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Strategy Sessions

Strategic & Annual Planning

The ClearPath team provides comprehensive and trusted planning and facilitation services for strategic planning sessions as part of our clients’ annual or long term planning cycles.  We thoughtfully plan and facilitate every step of each process within the session, as well as related details, freeing client leadership to focus on day-to-day operations prior to and after the session, as well as the actual strategic content during the session itself.

Our proven approach and methodologies combined with Best Practices in strategy development offer clients a full menu of strategic planning services that are easily adaptable to ensure their specific needs are met, and include planning and preparation, facilitation, documentation and implementation support, as required.

The first phase, planning and preparation, involves review of relevant documentation and discussion with senior leadership about the current industry, organizational and market situation and history, their key business priorities and issues, top opportunities, performance to date, and the objectives that the strategy session must achieve.  This provides valuable context to develop a well thought out agenda with clear desired outcomes for each step, and special attention to:

      • Weaving a common learning and decision making framework for the team
      • Ensuring maximum engagement by all participants
      • Maintaining the energy level of the group
      • Introducing fresh thought and innovation to the process
      • Ensuring appropriate reflection and consideration by the participants
      • Addressing divergent opinions
      • Identifying and prioritizing challenges and gaps
      • Developing and gaining alignment on clear action plans to accountabilities
      • Agreeing on how progress will be tracked, reported and addressed

ClearPath facilitation of strategy sessions ensures that meeting processes effectively achieve the clients’ objectives.  That includes situations during a session when new unexpected information or perspectives develop, recognizing that a course correction for the agenda is in order, and knowing how to adapt the plan in real time to better suit the new circumstance, while ensuring the client’s desired deliverables are still met.

With respect to documentation, our approach captures and keeps visible throughout the session, the progress from each agenda item as it unfolds.  It helps remind participants in real time what they have considered, as well what they’ve decided, and how.  This information plus any background information presented in the session form the basis of the formal strategy session notes provided to the client in a format that facilitates their use of the document for communication, engagement and tracking performance across the broader organization.