• Strategic thinking is often messy without the right structure—workshops help teams focus.
• Facilitated workshops provide a neutral space for aligning priorities and clarifying direction.
• Effective strategy workshops balance open discussion with outcome-driven design.
• Bringing in an external facilitator can help uncover insights and foster commitment to action.

When it comes to strategy, clarity is everything—but getting there isn’t always easy.

Teams often have the ideas, insights, and ambition to think strategically, but what’s missing is the structure. Strategy workshops, when designed well, create the right conditions for focused, collaborative thinking that turns ideas into action.

In this post, we’ll explore why structured workshops are essential for strategic alignment, how to design them for impact, and why bringing in a facilitator can elevate the process.

Why Strategic Thinking Needs a Clear Framework

Strategy isn’t just about long-term plans or vision statements—it’s about making choices. And to make smart choices, teams need space to step back from day-to-day pressures and think more deliberately.

But too often, strategy sessions become unfocused:

• Conversations drift.
• Dominant voices take over.
• Key issues remain unspoken.

This is where structured facilitation makes a difference. By shaping the flow of discussion and providing the right tools for analysis and prioritisation, a well-run strategy workshop helps teams focus on what matters most.

The Role of Workshops in Strategic Alignment

Workshops offer a unique opportunity to bring teams together in a way that typical meetings can’t. They create a neutral, participatory environment where:

• Everyone has a voice.
• Shared understanding is built.
• Decisions are made with clarity.

By combining preparation, facilitation, and follow-up, workshops can move a team from divergent thinking (exploring possibilities) to convergence (agreeing on priorities).

Typical Outcomes from a Strategic Workshop:

• Clear goals and priorities.
• Shared understanding of current challenges.
• Defined next steps with ownership.

Designing a Strategy Workshop That Works

Not all workshops are created equal. The best ones balance freedom to explore with structure to decide.

Key Elements of a Successful Strategy Workshop:

1. Framing the Purpose
   Why are you here? What decisions need to be made?
2. Diverse Input
   Include different perspectives—but in a way that keeps focus.
3. Clear Facilitation Tools
   Use formats like SWOT, prioritisation grids, or journey mapping—whatever helps make thinking visible.
4. Time for Reflection and Decision
   Space to think deeply, and then commit to action.

Why Bring in an External Facilitator?

It’s hard to think and facilitate at the same time. An external facilitator:

• Keeps the process on track.
• Encourages balanced participation.
• Brings fresh perspectives and tools.

More importantly, they help create the space where your team can do their best thinking—without getting bogged down in logistics or power dynamics.

Final Thoughts: Strategy Is a Team Sport

Strategic thinking doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s a team effort, and like any team, you perform best when you’ve got the right structure, support, and space to work together.

If you’re planning a strategy session or away day and want to make it count, I’d love to help. Let’s create the conditions for your team’s best thinking.

However, simply bringing people together isn’t enough – facilitating stakeholder forums requires thoughtful planning, structure and an inclusive approach to ensure insightful discussions and actionable outcomes.

Why Stakeholder Forums Matter

Stakeholder forums provide a structured space where multiple perspectives can be shared, debated and integrated into decision-making. When well-facilitated, these forums:

• Encourage Collaboration: Stakeholders feel heard and are more likely to support collective initiatives.
• Uncover Valuable Insights: Different viewpoints lead to a more comprehensive understanding of issues.
• Build Trust and Transparency: Open dialogue fosters stronger relationships among stakeholders.
• Drive Actionable Outcomes: Discussions translate into commitments, policies, or strategies that make a real impact.

The Role of an Effective Facilitator

A skilled facilitator ensures that a stakeholder forum is productive, inclusive, and results-driven. Here’s how:

1. Defining Clear Objectives

A well-structured forum begins with a clear purpose:

• What are the key issues to be discussed?
• Who needs to be in the room?
• What outcomes do we want to achieve?

Setting clear goals upfront ensures that discussions remain focused and meaningful.

2. Designing an Inclusive Agenda

Stakeholder forums often bring together people with different interests, expertise and expectations. A facilitator structures the agenda to:

• Balance presentations, discussions, and interactive sessions to keep engagement high.
• Encourage equal participation, ensuring that dominant voices don’t overshadow quieter contributors.
• Incorporate diverse formats, such as breakout groups, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions.

3. Creating a Safe and Constructive Environment

For discussions to be truly insightful, participants must feel comfortable sharing their perspectives. A facilitator:

• Establishes ground rules for respectful dialogue.
• Uses neutral language to prevent bias and defensiveness.
• Encourages active listening, ensuring participants consider different viewpoints.

4. Managing Differing Opinions and Conflicts

Diverse perspectives can lead to tension, but a good facilitator turns disagreement into a productive exchange by:

• Using structured dialogue techniques to guide debates.
• Finding common ground while acknowledging differences.
• Reframing conflicts as opportunities for collective problem-solving.

5. Turning Discussions into Action

Insightful conversations should lead to meaningful next steps. A facilitator ensures that:

• Key takeaways are summarised and documented.
• Clear actions and responsibilities are assigned before the forum concludes.
• A follow-up plan is in place to maintain momentum.

Making Stakeholder Forums More Effective

Stakeholder engagement is more than just an exchange of ideas—it’s about creating a space where real progress can happen. With expert facilitation, organisations can run forums that bring clarity, build trust, and drive meaningful change.

If you’re planning a stakeholder forum and want to ensure it delivers real value, let’s discuss how to design and facilitate an event that fosters collaboration and impactful decision-making.

It probably had its origins in the military and wargaming but, in essence, it’s about having people play the role of a competitor to test your systems or plans.

Sort of like a devil’s advocate but a bit more rigorous. A proof-reader on steroids, maybe.

I found the concept interesting in terms of developing strategies and planning in business.

When working with teams on strategy development, it’s always important to probe and test the group’s thinking during the process.

Looking for data and ways to disprove key assumptions in a plan is essential as we can’t help but get caught up in our own world.

In fact, whenever we’ve invested time working on something, both individually or as a team, we’ve always embedded our own assumptions and unconscious biases in the output.

Have you ever worked hard on a project that you then show to someone else and their honest reaction isn’t what you expected?

They just don’t get it. Or maybe they quickly point out the obvious flaws in your thinking.

It’s easy to call this negativity.

Better to call it feedback.

But the reason I like the idea of the Red Team is that it goes beyond just feedback.

The Red Team’s job is to break your work.

They want to take your shiny business plan and deliberately pull it apart.

When you ask people for feedback their natural tendency is to be positive. OK, they may give some critical feedback, but seldom will they go to town.

Unless you ask them to deliberately find all the holes, they won’t do it.

Or, at least, won’t do it thoroughly.

Another important point, to me, is that the Red Team had no part in making it; they just want to break it.

What would happen if you took this approach in your organisation?

Imagine, you’ve just spent a month pulling together a 3-year strategy for growth. Your PowerPoint is polished and Spreadsheets are purring.

Then you purposely give it to someone and say “here, tell me how you would make this not happen?”

Really? Why would anyone do that?

Here’s two important reasons:

Firstly, if there are any big holes in your work – they should find them.

We’re not talking about rounding errors here. If you’ve baked-in something that everything else hangs around, they’ll see it.

Why? Because that’s the easiest way to break it.

So, putting your Red Team to work will force you to confront key assumptions (and risks) in your strategy or business plan.

Secondly, following on from this, uncovering these things will enable you to either fix them or mitigate against them.

Understanding the critical factors that will break your plan means you can choose the right metrics and measurements to ensure they don’t happen.

Or you may even rip it all up.

If what’s been uncovered is too big, too risky (and potentially too costly)… maybe you need to think again and go back to the drawing board.

This is definitely something that I’ll be advocating to my coaching clients and when I’m facilitating workshops on strategy development.

Even though, as a facilitator, my role at times is to be that challenging voice in the process, I still cannot remove myself from the process.

When my client has found a breakthrough in thinking and they’re all excited about having a new direction for the organisation, part of me will undoubtedly not want to burst their bubble.

And, having a Red Team doesn’t need to be an elaborate set-up.

Just find someone who you can say “here, tell me how you can make this all go wrong”.

The concept is an environment in which an individual only encounters beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that existing views are reinforced, and alternative ideas are not considered.

And it’s also something that occurs regularly in all organisations.

Good governance processes should always be in place to prevent groupthink, but the reality is that when I work with many enterprises, there can often be a real lack of diverse thinking in senior teams.

It’s only natural.

In many smaller organisations, where the founding team and/or a small group of leaders are steering the ship (often without the structure of a formal board) this is more likely to occur.

It’s not uncommon for there to be little or no change in the senior team within small entrepreneurial and family-run businesses over a period of decades.

Next time you are sat with your leadership team – look around.

How long has everyone been in their role? How diverse is the age/gender/ethnicity, etc of your senior team?

I’m not saying here that you must appoint different people; it’s just a reality check.

It’s somewhat inevitable that in many small organisations there will be less diversity in backgrounds as it’s a reflection of things like the founding team, family, local talent pool, etc.

But that shouldn’t mean less diverse thinking.

Bob Garratt, in his book The Fish Rots From The Head, writes about the need for Directors to be continuously scanning the “changing external political, trade and social environments, through travel, consulting, personal coaching and mentoring of top people”.

Increasing the diversity of your thinking when it comes to strategic planning and key decisions is essential.

There are many practical ways that you can do this without replacing people at the top:

• Encourage your leaders to serve on a Trustee board; working with other trustees is an excellent way to develop more diverse thinking. Check out Reach Volunteering or LinkedIn for trustee roles in your area.
• Consciously network more widely than your own current sector or social circle. Think about attending a conference looking at future trends and wider issues beyond your business, such as environmental impact.
• Look at joining a Peer Network where you can draw on external viewpoints and ideas to solve specific challenges.
• Use specialists to facilitate development sessions, since they can create a space for more creative thinking.
• Hire an external coach to work with the senior team.
• Consider volunteering as a mentor to entrepreneurs or individuals (there are many non-profit organisations looking for mentors).

This is not an exhaustive list and some of these ideas require no investment other than time.

All these ideas are either about bringing in different viewpoints from the outside or seeking to develop your own thinking through exposure to new environments.

Having to provide governance, advice and support to people and organisations that are different to your own and, importantly, where you no longer have established authority, can be a great learning experience.

Many have seen a dramatic cliff-edge drop-off in revenues, whilst others are struggling to keep up with demand.

Speaking with clients and contacts through my network, we’re all seeing this unfold at lightning speed, with critical decisions being made against a fast-moving picture and backdrop of uncertainty.

Broadly, there 3 tactical decisions that businesses are inevitably making – Pause, Pivot or Persist

You could think of these as the business equivalent of the Fight-Flight-Freeze responses we all have when faced with a perceived threat.

Pause – this is a tactic that many self-employed and small businesses are taking, often not by choice. If your revenue stream disappears over night and your market is frozen, then this may be the only option available to you.

For example, we’re aware of a number of small businesses (think freelancers, consultants, etc) where all their work has been cancelled over-night. If you are in this situation, where market conditions are extremely volatile, then investing in new client acquisition activities may simply end up burning through cash that you need to ride out the storm.

So, pausing may be a sensible tactic, although we’d advocate keeping the flame alight for when we’re all out the other side.

Pivot – this is where a business changes tack and either re-designs their existing offer, or pursues new opportunities that open up in the market.

Some of our clients are following this option, as the world of work switches to WFH.

In addition, there are some great examples out there where businesses are reacting to new market demands, such as distilleries producing hand-sanitiser, manufacturers creating parts for ventilators, etc.

Seeing many closed pubs and restaurants switching to take-outs is another perfect example, and one that we should all try to support.

Unlike a planned pivot strategy, this is very much a tactical response to immediate market challenges and opportunities.

Persist – the last tactic we’re observing in businesses is carrying on, as much as possible, with “business as usual”.

Obviously, BAU is an overstatement, but essentially, companies are carrying on with staff working from home, reduced capacity, etc.

For clients that are in this situation, whilst there may be some shift in their revenue streams (more online orders, for example) the core business is still operational.

Each of these tactics will require a different approach to risk management.

Pausing involves dramatically cutting costs, where possible, and conserving resources for when the economy re-boots.

A tactic to Pivot an existing offering will involve some uncertainty, unless you are responding to the draw of huge market demand. Taking a lean start-up approach to managing risk and testing before committing significant resources would be advisable.

This is where recognition of our own Fight-Flight-Freeze responses is essential.

What may seem like a potential way out of a crisis could be a diversion that sucks up precious resources needed for later.

Decisions made under stress can be unreliable, so sense-check this tactic and then test your assumptions rigorously before investing heavily in time and resources.

For those Persisting, many of the usual rules around a down-turn are pertinent. These may be unprecedented times but, remember, cash-flow is still king and ignoring it is like expecting the law of gravity to be suspended temporarily.

Of course, all this is simplified and the situation is always more nuanced, as many businesses have diversified offerings and revenue streams.

Some may pause one aspect of their business and focus on another.

The UK government’s support package which enables companies to furlough workers during this period is effectively a Pause tactic for the nation.

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic will pass and that, just as economic activity has rapidly shut down it will be re-booted in the coming months.

Once more, this will create opportunities and challenges as the UK economy rebuilds itself and businesses adapt to what will inevitably be a changed economic landscape.

Some of us will un-Pause, some will find that a tactical Pivot becomes a permanent revenue stream, and those that have managed to Persist through all of this will be more readily able to take advantage of the upturn.

Whatever the tactic(s) you pursue, we will get through this together.

Stay safe people.

“What’s your winning aspiration?”

Why is this phrase so powerful? And why should every business owner start with it when developing the strategy for their business?

Let’s break it down:

Firstly, the phrase forces you to think about exactly what winning would mean to you and your business. Some people find this a difficult question since they haven’t really thought about “winning”.

In the book, which is written by the former Chairman of P&G and the Dean of Rotman School of Management, “winning” refers to market position, usually in highly competitive consumer markets.

But the phrase “winning” can be equally applied to smaller businesses.

Now, winning doesn’t have to mean being No. 1, or the largest, or the most profitable. They may all be great goals but the point is that it’s about what does winning mean to you.

Anita Roddick DBE, Founder of The Body Shop, once said:

“Don’t think big, because that’s the obsession with this bloody [business] culture, it’s always got to be the biggest. Why don’t you just be the best or the most creative or the funniest or something?”

When I work with leadership teams of SMEs, and we have this conversation about their ambitions and aspirations, it’s never about size or market share; these are terms that smaller businesses just don’t relate to.

Winning could be building a legacy, being a great place to work or delivering a great customer experience.

In a recent report, when small businesses were asked about their goals for the future, ambition was not just about growth and profit, but also things such as well-being and happiness.

The key message is that it doesn’t matter how you define winning, you just need to be thinking about what winning means to you.

The second element of the phrase “What’s your winning aspiration?” is the word “aspiration”.

Your aspiration is your ambition to achieve something. And for it to be an aspiration it needs to be something that pulls you towards it.

Also, I believe that an aspiration is something that should feel like it’s just beyond what you can achieve.

It should be bold, possibly scary and it definitely wants to be exciting.

And, you should always feel energised when you think about it.

In fact, even the word aspiration stems from the latin word spiro, which means “to breathe life into”.

When facilitating strategy workshops with SMEs, I have found it’s always best to start with the future aspiration and work backwards into an actionable plan, rather than vice versa.

Why?

The problem when you start from where you are now, and project outwards, is that you play it a little too safe.

You think “well I’m here now so an extra X% growth over the next 3 years (or whatever your definition of “winning” is) is realistic.”

Realistic is great for short-term goal setting but it doesn’t energise your or your team to up their game and reach new levels of performance.

So, get yourself a winning aspiration.

Find something that really grabs you and will sustain you through the inevitable ups and downs of business.

Contact us if you want to explore how we can help your business create a winning aspiration.

We often think of breakthroughs happening in areas such as scientific research or in athletic endeavours, but breakthroughs in performance can happen to all of us in our business, professional and personal lives.

In business terms, we typically refer to a breakthrough as a significant positive change or shift in performance, in whatever way we decide to measure it. It could a breakthrough in sales or operational performance, for example.

The key concept is that it’s a rapid and significant advance in performance, rather than an incremental change. So, if that’s what it is, how can you achieve it?

Well, the thing is… it’s not where you think it is.

Where you’re looking isn’t where you’ll find it

You see, if you’re like most businesses you’re already focused on performance. You set goals and targets, measure what you do and then manage the outputs against target to deliver results.

This is all good, and it’s at the heart of good management for any business.

But that’s not where you’re going to find breakthrough performance.

Real breakthroughs come from what you don’t know. They come from what you’re not doing.

Think of it like this: you already know what you are doing. You are also aware of what you should be doing (even if you are not currently doing it right now).

So our focus is “how can I improve X” or “I need to start doing Y”.

This all comes from a frame of awareness.

However, the potential for breakthroughs coming from your current awareness is limited.

Breakthroughs come from what you don’t know

Real breakthroughs, that is a rapid and significant advance in performance, come from what you don’t know.

The illustration above is useful to keep track of this as it can become a bit of a mind-bender.

Stop it now!

Often, the quickest wins will come from what you don’t know that you are doing.

An example in business might be that you are giving away (or more often undervaluing) an element of your product or service which you could be charging for (because “it’s always been that way”).

Or, as a business leader, you’re behaviour is negatively impacting on your team and holding back greater performance levels, but you’re just not aware of it.

These example are all things that, if you stopped doing them, you would see a significant and rapid advance in performance.

Why? Because stopping doing something will have an immediate impact.

In many ways it’s far easier to stop doing something that’s negatively impacting performance than it is to try to improve on the positive things that you are doing.

Think about it. Removing something that negatively hits yours performance has to be easier than trying to squeeze the last few drops of performance out of something that you’re already measuring the heck out of.

Here’s an example from a client that shows how this can be a powerful area for breakthrough performance.

My client was struggling to get traction in a new market that was of strategic importance to the business. Despite a significant investment in marketing the results were non-existent. This was even though they were having great success with the same service proposition in an adjacent market. Clearly, something was wrong.

We decided to investigate and conducted a rapid audit of perceptions with key stakeholders and influencers in the target market. Of the insights we uncovered, one was that the description used for the service has a negative impact with the target audience – it basically turned them off completely.

Armed with this new information, we ran a new marketing campaign with a subtle shift in the description and copy used by omitting the negatively perceived wording.

Where previously there was not traction over months, we now saw positive results within days, which subsequently turned into a significant pipeline of opportunities in the new market. A true breakthrough in performance – by just stopping using a few words.

What do you need to start doing?

Another area where opportunities for breakthrough performance are hidden is in the things that you don’t know that you’re not doing (I know, I did say it was a mind-bender).

Of course, this can sometimes be the flip-side of the things that you are unaware you are doing.

An example, again from sales, to illustrate this could be something as simple as agreeing the next stage in the sales process when you are at the first stage.

I cannot tell you how many salespeople (and entrepreneurs) I have met who don’t do this simple step.

So, let’s say that your sales process typically involves an initial meeting (needs analysis) and then a second meeting to present a proposal. If you know you will need to have a second meeting with a prospect then agree a date and time while you are in the first meeting.

Taking this simple extra step builds commitment (or uncovers early resistance) as well as saving a heap of time chasing a prospect for a date and time. In short, if you know what the second step is – agree it when you are at the first step. Sell the next step of your sales process first.

I remember mentoring a client (the owner of a boutique consulting firm) who they had a huge opportunity to pitch a whale of a prospect that they had been pursuing for over 6 months.

We sat down afterwards to review how things had gone and my client was telling me about how it was an excellent meeting, how she had all the key players in a room and they were really excited about the presentation she gave.

“Great”, I said, “so what’s next?”

Suddenly a blank look came over her face as she realised that she simply left the meeting on a high and forgot to agree with the prospect what the next steps were.

Opportunities such as that can be huge breakthroughs, with a major client win having the potential to transform a business.

There are many other examples of businesses and people not doing something that would have a significant impact on their performance just because they didn’t know they were not doing it.

Start doing the things you should do and stop the things you shouldn’t

So, there you have it. The secret to creating breakthrough performance is simply becoming aware of:

• things you are not doing that will improve performance
• things that you are doing that impact negatively on performance

Once you’ve brought them into awareness it’s just a matter of focusing your attention on starting doing the things you should do and stopping the things you shouldn’t.

Simple, right?

Of course, the difficulty for all of us is becoming aware of these things. As they say, “you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Time to get an external perspective

If you find yourself struggling with performance in any area of your business, professional or personal life then its time to get an external perspective.

If you find yourself revisiting the same issue or are aware of the same patterns returning then something is happening that you’re not aware of. It could be an unconscious behaviour or a step in a process that’s missing or just not working.

Either way, get an external perspective.

That could be through hiring a business coach or mentor, or just sharing ideas with a colleague. It could be from reading articles in your sector for best practice as well as insights from outside your own industry or domain of expertise (which can be a fertile ground for huge breakthroughs).

From a personal development perspective, 360° surveys can be useful for uncovering negative behaviours you are unaware of. And a similar approach with customers will uncover blind-spots in your organisation where great gains can be made.

It’s not to say that it’s impossible to “figure it out” on your own. It’s just that more often than not an external perspective can get you there so much faster.

Often, when someone points out what’s missing or shines a light on what you’re doing, it’s when we all have that “a-ha” moment.

Recently I was in a meeting with an entrepreneur talking about his strategy for growth. He had been going around in circles for several months trying to reconcile a couple of conflicting visions for his business. The problem was in the level he was thinking about his business, which wasn’t helping him visualise how he could solve the dilemma.

Very quickly it was clear to me what was happening and I gave him a new perspective on how to approach the problem.

The entrepreneur went quiet and then said “You know, what you’ve just said in the last 2 minutes has summed up to me exactly what we need to do. It’s a challenge that I’ve been getting nowhere with and wasting time on for too long.”

In the end, breakthrough performance doesn’t have to be hard. Often, the little things have the biggest impact.

It’s just that you probably don’t know what they are… yet.

If you’re currently stuck or unsatisfied with current performance – contact us to find out how we can help.