Running a strategy day that actually produces decisions

A strategy day that ends with a list of things to discuss further is not a strategy day. It is a long meeting. The difference between the two is almost entirely structural: what happens before the session, how the session itself is run, and what gets written down before everyone leaves the room.

Preparation is most of the work ¶

Send a short written brief to every participant at least five days before the session. The brief should describe the three or four questions the day is designed to answer, the information each person is expected to bring, and the format of the session. People who arrive unprepared slow the whole group down.

The questions in the brief should be specific. Not 'what is our strategy for next year' but 'which of these three market segments should we prioritise, and why'. Specific questions produce specific answers. General questions produce general discussions.

Use a timed agenda with named owners ¶

Each agenda item should have a time allocation and a named person responsible for opening the discussion. The facilitator's job is to keep time and to move the group toward a decision, not to contribute to the content.

When a discussion runs long, the facilitator has two options: call a decision now with the information available, or explicitly defer the item to a named person by a named date. Both are acceptable. What is not acceptable is leaving the item unresolved and moving on.

Write the summary in the room ¶

The most important thing that happens in a strategy day is the last thirty minutes. This is when the group writes, together, a summary of every decision made during the day. Each decision gets a one-sentence description, a named owner, and a date by which it will be acted on.

This is uncomfortable for groups that are not used to it. It requires committing to specific language, which means committing to a specific interpretation of what was agreed. That discomfort is useful. If the group cannot agree on the written summary, they have not actually agreed on the decision.

Follow-up: one email, one document ¶

Within 24 hours of the session, the facilitator sends one email with one attached document: the written summary from the room, unchanged. No additions, no clarifications, no 'as discussed'. If something needs to be added, it should be discussed with the relevant people first and then added with a note that it was added after the session.

The format described here is the one used in every strategy facilitation engagement at Quiet Cloud Rise. It is not the only way to run a strategy day, but it is the one we use because it ends with a written document the client can keep working from.