Running A Ski Resort Requires Balance.
It involves balancing guest experience, mountain operations, staff management, and financial sustainability, not to mention long-term vision. Strategy meetings are where the big decisions happen: seasonal planning, capital improvements, marketing campaigns, and long-term brand positioning. Even the best agenda can get derailed if participants fall into unproductive behaviors. To keep strategy sessions focused and effective, here are five behaviors to avoid:
1. Focusing Only on Short-Term Fixes
When snowmaking costs spike or lift downtime disrupts operations, it’s natural to zero in on immediate solutions. But a strategy meeting isn’t the place for purely tactical firefighting. Resort leaders must also look at multi-year goals, be it diversification of revenue streams, long-term capital improvements, or sustainability initiatives.
Avoid: Getting stuck on today’s crisis.
Instead: Balance immediate issues with forward-looking discussions that align with the resort’s vision.
2. Ignoring Guest Experience Data
Some leaders rely too heavily on instinct or tradition — “we’ve always done it this way.” But ski resorts compete on the total guest experience, and decisions should be informed by real data: surveys, visitation data, snowsports school, dining sales, and social media feedback.
Avoid: Dismissing guest feedback because it contradicts internal assumptions.
Instead: Use data to challenge ideas and guide decisions that directly enhance guest satisfaction.
3. Bringing Personal Agendas
Whether it’s lobbying for a department’s budget increase or pushing a pet project, personal agendas can derail collaborative planning. A strategy meeting isn’t about individual wins. It’s about what drives resort-wide success, and that requires collaboration and buy-in from multiple departments. Pushing for one department’s needs only alienates the others and derails team work.
Avoid: Using the meeting to campaign for one area without considering the bigger picture.
Instead: Frame proposals around how they advance the resort’s long-term competitiveness and guest loyalty.
4. Dominating the Conversation
It’s easy for leadership and senior voices to monopolize discussions. We’ve seen this happen firsthand – where strategy meetings become lectures, followed by assignments from management – and most participants leave thinking, this could have been an email. While experience is valuable, dominating prevents fresh perspectives from emerging, whether from guest services, marketing, or F&B. The best strategies come from blending operational expertise with customer-focused innovation.
Avoid: Talking over colleagues or steering every topic back to a single department or area of the business.
Instead: Encourage open dialogue, and ask quieter participants for their views. If they’ve been invited to the meeting, someone felt their opinion had value. Ask for it.
5. Failing to Commit to Action
The most common pitfall in strategic planning is leaving the room with great ideas but no clear accountability. We have prevented many teams from falling victim to this. Instinct after a long meeting is to simply leave with plans to “continue discussions.” If pondering a decision is necessary, then those needing to ponder should plan to reconvene at some point as a focus-group. Don’t leave it open-ended. Without concrete next steps, discussions fade and momentum stalls — especially in seasonal businesses where timing is critical.
Avoid: Walking away without defined responsibilities or deadlines.
Instead: End each meeting with assigned action items, owners, and follow-up dates.
Final Thoughts
Strategy meetings should be dynamic, forward-looking, and inclusive. Avoiding these five behaviors ensures time is spent building alignment, not battling distractions. By encouraging balanced voices, prioritizing long-term goals, grounding decisions in data, keeping agendas collaborative, and committing to execution, resort leaders can turn strategy meetings into powerful drivers of growth and guest satisfaction.