Scott's Message: Five Recent Meetings
►HTG ALL Recap
Wow, what great meetings and events in Orlando! We’ve received lots of constructive feedback and I’m asking for yours. The HTG ALL messaging is key to HTG as we are only face-to-face with you two times a year. You can review the presentation yourself to see our SWOT, HTG performance metrics, system enhancements, program elements, budget and more. You can see information on our 2012 Business Plan including additions to our 2012 Program Tracks and Advancement Paths. (See Arlin’s blog post.)

Summing up, our key message is that HTG Peer Groups is a program with a plan for impacting businesses and changing lives. Our call to execution is to:

►2012 Program Tracks: Leadership and Core
As discussed in the HTG ALL presentation, each member will choose one of two Program Tracks starting December 15 in connection with accepting the 2012 Membership Agreement. The Core Track is a continuation of the peer groups offered today. The Leadership Track includes the Core program, plus additional content including four Leadership Forums. These Leadership Forums will be held in Q1 (Jan. 18-19) and Q3 (Aug. 20-21) as 1.5 day meetings. Meetings in Q2 (May 7) and Q4 (Nov. 6) will be one day meetings prior to peer group meetings as part activities in Dallas and Orlando. The cost is $1,500 paid up front, on top of the Core Track fees.

The first Leadership Forum will focus on Strategic Planning. It will be delivered by Gazelles Systems, developer of the One Page Strategic Plan and The Rockefeller Habits. Leadership Track participants may bring two attendees. If Leadership Track participants do not fill the 100 attendee openings, these may be filled by other HTG members at a cost of $595 per person. Content for future forums is being developed and will be shaped by participants in the first meeting. In addition to revisiting progress and accountabilities around the Strategic Plan developed in Q1, content options include leadership consultants such as Dr. Larry Little, involvement by industry CEOs and executives, and member-to-member presentations on practices that have impacted their organizations and people. Look for additional information on the Leadership Track in the next few weeks.

►Meeting Observations
I was able to visit almost all of our peer group meetings in addition to facilitator training, Champs meetings, SIGs and more. Some thoughts:

• During the Facilitator Training, the group invested time learning about accountability, underperformers, leadership, coaching, best practices and new programs. Groups benefitted the next day.

• Multiple groups focused on improving the alignment of group members by using group plans, the 4 Plans and Scorecards. Accountability was a key topic.

• Microboards continue to expand. Breaking the group into three or four smaller groups has benefitted several groups significantly, both in terms of going deeper with fewer members and with changing the meeting format.

• SIG participation varied widely, though initial feedback was strong. We anticipated some of this, knowing that most members would have to travel on Sunday to reach a SIG on Monday afternoon. Future quarters will offer schedules that are friendlier and more flexible to the SIGs.

• Discussion around onboarding new members is increasing, along with questions about the new Leadership Track and Advanced Groups.

All in all we’ve very pleased with the feedback we received onsite and a general increase around both accountability and group alignment. Please complete the Q4 Member Feedback Survey to make 2012 even better!
~Scott

HTG SharePoint Portal Reminders

• Email for HTG SharePoint Support: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text37141 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

• View HTG SharePoint training videos

• Work continues on the HTG Company Profile and Member Locator. Look for an announcement around Dec. 1 to update your profile and strategic relationships.

• Work continues to finalize the Member Scorecarding with addition of a BC/DR plan and tracking of Quarterly Goal achievement.

• Take advantage of other features including WebApps, presence, the Microsoft Ribbon, improved Outlook integration, new SharePoint spaces and breadcrumb navigation.

• Does your group need to add a SharePoint Champ? If so, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

• The Global MSPmentor 100, ranking the world’s top MSPs
• Plus, Regional Lists covering North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and AANZ (Asia, Australia, New Zealand).

Participation: The free survey is available here. Recognition like this is good for your company! Wondering why? Check out Arlin’s thoughts on the topic here.

Signed up for Hands That Give yet?

What are you waiting for????

Apply Now!
 

During the HTG Q4 Meetings and IT Nation, Lester Keiser personally donated the use of a massage chair and the time of a top notch masseuse to offer massages to HTG and IT Nation attendees. Attendees lined up to take part and contribute to Hands That Give.

At the end of the week Lester and team handed a check to Arlin for $1000 for the Hands That Give program. Way to make a difference!!

(Full disclosure: both All Covered and MindSHIFT have been Service Leadership clients. However, S-L was not a party to either of the transactions discussed below, and only publicly available information has been used in this discussion.)

With the recent purchase of All Covered by Konica/Minolta and last week’s purchase of MindSHIFT by Best Buy, the game is (finally) afoot. When billion-dollar players start making acquisitions in a given space, it is likely that not only will they themselves keep acquiring, but others will join them. Professional investors love to be second to any great idea. (Being first is too risky.)

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