THE PIT STOP PROGRAM®
You have the pedal to the metal. Competing. Winning.
But every executive team needs a pit stop occasionally to refuel, recharge, and realign.
The Pit Stop Program® is a 90-day engagement that culminates in a one-day workshop. It is intensely focused on one issue: Executive Team Alignment (ETA).
One Vision. One Strategy. One Goal. One Team.
SHIFTPOINTS runs Pit Stop Programs for all kinds of organizations, from construction companies to churches. Fortune 500s to startups.
To schedule your Pit Stop Program, please request a free consultation.
There are 250 working days in a year …
You should INVEST (at least) ONE DAY in the development of the most important team in the company!
THE PIT STOP PROGRAM - KEY FEATURES
START
The Pit Stop Program starts with your current reality.
Are you winning the race?
Some of the key questions we will ask include:
- Are you achieving your goals?
- How is your industry changing?
- What new challenges are your customers facing?
- What are competitors doing to disrupt the industry?
This understanding provides a foundation for everything we do in The Pit Stop Program.
BASELINE READING
SHIFTPOINTS is passionate about using your Pit Stop Meeting to improve strategic alignment.
We build a shared understanding by asking everyone to read the same thing.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that everyone read Drive One Direction, by SHIFTPOINTS CEO Dave Ramos.
COMPANY ANALYTICS
SHIFTPOINTS performs extensive company analytics and due diligence before every Pit Stop Meeting.
Our goal is to know your business. Cold.
This is one of the critical points of differentiation for SHIFTPOINTS. Most facilitators will just skim through your website. In contrast, our Strategy Coaches prepare for the engagement like strategy consultants and investment bankers.
This starts with document collection. We ask our clients to provide forty documents, from mission statements to financial statements. These documents are exchanged via a Box.com, the enterprise-grade file sharing service.
The SHIFTPOINTS Strategy Coach will study all of these documents before the Pit Stop Meeting. This allows them to provide both expert facilitation and strategic direction.
STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS
SHIFTPOINTS interviews every participant before the Pit Stop Meeting.
Our goal is to know your team well enough to understand their complex interpersonal dynamics.
This is another critical point of differentiation for SHIFTPOINTS. Most facilitators will simply chat with a few executives before the meeting. In contrast, our Strategy Coaches will literally interview every participant. We use a structured process to gain strategic insights about your company and your unique situation. We also ask questions that uncover your team’s unique relational and interpersonal dynamics.
There are several important reasons for this.
First, interviewing every participant ensures that everyone feels included and valued. When only a subset of participants are interviewed, some may feel left out or slighted.
In addition, interviewing every participant gives us the broadest possible perspective on your company’s unique challenges. Every executive provides unique insights based on their unique role and history.
Finally, interviewing everyone is key to building rapport and trust. This way, the SHIFTPOINTS Strategy Coach knows everyone—and everyone knows them—before the meeting.
THE PIT STOP MEETING – EXPERT FACILITATION
Every participant comes into the meeting with biases, assumptions, agendas, opinions, etc.
That is why we require every SHIFTPOINTS Strategy Coach to be a certified meeting facilitator.
Facilitating meetings is actually quite difficult. It requires a broad range of skills and abilities.
Great facilitators monitor the status of each person in the room at all times. For example:
- Some people will put their cards on the table, others will hold them close to their vest
- Some people are naturally reserved and must be encouraged to participate
- Some feel the need to reassert their credentials or status
- Some are frustrated
- Some are passive-aggressive
- Some have disengaged
- Some are confused
- Some are multitasking
- Some can’t wait until it is all over
Reading the room requires intense listening, deep empathy, and high emotional intelligence. The facilitator must accurately gauge everyone's engagement level, dynamically guide the meeting, carefully resolve conflict, and know when to call timeout. All at the same time.
Part of the facilitator’s job is to manage the intensity level of the meeting. They must keep it high enough to create real debate about the issues and low enough to ensure that a fight does not break out.
SHIFTPOINTS Strategy Coaches have the skills, training, and professional certification required to successfully facilitate your Pit Stop Meeting.
THE PIT STOP MEETING – FINAL CLOSEOUT
After your Pit Stop, your team will get “back in the race.”
Refueled. Recharged. Ready to win.
But SHIFTPOINTS conducts two additional closeout activities to ensure the Pit Stop Program delivered the expected results.
First, we use a meeting evaluation survey to gather feedback from the participants. This provides quantitative feedback on what went well and what needed improvement.
Second, we conduct an in-depth debrief, either with the senior leader or with all of the participants. This provides a structured way to discuss the feedback we received and evaluate next steps.
Finally, all SHIFTPOINTS Programs are offered with a unique, satisfaction-based pricing model. We look forward to discussing it with you.
WE'VE RECEIVED GREAT FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PIT STOP PROGRAM:
“Thank you for leading our group through a very productive exercise. Your energy and direction was much appreciated and the team is off to the races.”
"I thought the session was great and really helped us to get focused. I can tell you we are living the 90 day sprint right now! "
"You did an excellent job facilitating; what the team didn’t see (but felt the benefits of) was your significant work in preparing for our time together."
"I appreciate your dedication to helping us through a challenging conversation. We are on a great path thanks to your help."
"Thanks so much for leading us through an effective Pit Stop yesterday. I’m grateful for your guidance throughout the day and am pleasantly surprised at just how well our team responded to your program."
"You deserve many kudos for keeping us focused, on track, and positioned to have a successful day."
"Thank you for all you did yesterday. It was incredibly productive and having an initial roadmap is immensely helpful for me."
THE TOP GEAR PROGRAM
We are confident that The Pit Stop Program will be an amazing experience.
But we want your company to be running in Top Gear.
That is why we designed The Top Gear Program as the follow-on to the Pit Stop.