#41 With four questions to your successful strategy workshop

In this article, we will address a topic that is likely to divide opinion on strategy: The strategy workshop.

We would like to give you an insight into how we understand and experience strategy workshops and which aspects from our experience lead to successful strategy development and implementation.

You have probably already taken part in a strategy workshop and I would like to invite you to think back to the situation when you were in that workshop. If you can still remember it, then reflect on what you think didn't work so well in the workshop.

In our experience, the following points often lead to the workshop not being successful:

Location: e.g. the workshop is held in your own home or simply in an unsuitable environment (too fancy or boring and not geared towards the workshop) Preparation: Unfortunately, this is often lacking. There is no clear agenda and therefore no objective - which often does not even exist. Often the workshop is not really a strategy workshop at all, but rather a planning meeting for the next year.

To ensure that you don't make these mistakes in the first place and that your strategy workshop is effective, let's take a look at what it takes to make a strategy workshop successful.

Holding a strategy workshop is an art, but it also has a lot to do with craftsmanship - and that includes good preparation and setting objectives.

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®

This consists of three main pillars, which are made up as follows:

Situation analysis - Where are we today and what are our biggest challenges?

Target image - Where do we want to go and what specific goals are we pursuing?

Fields of action - Where do we need to tackle and change things in our organization?

The entire strategy process - and therefore also the strategy workshops - is based on these three core elements and modules.

As these pillars are quite complex, we also recommend ensuring that sufficient time is planned for implementation so that the workshops are not overloaded.

For example, we hold at least two workshops as part of the strategy development process:

Workshop 1 is for formulating the situation analysis and developing the target image. In the second workshop, we then tackle the third pillar, i.e. the fields of action and development of measures.

For the first strategy workshop, we recommend that the top management body takes part and, if necessary, the second level as well.

Depending on the goal and size, it is sometimes also advisable to bring in selected colleagues who bring a different perspective. They help to break up the mindset and provide valuable diversity in the perspective from and on the company.

We recommend keeping the group size for the first workshop under 12 people. There are exceptions, but it becomes more complex, more strenuous and requires different methods if the number of participants is higher.

Conversely, we recommend having at least 5-6 people in the participant group.

We usually divide the entire process into two workshops, each lasting 2 days.

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

The second workshop then moves on to the third pillar and thus to the fields of action and the development of measures.

The detailed structure is as follows:

The strategy process does not start with the workshop itself, but before it. Our motto is: no strategy workshop without preparation.

The preparation includes a situation analysis. This can take place the evening before, for example, in which the participants take the time to analyze the current situation.

The preparatory discussion is a good basis for being able to start interpreting the situation analysis together on the first day.

The first strategy workshop is therefore about becoming aware of the situation and, once we have a common understanding of the current situation, we can then deal with the challenges.

After this part of the strategy process, it makes sense to take a break and then look to the future.

At this point, we can then turn our attention to the impact promise, which is the first aspect of the target image. Although we recommend placing this point before the strategy workshop, this is often not possible due to time constraints, which is why we include it as a module in the first workshop.

A comparable and recommendable process here is the "Why" development (see Simon Sinek 'Start With Why').

This brings us to the end of the first day.

The second day is about further developing and formulating the target image.

We start with a recap of the previous day and then move on to working out the differentiated customer benefits. This means that we discuss the questions: What do you do differently and better than your competitors? And how do you earn superior profits?

Then it's time to get to the heart of the StrategyFrame and define your playing field: target markets, customer segments and offering.

In this step, you determine in which markets, for which customer segments and with which offer you want to be on the road.

Building on this, the next step is to crystallize the priorities for your organization and formulate where you want to develop. With the formulation of goals and key results, we have reached the end of the first strategy workshop.

After that, we recommend taking some time to let everything set, integrate it and, if necessary, readjust and specify it again afterwards.

We are therefore also happy to arrange an interim appointment before the second workshop to go through the bullet points again together.

For the second part, we recommend expanding the group of participants and including other managers - such as those from operations. Depending on the size of the company, we recommend having at least the entire core of the management level present.

Of course, the new participants have to be picked up first. This usually means that the participants in Workshop 1 first present the StrategyFrame® and the formulations that were developed in the first part. This often takes up the entire morning of the first day, as we always want to give them the space and opportunity to justify the results and discuss them as a team.

The following questions are then explored for each individual goal:

Where do we stand here today? What is the organization's target picture at this target level? What are the gaps in achieving this target picture?

This process reveals the gaps and needs that need to be filled.

The second day starts with idea development.

Initially, as many ideas as possible can be generated, which are then aligned along 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. personnel requirements, lack of skills) Culture Data & IT innovation Partnership

You can then develop your measures for the organization or company along these fields of action.

With this step, we have almost reached the end of the workshop, whereby we finally determine the next steps and the roadmap for implementation. Because even the best strategy is not successful without implementation.

Implementation must therefore be an integral part of the strategy process.

This also includes joint communication and transfer to the organization: >> How do we leave this workshop? How do we communicate what we have experienced and developed here? And when will the presentation of the overall strategy take place?

Sometimes some fine-tuning is required afterwards, but at this point you have all the essential elements you need to communicate your strategy to the organization and engage with it in dialogue before moving on to implementation.

We also recommend giving the strategy a memorable name so that everyone knows what you are talking about in the future. This step can also be used to conclude the strategy workshop.

In our experience, this approach has really proved its worth and has already brought numerous successes.

Our final tip is probably not a classic strategy tip, but one that we would really like to recommend to you:

Don't underestimate the dynamics of the participants.

Because as much as rational decisions are involved, the emotional component is also an important factor in the strategy process and it is important to balance this out and use this aspect positively.

It is an opportunity to take the first step towards a new team spirit.

As the organizer, make sure you provide a good environment - and by that we don't just mean the functionality, but also the energy of the rooms and how you as an organization bring the participants together.

We hope we have been able to give you a good insight into how we understand and live strategy.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or get our book"Hope is not a strategy" if you would like to delve deeper into the topic.

On ourwebsiteyou will also find the StrategyFrame® - our digital strategy tool, which is the basis for our strategy work and which you can test free of charge and without obligation.