A useful strategy session starts by understanding what people are already doing, then makes the next decisions clearer.
A strategy project rarely starts from zero. Staff have relationships, commitments and work in progress. Some of it is documented. Some of it lives with the person who has been keeping it moving.
Before asking a team to create another plan, we need to understand that starting point. Otherwise, the process can miss good work, duplicate effort and leave people explaining the same things again.
Tatâga Inc. uses structured working sessions to help teams connect their responsibilities to a wider strategy. In our current planning work, an OGSM canvas gives that discussion a practical shape through its objective, goals, strategies and measures. The preparation matters as much as the session. People need the materials early enough to consider them, and the right colleagues need to be in the room.
An objective describes the direction. Goals clarify what success would look like. Strategies explain the choices the team will make. Measures help people see whether those choices are producing the intended result. A completed canvas should make the work easier to explain and manage.
We recommend bringing four things into the discussion.
• Work already underway, including commitments made to partners and communities.
• Decisions that remain open, with a clear explanation of who can make them.
• Capacity constraints, including staff time, budget and dependencies on other teams.
• Evidence that would demonstrate progress, rather than simply confirm that an activity happened.
A team may discover that an existing activity supports the objective well. Another may need a different owner or a clearer purpose. That is useful work. The point is to make considered choices about what continues, what changes and what deserves attention next.
After the session, the canvas needs to connect to the organization’s planning and review cycle. Assign responsibility, record unresolved questions and agree on a realistic point to revisit progress. Otherwise, even a strong workshop can leave the operating model unchanged.
Good strategy respects the work people have already done and gives them a clearer way to carry it forward.
