#41 Four questions that make your strategy workshop work

In this post we take on a topic that tends to divide the strategy crowd: the strategy workshop.

We want to give you a look at how we understand and experience strategy workshops, and which aspects, in our experience, lead to successful strategy development and execution.

You have probably taken part in a strategy workshop before, and I'd like to invite you to put yourself back in that room. If you can still remember it, think about what didn't work so well in that workshop.

In our experience, these are the points that most often keep a workshop from succeeding:

Venue: the workshop is held on your own premises, for example, or simply in an unsuitable setting (too fancy or too dull, and not set up for the workshop) Preparation: unfortunately, this is often lacking. There is no clear agenda and therefore no clear objective, which frequently doesn't exist in the first place. Often the workshop isn't really a strategy workshop at all, but rather a planning session for next year.

So that you avoid these mistakes altogether and your strategy workshop actually delivers, let's look at what it takes to design a successful one.

Running a strategy workshop is an art, but it also has a lot to do with craft, and that includes solid preparation with a clear objective.

We have developed a system for the entire strategy process that we use successfully ourselves and also make available to others as a digital tool: the StrategyFrame®

It consists of three essential pillars:

Situation analysis: where do we stand today, and what are our biggest challenges?

Target picture: where do we want to go, and which concrete goals are we pursuing?

Fields of action: where do we need to roll up our sleeves and change things in our organization?

The entire strategy process, and with it the strategy workshops, builds on these three core elements and modules.

Because these pillars are fairly complex, we recommend planning enough time so you don't overload the workshops.

We run at least two workshops as part of strategy development, for example:

Workshop 1 covers formulating the situation analysis and developing the target picture. In the second workshop we tackle the third pillar, meaning the fields of action and the development of measures.

For the first strategy workshop, we recommend that the top leadership body take part, and possibly the second level as well.

Depending on the objective and the size of the group, it can also make sense to include selected colleagues who bring a different perspective. They help break up entrenched thinking and add valuable diversity of perspective, both from within and on the company.

We recommend keeping the group size for the first workshop under 12 people. There are exceptions, but with more participants it becomes more complex, more demanding and requires different methods.

On the other end, we recommend having at least 5 to 6 people in the group.

We usually split the whole process into two workshops of two days each.

As mentioned, we dedicate the first workshop to the first two pillars: situation analysis and target picture.

The second workshop then addresses the third pillar, meaning the fields of action and the development of measures.

In detail, the structure looks like this:

The strategy process doesn't start with the workshop itself, it starts before. Our motto: no preparation, no strategy workshop.

Preparation includes a situation analysis. This can take place the evening before, for example, with participants taking the time to analyze the current state.

That preparatory work is a good foundation for jointly interpreting the situation analysis on day one.

So the first strategy workshop is initially about becoming aware of the situation. Once there is a shared understanding of the current state, you can move on to the challenges.

After this part of the strategy process, a break makes sense before turning your attention to the future.

At this point we can turn to the impact promise, the first element of the target picture. We do recommend addressing this before the strategy workshop, but for time reasons that often isn't possible, so we build it into the first workshop as a module.

A comparable and worthwhile process here is developing your "why" (see Simon Sinek, 'Start With Why').

And with that, day one comes to a close.

Day two is about building out and articulating the target picture.

We start with a recap of the previous day and then work out your differentiated customer value. That means answering the questions: what do you do differently and better than your competitors? And how do you turn that into superior profits?

Then comes the heart of the StrategyFrame and with it the definition of your playing field: target markets, customer segments and offering.

In this step you decide which markets you want to operate in, which customer segments you want to serve and with which offering.

Building on that, the next task is to crystallize the priorities for your organization and articulate where you want to develop. Once you have formulated your objectives and key results, you have reached the end of the first strategy workshop.

After that, we recommend taking time to let everything settle and sink in, and to fine-tune and specify things afterward if needed.

That's why we like to schedule an interim meeting before the second workshop to go through the bullet points together once more.

For the second part, we recommend expanding the group of participants and bringing in additional leaders, for example from the operational side. Depending on the size of the company, we recommend having at least the entire core leadership level in the room.

Of course, the new participants need to be brought up to speed first. In practice, that usually means the participants from Workshop 1 start by presenting the StrategyFrame® and the statements developed in the first part. This often takes up the whole morning of the first day, because we always want to create the space and the opportunity to explain the results and discuss them as a team.

Then, going through the goals one by one, you test each goal against the following questions:

Where do we stand today? What is the organization's target picture at this level of goals? What are the gaps we need to close to reach that target picture?

This process is what makes the gaps and the needs visible, the ones you have to fill.

The second day starts with developing ideas.

First, generate as many ideas as possible, then align them with the gaps.

In our StrategyFrame®, we provide the following 6 fields of action as a guide for this process:

Structures and processes People (e.g. staffing needs, missing skills) Culture Data & IT Innovation Partnership

Along these fields of action, you can then develop your initiatives for the organization or the company.

With this step, we've almost reached the end of the workshop. To close, we define the next steps and the roadmap for execution. Because even the best strategy delivers nothing without execution.

That's why execution can't be missing from the strategy process.

This also includes joint communication and carrying the strategy into the organization: >> How do we walk out of this workshop? How do we communicate what we've experienced and developed here? And when do we present the full strategy?

Sometimes some fine-tuning is needed afterwards, but at this point you have all the essential elements to carry your strategy into the organization and engage with it in dialogue before execution begins.

We definitely recommend giving the strategy a memorable name, so everyone knows what you're talking about in the future too. This step also works well as a closing exercise for the strategy workshop.

In our experience, this approach has truly proven itself and has produced countless successes.

Our final tip probably isn't a classic strategy tip, but it's one we really want to pass on to you:

Don't underestimate the dynamics among the participants.

As much as this is about rational decisions, the emotional component is just as important a factor in the strategy process. It matters that you balance it out and use that aspect to your advantage.

It's an opportunity to take a first step toward a new sense of team.

So as the host, create a good environment. And by that we don't just mean functionality, but also the energy of the rooms and how you as an organization bring the participants together.

We hope we were able to give you a good look at how we understand and live strategy.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions, or get our book“Hope Is Not a Strategy”if you want to dig deeper into the topic.

Onour websiteyou'll also find the StrategyFrame®, our digital strategy tool that forms the basis of our strategy work and that you can test free of charge and without obligation.