Happy September! I know it’s late, but we’ve been busy and we’ve got a lot to tell you about from the last month or so! Not only did August mark the end of the financial year for StrategiQ, but it also meant it was time for our third and final Strategy Day of 2018, and we covered a lot.
The Strategy Day – What’s it for?
So, every few months, the StrategiQ gang get into a big room, away from our desks and the everyday hustle and bustle of the office and spend some time talking about StrategiQ. The day’s main purpose is to give the team the opportunity to focus on our own strategies, our processes, values, achievements and goals.
It gives us space to set both professional and personal goals as well as understand StrategiQ’s goals, understand the business direction and where we plan to be in the next 12 months. We carry out constructive analysis of our performance, standards and how we work as a team, and of course, it provides our newer staff members with an opportunity to learn in more depth about the company’s inner workings, why we do what we do and how.
As it was the last one of the year, we reflected on our achievements over the past 12 months – in 2017/18, our family grew by ten (I know!), we launched more than 20 high-quality websites, relaunched our own swanky website, created our glorious Brand Guidelines book and helped more than thirty businesses grow and get closer to achieving their business goals. Phew!
While we were all together, we also took the time to discuss our business objectives for the coming year and beyond, which of course included even more new team members and some really exciting stuff. So keep your ears and eyes peeled!
The day started positively, as every day does here at StrategiQ. We looked at our Values – our What, Why and How – and how we live and breathe these values in our work. Our Head of Marketing Ops Nick Woolnough also delivered a fantastic workshop on leadership values, which focused on attitude and personal characteristics rather than skill and experience.
“The ‘You’re the Boss’ workshop was one of my favourite parts of the day, and it was nice to engage with members of the team I’m not usually sat next to. I think it worked really well in helping us to understand each other’s strengths and personalities, in a really fun way.”
Personal Development
One thing that stood out for many members of the team was the goals segment of the day. Usually, we have a really high-energy session where we all proudly announce the goals we’ve smashed since our last strategy day, set some new ones, and leave feeling like we’re all superheroes (which we are anyway, duh).
This time around, we evaluated why we didn’t achieve the goals we wanted to and learned that not achieving your goals – whether it’s to learn piano or hit a performance target you were super close to – but keeping at it anyway is an everyday application of stoicism.
“Stoicism was a philosophy that flourished for some 400 years in Ancient Greece and Rome, gaining widespread support among all classes of society. It had one overwhelming and highly practical ambition: to teach people how to be calm and brave in the face of overwhelming anxiety and pain.” Source
Okay, that might seem a little dramatic. The point we’re getting at is that we push every day for excellence and to achieve above and beyond what we do on a daily basis, no matter how hard it is, how difficult life might be or how much we want to just sit down for a minute and have a cup of tea. This often means facing our fears, saying “I’m scared, but let’s do it anyway”, and those decisions can be the best decisions you ever make. That pushing for excellence in the toughest situations makes us all everyday stoics, which is why we’re all here, reflecting on an amazing year and even better ones to come.
“It helped me to take off the blinkers I unintentionally hold on to so I can pinpoint what it is I actually want to strive for and get there, no matter what.”
Inspiring, right? The team is always growing here, so if you fancy putting on your stoic hat and joining us, get in touch with a CV.
