It is almost halfway into #q4 and before we hang up the office christmas tree and start the end year reviews (hopefully this includes a board evaluation), the final #boardmeeting of 2023 should include a Strategy Review.

A Strategy Review is the process within which the Board and Management, with or without an external facilitator, takes stock of the progress achieved through the year on the strategic objectives and makes any necessary adjustments for the coming year.

Akira Consult has just concluded a Strategic Review for a firm that was considering a new strategic plan, an exciting engagement. We initially conducted a strategy brainstorming session with members of management, aligning their thoughts and thereafter presented the strategy proposal the Board for consideration and approval. Tools used included active learning, group discussion, brainstorming, game techniques and consensus building.

For the Board Retreat, the prompt to Board Members was to engage with Management’s proposal on Strategy by asking the following questions:
1. What are the core assumptions of the strategy and business model, have they been stress tested?
2. Does the business model hold for the next 1 year, 3 years, 5years?
3. What are the biggest risks to this model? Are we covered? Do we as a Board need more insight/expertise to engage with this strategy?
5. Can we give what Management is asking, can we personally roll our sleeves up and support this strategy?

To structure the review in order to allow for wholesome discussions that allow for #strategicthinking we organised the day as follows:
1. Recounting the Firm’s Strategic path to date. This involved the #ceo going back in time to #startwithwhy on the tenets upon which the company was built and ended with the performance of the company to date.
2. Akira facilitated a different version of the #swotanalysis where we opened up the discussion for the Board and Members & Management to discuss the successes and the challenges, together with the lessons learned.
3. The presentation of the proposed strategic plan was then presented and with having guided the Board Members on how to engage on the proposal and with management taking care to ensure that the new strategy encompassed the lessons learned, a rich very discussion was had.
4. A discussion to receive final feedback from the Board on whether they approved the strategic direction was guided by the Board Chair as a formal resolution needed to be extracted for the minutes
5. Once the Board gave its approval with the modifications required, it was time to discuss what were the immediate, mid term and long term strategic focus areas; who would drive the critical mission objectives and what support was needed. This was a very wholesome session as consensus having been built, it was time for a #smart #actionplan

Book Akira Consult today for your Q4 Strategic Review and set the path into a focussed 2024!