A Strategic Doing workshop is a session in which a group takes on a question about their community or organization’s future, and uses the 4 Questions to explore, identify opportunities, and begin to take action on the most promising of those opportunities. Here’s some things you’ll notice at a workshop:
- It’s interactive: in Strategic Doing, no one will tell you what your strategy should be. The process will lead you to sort that out for yourselves. There will be a short overview of the process at the beginning, but you’ll quickly move right into discussion in small groups around tables.
- There are no observers: everyone in the room participates, even the facilitators (which we call “table guides”).
- It’s realistic: instead of dreaming about what would be possible if you had a big grant, more staff, or a new facility, the conversation will be centered on what you already have at your disposal. We call this approach asset-based.
- It’s focused on action: there’s a reason we call it Strategic Doing. You’ll walk out the door at the end of the workshop with an assignment. The commitment will be small – usually around an hour over the next 30 days – but when everyone is making a commitment you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done.
- It’s fun: when did you last have a great time at a planning meeting? Participants at Strategic Doing gatherings consistently tell us it was enjoyable – both because of the approach and because of the sense of accomplishment you’ll have at the end, knowing that you made tangible progress in just a few hours.
Workshops are usually somewhere between three hours and a full day, depending on the previous work the group has done and how much they want to accomplish. Even in a short workshop, the process ensures that you won’t get “stuck” – you’ll have a strategic action plan at the end to guide your future work, and you’ll have already started on implementation together.
Want to bring a workshop to your community? Contact us or find someone near you that can help.
