The Strategic Visioning Process

Our colleague David Sibbet of The Grove created the Grove Strategic Visioning™ process. There are 7 steps, each with exercises and templates typically used in the step. There are many variations and alternatives to consider when designing a planning retreat.

Step 1. Preparing

We determine the "crossroads issues", plan for involvement of critical stakeholders, and design the process and its timing and scope.

A Meeting Startup is used to get to a clear definition of the outcomes, agenda, roles, and rules for the process.

Step 2. Exploring and Learning

Participants review the history of the organization for insight into values and core competencies, scan the relevant environment, and study industry structures and competitive patterns.

A History Map gives a visual timeline perspective of an organization's evolution, supports learning from the past and how it can inform future direction, and supports visioning more effectively.

A Context Map develops a big-picture view of the environment, identifies trends that drive strategy and need tracking, and increases understanding of complex situations.

Step 3. Agreeing on Current Realities

We develop a shared perspective of the situation and develop the “case for change” -- the motivation for pursuing a new vision. This includes completing a variation of a SWOT analysis and understanding existing assumptions and constraints.

A SPOT Matrix examines the current state of the business, identifies opportunities that drive the vision, and recognizes the case for change.

Step 4. Opening to a Vision

We explore potential futures and find the group's shared themes about future direction. We use a variety of techniques and exercises to help the group develop a broader and deeper vision of the future than they've had before.

A Cover Story Vision takes the group to a creative, possibility-oriented state of mind, generates creative breakthrough ideas, and prepares the group for a broader vision.

Step 5. Creating Strategies

We ground the visions in clear strategies that articulate the initiatives needed to move forward.

A Five Bold Steps Vision encourages visionary thinking about the future, develops a compelling word-picture of the desired future of the business, and develops the five most important high-level strategies or action steps to begin moving toward the vision.

Step 6. Implementing Change

We involve the organization in creating action plans for strategies & initiatives, changing processes, and refining value propositions.

Graphic Gameplans map out objectives, tasks, and resources; create group alignment on strategic action plans; and translate vision and strategy into plans that can result in real action.

Step 7. Living the Vision

We determine ways to walk the talk every day and keep the vital strategic conversations alive in the organization.

Journey Visions can synthesize the whole story of the process in a way that it can be visually and straightforwardly communicated to the organization and kept alive in day-to-day operations.