How to Do a State of the Company Meeting and Why It Matters
One of the greatest gifts you can give your team is the gift of understanding.
Specifically, understanding why your company is doing what it’s doing.
It’s annual planning season. That means leadership teams everywhere are putting in tremendous effort to shape the vision of their company for the next 12 months.
But your leadership team cannot execute on that vision alone. If the vision is appropriately ambitious, you’ll need every employee to contribute in some way.
This is the Achilles heel of many businesses.
They think about the plan. They make the plan.
They do NOT appropriately communicate the plan to the entire organization.
Because of that, they don’t have buy-in from the team. And the plan, which could have been successful, fails.
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I can’t fix communication in your entire business with one newsletter.
But I can share one tool that will go a long way in bringing your team into alignment.
The State of the Company.
The State of the Company is a presentation given quarterly by leadership to the entire team.
The goal is to report on past progress, share what’s next (and why), and foster a sense of shared values.
If you are doing quarterly planning but not a State of the Company afterward, you’re missing out. I guarantee your planning will be more effective if you conduct these meetings.
Here’s exactly what’s involved:
State of the Company Agenda
- Opening Remarks by the CEO
- Core Values Callouts
- Highlight team members who have lived your company’s Core Values over the last 90 days (more info here)
- Financial Review of the last 90 days
- How did the company perform against its financial targets
- OKRs Review of the last 90 days
- How did the company perform against its goals
- Department Updates
- Brief info from finance, sales and marketing, operations, HR, etc.
- Present the Next Quarter’s Plan
- Financial Targets and OKRs
- Once a year, present the annual plan as well
- Q&A
- A chance for the team to get more context
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You should conduct a State of the Company meeting within 5-7 days after your leadership team’s quarterly meeting.
From there, individual departments or business units will go on to do their own planning. They’ll benefit from having a clear picture of where the company overall wants to go.
Some business owners view this meeting as “next level.” They don’t think their teams need to hear this information, or they’re afraid to share it with them.
Frankly, they’re wrong.
A State of the Company is a table stakes part of a planning rhythm. If you’re going to ask your employees to work hard for you, they absolutely need to know why they should do so.
Otherwise, here’s what happens. I’ve seen it, and I’ve lived it.
Leadership is working their butts off, but the rest of the company is confused and skeptical. They’re asking, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? And why should I care?”
Now you’ve got 5 brains on the company’s problems instead of 25, 50, or 200.
You lack the buy-in for your vision, and that trickle down effect you’re hoping for? It simply doesn’t happen.
Quarterly planning becomes this leadership exercise that feels disconnected from the “actual work” of running the business. At least, that’s how your team will view it.
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Here’s how to actually get this done.
1. Appoint a quarterback for the presentation. That person is responsible for getting a slide template and sourcing all the data from the leadership team so you have a complete deck to present.
2. Don’t commit information overkill. Keep things high level here. Whatever you have written down for your OKRs is probably the right level of detail. More than that is overwhelming and unnecessary.
3. Don’t hide bad news. Share the information as neutrally as possible, regardless of whether things look positive or negative. In rare cases, some information may be too sensitive to share with the entire team, but those cases ARE rare.
4. Ask your leadership team to start the Core Values Callouts. It will take a few quarters for this to feel more natural. Be okay with some awkwardness at first.
5. Write OKRs that everyone can understand. They shouldn’t be opaque or confusing. Putting them in front of your team will be an excellent test of how clearly you’ve written your goals.
6. Schedule these meetings a year in advance, at the same time you schedule your quarterly planning. Attendance is mandatory unless you’re on PTO. If it’s a Zoom meeting, make sure cameras are on. Start on time, end on time.
7. Prepare. Don’t wing the presentation. Put thought, time, and effort into it. Your team will know the difference.
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A State of the Company takes resources. It takes planning. And it is all too easy to write it off.
Don’t.
I have seen this meeting, done well and consistently, drive full company alignment, solve problems faster, and empower entire teams to work toward the company’s vision.
Those benefits are more than worth the effort.
P.S. If you want a State of the Company template, send us a message. We’ll share our slides and can connect you with a consultant to talk you through it.
