Many companies and/or teams have an annual Retreat - or as we choose to call it, a Team Advance. This is where we look at the year past, the year ahead, set our marketing budget and choices, etc.
This year we started out by measuring our year against our Mission Statement. Two parts of our missions statement are that
we have fun
and
we make a significant difference in our clients' lives.
We truly believe that if we read our clients properly and put them in the right house, that it makes a difference in their lives. Having the right base, the right foundation, the feeling of HOME, makes a difference in their lives.
So - two questions each of the 4 of us had to answer to start off our Planning Day (actually divided into 3 sessions for the first time, since we've been so busy) were:
- Who was the client you had the most fun with?
- Who was the client for whom you felt you made the most significant difference in their life?
The answers differed, as did the meanings. The point we made - which of course we want to duplicate in our plans for 2008 - was: yes, we did have fun, and yes, we did truly make a difference in the lives of some of our clients.
I won't share the stories here - some are sad, some happy, some very poignant - but it's so worthwhile to know that despite the obstacles of 2007 (or perhaps because of them) we DID make a difference.
What a wonderful profession we're in, that we CAN make a difference!
12/27/07 9:56 pm: There's a bit more to our mission statement, so I posted a Part II blog just now.
Totally agree! We are very lucky to be in a career where we can feel very good about what we do for and with our clients. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you Sharon!
Bonnie - it helps to remember that when days are tough.
Katerina - being a family team brings extra joy.
Linda - there's a bit more to it than that, and we do have a great time.
Ardell - thanks! I'm happy I got to meet you this year.
Kay - it was a hard year, but better than last year. If we concentrate on getting other people what they want, somehow we seem to get by as well.
Sharon,
Good advice. I especially like your two questions, I think we will "borrow' them ourselves to add to our list for the year's planning. We're a little late at it this year, (my daughter has been on leave) yet it will be done.
BTW, a few question we ask our selves, what worked? what didn't? and why? We've found that every now and then it's a matter of "tweaking" something to make it more effective. That way we don't need to re-invent the wheel each time.
Randy - it really does make it worthwhile.
Patricia - yes, but some days were more fun than others! We look forward to having fun with someone you care about who's moving here.
Lynda - by all means borrow our questions, and let us know how you tweak and improve them. We talk about your questions, too.