A well-crafted strategy serves as the roadmap for your business. It outlines your goals, identifies the resources needed, and sets the direction for your team. For commercial interior contractors, a strategy can help you stay competitive, manage resources efficiently, and deliver exceptional results to your clients. In other words, strategy is choosing to win based on your point of view as an entrepreneur. This starkly contrasts running your business focused on bidding projects that will proceed with or without your company. Bidding is merely planning not to lose based on your tolerance for low profitability.  

Effective Annual Meeting Plan 

In the fast-paced world of commercial interior contracting, a well-defined strategy is crucial for success. However, even the best strategies can fall short without proper execution and regular review. We coach our Starnet members to use their network to keep the strategy alive and effective as a rallying point for all their associates and broad stakeholder network. This is where an effective annual meeting plan comes into play. By incorporating a structured meeting calendar, you can ensure that your strategy is consistently supported and refined throughout the year.  

Creating Meeting Discipline 

To support your strategy, it’s essential to establish a disciplined approach to meetings. Meetings provide a platform for communication, collaboration, and decision-making. They help keep everyone aligned with the company’s goals and ensure that tasks are progressing as planned. Meetings are also effective in creating motivation and accountability by using the network of businesses that count on you to succeed as a momentum engine. In our Starnet Best Practices and Training Committee work we have found that the following elements create meeting discipline: 

• Set Clear Objectives: Every meeting should have a clear purpose and agenda items. This helps keep discussions focused and ensures that the meeting achieves its intended outcomes. 

• Invite the Right People: Only include individuals who are necessary for the meeting. This keeps the meeting efficient and ensures that decisions can be made promptly. The exception here is early career or people new to your organization. In that case, meetings help to accelerate onboarding and reinforce a positive culture. 

• Stick to the Schedule: Start and end meetings on time. This shows respect for everyone’s time and helps maintain productivity. 

• Follow Up: After the meeting, send out minutes and action items. Technology tools such as the dictation tool in Microsoft Word or the AI tools available in Zoom or Teams can be highly effective reinforcements to good meetings. This ensures that everyone is accountable for the outcome desired and knows what is expected of them. 

Meeting discipline is further reinforced by plotting the frequency of meetings against the appropriate topics. Randomly calling meetings is a symptom of poor strategy focus and creates a reactionary culture. Maximize your organization’s effectiveness by matching topics to timing in a full year calendar plan.  

Daily Meetings 

Daily meetings are essential for maintaining momentum and addressing immediate issues. Here are some daily meeting topics appropriate to consider: 

• Warehouse Transactions, General Supplies, and Delivery Schedule: These meetings ensure that your team is aware of the daily requirements and can address any supply chain issues promptly. They can also be used to create discipline around labor deployment, manage change orders promptly, or dispatch equipment to address site-related challenges.  

Weekly Meetings 

Weekly meetings provide an opportunity to review progress and plan for the upcoming week. Consider the following as solid weekly topics: 

• Opportunities and Pipeline Meetings: Discuss quote win/loss, intend to bid/quote, and the next two- to three-week installation demand schedule. This helps keep your team informed about upcoming projects and resource allocation. 
  
  
• Cash Flow Meetings: Review your company’s financial health and address any cash flow concerns. Chase that money and stop work if the clients are not cooperating as professionals. 

Monthly Meetings 

Monthly meetings allow for a more in-depth review of performance and strategy reinforcement. Here are some suggestions: 

• Vendor Market Review and Educational Meetings: These informal meetings provide an opportunity to learn from committed vendors and stay updated on industry trends that activate deal making. You can also collaborate on successful projects that need to be photographed for social media and entry into important industry competitions like the Starnet Design Awards and Dream Team celebrations. 

• Birthday/Anniversary/Success Celebrations: Celebrate employee birthdays, anniversaries, or milestone achievements of the strategy. Invite favored vendor representatives to share in the success to create additional commitment and engagement. This helps build a positive company culture and strengthens relationships with vendors who count on your company for performance achievements. 

Quarterly Meetings 

Quarterly meetings are ideal for reviewing overall performance and making strategic adjustments. Consider the following: 

• Company Meetings: These meetings provide an overview of the company’s performance and introduce upcoming initiatives. They can be tied into a training meeting, client scenario sales roleplay, or peer success stories for added value. 

Bi-Annual Meetings 

Bi-annual meetings provide an opportunity to celebrate achievements and strengthen relationships. Here are some ideas from our Best Practices and Training Committee: 

• Employee Fun Events: Host summer and holiday parties, as well as other events like Cinco-De-Mayo and football tailgate parties. These events boost morale and foster team bonding.
  
• Lunch/Meetings with Top Clients: Include sales, owner/leader, and possibly vendor representatives. These meetings help maintain strong relationships with key clients. 
  
  
• Vendor RVP Meetings: Meet with your vendor Regional Vice Presidents to discuss performance and future collaboration. Be direct in communicating that you will help them achieve their business objectives and help their team be successful in your market. 
  
  
• Board or Advisory Group Meetings: Review the company’s strategic direction and make high-level decisions. 

Annual Meetings 

Annual meetings are crucial for setting the direction for the upcoming year. Consider the following: 

• Budget/Goal Meetings with Sales Teams: Discuss the annual budget and set goals for each sales team. The goals should revolve around actions; not results. An example is to achieve a 15,000 square foot volume of work per week in proposals published to clients. Positive actions will achieve the financial results desired. This ensures that everyone is aligned with the company’s financial objectives. 

• Client & Design Community Events: Host a Design Days-style event that includes critical vendors and possibly other trades and related interiors companies. This event can showcase your company’s capabilities and foster collaboration within the industry. Make these events exclusive to your most important vendors to maintain a high level of commitment and engagement. 

Conclusion 

A strategy is not a one-time effort. It requires continuous monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment to remain effective. An effective annual meeting plan is essential for supporting your business strategy. By incorporating a structured meeting calendar and following best practices for meeting discipline, you can ensure that your strategy is consistently reviewed, refined, and executed by your entire team. This approach helps you stay competitive, fosters a positive company culture, and strengthens relationships with clients and vendors. Start implementing these meeting suggestions today and watch your business thrive. Remember, the key to success is consistency and continuous improvement.