A series of workshops to consult with staff on the development of a Strategic Plan

FACILITATION & COACHING | STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

Designing and facilitating a series of workshops to consult with staff on the development of a Strategic Plan.

Client

Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW)

Challenge

LKBâ€™s Managing Director, Lucy Beytagh, was engaged by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) to help support the development of their strategic plan through a series of workshops focusing on the Executive level, Senior Leaders and staff.

Lucy was engaged to help design the sessions into an engaging format that would give staff the opportunity to provide their input and feedback on the plan. All sessions were facilitated by Lucy Beytagh.

Each workshop was designed to unite teams across the department, help develop initial ideas and elements of the strategic plan, explore a vision, purpose and strategic approach, as well as provide an opportunity for as many people as possible to contribute to the strategic plan.

Strategy

Through several discussions with the project team and meetings with the Secretary to confirm direction and content for the workshops, three workshop formats were developed – Executive level workshop, Senior Leaderâ€™s workshop and staff consultation workshops. All three workshop formats were designed to meet the following objectives:

- Design workshops to deliver broad consultation across the department and feedback on the strategy to finalise its development.
- Bring teams from across the department together to explore a shared vision and purpose and embrace their new department.
- Develop engaging sessions which provide enough context for input while allowing time for discussions and networking.
- Provide opportunity for as many people as possible to contribute to the strategy in a meaningful way.

Each audience was engaged by participating in activities, contributing to discussions and networking, and having the opportunity to hear from the department Secretary.

Each workshop was formatted to include a series of activities to enable discussion at tables, hear views from the whole group and contribute to areas of interest. Mixed tables, morning and afternoon tea, warm up activities and group discussions also helped contribute to opportunities for teams to work together in different ways and for participants to have the opportunity to hear directly from the Secretary. This assisted in developing a better understanding of the purpose and content of the strategic plan.

Results

Over the months of April, May and June, Lucy facilitated nine workshops. One Executive Leadership workshop consisting of 10 participants. One Senior Leader workshop consisting of 50 participants, and seven staff consultation workshops ranging between 50 to 90 participants at each. The workshops reached a wide range of the department, with over 400 people participating in the workshops which were held in venues across NSW.

At the conclusion of all workshops, the departmentâ€™s strategic plan had been effectively developed and discussed. All members and levels of the department had the opportunity to collaborate and participate in the planning, ideas and development of the plan.

94% of participants rated the workshops 4 out 5 stars.