead the new product launch? Good question/s. 

    Like so many workers leaving their positions during The Great Resignation, I wanted it all. Higher pay, remote work, and a flexible schedule were options my former position in a non-profit couldn't offer, so I accepted a new job I knew had these benefits. But here's the plot twist: After six months in my new role, I'm on the move again. As it turns out, I value a company's culture just as much as I value flexibility. The non-profits I left (after five years) offered an incredible culture that my new job lacked.

      At a recent client planning session, the CEO was participating in a discussion about strategy, which led to a challenging question on the overall business model. ‘Should we remain more operationally focused, or redesign to be more outwardly “sales”-focused?’ It was an interesting question for sure, and the discussion yielded many new ideas.  But the most interesting part of the exercise for me was watching the team interact with each other in an intense debate over well-established norms in the business and whether or not to continue with the status quo or disrupt and rebuild with a new business model concept.  The CEO encouraged each team member to think strategically and not defend their own respective roles.  He quietly encouraged each leadership team member to argue for and then against each of the critical points in the discussion. The result was a redesign of the company and a complete agreement on how they will operate going forward.

      You never thought you’d be here–navigating your business through a global pandemic that has changed nearly everything about the way we work.   You’ve learned to cope with the quarantines, the safety protocols and the financial uncertainty. Still, now you’re facing one more potential pivot: the switch to a hybrid or fully remote workforce.   You’re thinking: What happens when my employees are no longer together as a team? Will they lose motivation? Will communication break down? Will our bottom line suffer?  Maybe you’re already experiencing some of these issues–but it doesn’t have to be this way.   The core principles of the Great Game of Business®–educating and empowering employees to think and act like owners, and engaging them by giving them a Stake in the Outcome®—can help eliminate the risk of disengagement that comes with remote work. 

      One of the most critical values that ITR Economics provides is removing the emotion from your business planning. Every business leader faces ever-daunting questions, such as “is this the right decision?” or “is this the right time?” or “how can I be sure?” To help with the psychological aspects of managing a business, ITR has created a roadmap based on the Business Cycle. They’ve divided the Business Cycle into four phases and have designated specific business practices for each phase.

      Things were looking up there for a while, weren’t they? At least the long-term forecasts still look strong. But this omicron variant is causing us to tear our hair out, worrying about the health and safety of our people (let alone our loved ones at home). Just this past week, we saw 82 of our associates call in sick—that’s 5% of our company. Just as bad, something like 8% of our company has tested positive for the virus in January. Then, we got hit with the news that our school system was shutting down for a week or more because of the incredible wave of infections ripping through our community. That means we have parents forced to stay home or find childcare options at the last minute, which just puts enormous stress on everyone.

      Are you a leader? Before you answer that question, consider … there’s a big difference between management and workplace leadership. Try this quote on for size: “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”   – Stephen Covey

      A company owner asks employees what he can do to make their work easier.  The employees come up with the idea of providing mobile hotspots for employees who spend a lot of their time traveling.  The owner, who is grateful to the team and what they do for the company, does the research and gets a cost for the hotspots and mentions it during their weekly huddle.  The employees speak up and decline the hotspots saying it cost the company too much money and wasn’t worth the investment, but they thank the owner for being willing to support them.

      Markets shift, economies surge and ebb, leadership changes, but the constant in every organization is the intrinsic motivation of staff. They are propelled by the same basic wants and needs as pre-industrial revolution workers. What are these motivators? Why do they matter? What is the result on the short and long term success of an organization? The following are some thought provoking ideas and methods to increase employee engagement.

      Many companies beginning their GGOB journey ask, How often should your team Huddle? What does a Huddle look like? Those just starting out with the Great Game process often fear that these Huddles will be “too time consuming” or “just another meeting.” The truth is that Huddles, when done well, will actually save you time because they improve communication and the execution of tasks. Here, we've broken down each type of Huddle:

2021 seemed to fly by, at least here at The Great Game of Business. We were planning our year just yesterday, and then, BAM, the year was over. At least, that is how it felt. Looking back on 2021 made us take stock of the most read Great GameTM  blogs. In case you missed them, here they are in order: #8 - 10 Easy Ways Leaders Can Express Appreciation in the Workplace Individuals in the workplace need to feel appreciated in order to enjoy their job, do their best work, have positive work relationships, and stay with their organization long-term. The key ingredient in meaningful, significant, and effective appreciation is individualization—expressing appreciation in the recipient’s preferred “language.” Varying the ways company leadership communicates appreciation will improve chances of hitting the mark, so we’ve compiled 10 ways leaders can express appreciation in the workplace and foster positive work relationships in order to establish a recognition culture.  <>

For nearly four decades, SRC Holdings have been evangelizing the importance of tapping into the universal human need to win. The Great Game of Business® educates your people in the rules of business, rallies them around a common goal, empowers them to see and improve the score, and engages them by allowing them to share in the rewards— What we call a Stake in the Outcome®—presenting them with the opportunity to win as a team. If you want to see success the way SRC has for almost four decades, you must start with communication. You need a system to ensure that you get the most out of your meetings. That doesn’t mean you need one identical to SRC’s meetings, or Huddles as we call them. On the contrary, your system will inevitably look, sound, and feel very different, as well it should. Companies are as diverse as people, and nothing is more distinctive than how you communicate. You have to develop a language and style with which you and your people feel comfortable, which fits your business personality. You will also have to adapt other companies’ techniques to your circumstances, and you may well have to invent new methods of your own.