The more effort you invest in planning your strategy  workshop, the more likely it is that your workshop will be successful. Here are some questions you may like to ask yourself (or your team) prior to briefing your strategy  consultant.

WHAT BENEFITS DO WE WANT TO ACHIEVE?

WHAT END RESULT DO WE EXPECT FROM THE WORKSHOP?

• A full strategic plan we can give to our board of directors?

• A common vision to which everyone is committed?

• A vision or set of goals?

• Specific action plans to achieve our goals and vision?

• A few creative ideas regarding new opportunities for our business?

WHAT CONTENT BENEFITS DO WE WANT TO ACHIEVE?

Content benefits result from doing comprehensive strategic analyses: of your stakeholders, the external environment, your industry, your competitors and your business and then creatively developing a focused and comprehensive vision. Content benefits could include:

• A clear competitive advantage.

• A clear common vision.

• A clear focus on a few priorities (80/20 principle).

• A framework within which future decisions can be made.

• Clarification of the target markets within which we will and won’t operate.

• Identification of new opportunities from changes in our external environment.

• An identification of our core strengths. Knowing what makes us special.

• Creation of new value added products and services we could be offering.

• Creative, ‘out of the box’ thinking.

• A change of mindset or paradigms.

WHAT PROCESS BENEFITS DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE?

Process benefits are the ‘people’ or ‘team’ benefits you can get by cleverly designing your workshop. For example the way you select delegates, mix smaller groups, encourage participation, work with group dynamics and design workshop activities could result in the following benefits:

• Cross learning between people from different functions.

• Synergies between different areas.

• Break down ‘silo’s between different divisions or between your company
  and the parent company.

• Building of teams. Reducing conflict.

• Greater creative out of the box thinking? (The more diversity in your teams,
  and the more you mix teams, the greater the creativity.)

• Positive energy. (This results from the energy of the participants, the style of the facilitator, and what is actually achieved during the workshop.)

• Commitment. (The greater the participation during the workshop, the greater the ownership and commitment – and the easier the implementation!)