For owners and leadership teams

Business workshops.

Work through a business choice with the people involved. That might mean growth, pricing, a senior hire or how work moves through the company.

We agree the question, participants and scope before the session.

Discuss a workshop

How it works

Before, during and after.

Prepare

Agree the choice, current options and evidence. Involve the people whose work is affected and clarify who can approve action.

Work together

Compare the options. Separate a disagreement from a missing fact or an approval the group cannot give.

Set the next step

Name what needs to happen and who will do it. Any written record or follow-up is agreed in the scope.

Leadership planning

Give competing priorities a shared discussion.

A company planning session can examine several connected choices. Agree the decisions the group can make, the preparation needed and Stan's contribution before setting the agenda. A useful session may produce a choice, or it may establish what still needs to be learned.

Illustrative planning assignment: the team sees an opportunity in a second location while the current site could serve more customers with different staffing. Both ideas need the same people and money. This is a fictional example, not an account of a delivered workshop.

Before the session

Sales brings enquiries and actual orders. Operations brings workload and staffing evidence. Finance prepares the company's cost and cash assumptions. The owner identifies what the group can approve and what needs another decision-maker.

During the work

Compare expansion, improving the current site and a limited demand test. Examine what each makes possible and which resources it needs. Separate missing evidence from different preferences about the future.

Leave with a usable next step

Record the choice or open question, the person responsible, the next action and the evidence needed. If the group cannot decide yet, assign the preparation that would make a later decision possible.

Agree the follow-through

Your company carries the actions. Any written record, further analysis or return session with Stan is part of the agreed scope. A date in the diary is useful only if someone brings back what happened.

Stan's business contribution is to examine the options and their consequences with the team. Facilitation of participation and event organization are distinct responsibilities; agree who handles each. A company workshop does not include a new management role or specialist professional advice.

Use the existing leadership offsite preparation guide. If the work needs to continue across company decisions, see the growth assignment.

Illustrative exercise

Would a second supplier help?

Your current supplier's delays are affecting deliveries. Another supplier asks for advance payment and has not passed a production test.

Compare the choices

  • Which customer promise is at risk?
  • What changes in cash, quality and the team's work?
  • Would a backup address the delay, or does the cause sit in forecasting or ordering?

Write the next step

  • Choose one limited test and the evidence it must produce.
  • Name who can approve the test and who will run it.
  • State what result would change your choice.

There may be more than one sound answer. Test a backup, change a customer lead time or correct the ordering process. A discussion cannot qualify a supplier; the production evidence still matters.

Read the full second-supplier guide

Learning programmes

Practise with a business example.

For a leadership or founder programme, we can discuss adapting an exercise to the participants. The learning aim could be to compare options, separate evidence from assumptions and explain a choice.

We would agree the subject, preparation and place in your programme. A teaching session and a decision about your own company need different briefs.

Try three business judgment exercises with sample answers and questions for the discussion.

Discuss programme collaboration

Practical questions

Planning a workshop.

Who is a company workshop for?

Owners and leadership teams working through a shared business choice, such as growth, pricing, a hire or operating responsibilities.

How is the session planned?

We agree the question, participants, available evidence and who can approve the next step. Format, duration and fees depend on that scope.

What happens after the workshop?

Any written record, further analysis or follow-up is agreed as part of the scope. Some choices need more evidence or specialist work before the company can act.

Do we need individual coaching first?

No. You can inquire directly about a company workshop. Monthly one-to-one work is a separate option.

Who can decide?

Separate deciding, consultation, information and veto rights before the group meets.

Discuss your team's work.

Tell me about the company, the people involved and what you want the session to address. All corporate workshops start with an inquiry and a separate scope and quote.

Discuss a workshop