Facilitation of Strategy Awayday – Major Trade Union

Our Client

A major trade union.

Our Brief

To design and facilitate the first ever Strategy Awayday of the National Executive and Senior Management Team – a total of over 50 people. The primary objectives of the event were to:

· To discuss and agree the answers to 5 questions:

1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to be?
3. What are the major strategic challenges and implications in the next 5 years?
4. What do we need to do differently?
5. How do we get to where we want to be?

· To increase mutual understanding and teamwork amongst participants.

Our Approach

We spent a considerable amount of time devising and refining the objectives and structure of the event with key officers, officials and committees, so as there was widespread clarity before the event.

With this number of participants, it was important to conduct some of the work in syndicate groups and we provided 3 highly experienced facilitators, all with extensive experience of developing strategy and managing change in trade unions.

In order to fully achieve the objectives of the event, it was necessary to work between sessions and overnight on translating a large amount of often disparate views and opinions into a set of objectives and an approach that all participants could buy into.

Also, as is often the case with such events, there were a number of occasions when “democracy had to hijack the agenda”, and we needed to remain alert and flexible in adapting to the situation.

Our Achievements

Through determined and tactful facilitation, we enabled the union to reach a consensus on the way forward and provided a framework and timetable for implementing the agreed strategy.

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