LEVEL 2

Facilitating Strategic Thinking and Planning:

The Two-Day Retreat

This is a unique, two-day workshop developed and presented by Donna R. Ching, Ph.D. She has deconstructed the planning process to build agreement and help groups create plans that strategically move them toward a collective vision.

Strategic thinking can combine the iterative process of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation with a future-orientation. The Appreciative Inquiry approach to organizational develop has been integrated into this book because it focuses on this process in the context of facilitating both personal and organizational change. This approach was also selected because it focuses and builds on existing organizational strengths and profitable opportunities rather than weaknesses, problems and threats.

Workshop participants will learn

Participants will receive a copy of the book "Facilitating Strategic Thinking and Planning: The Two-Day Retreat"  and will have the chance to learn about the different facets of the planning process and to practice valuable skills:

• The important aspects of strategic thinking and planning
   
• How to determine if your organization is ready to do strategic planning
   
• Pre-retreat planning activities
   
• The key roles played by the facilitator and group organizers
   
• Explanation of both the process model and conceptual framework
   
• Step-by-step discussion of each component of the process—from the introduction to beginning the development of action plans—with detailed instructions for key tasks and definitions of key terms
   
• A complete group memory from an organization that completed a retreat
   
• Extensive appendices that include many useful tools (e.g., for assessing the organization, preparing participants for the retreat, developing an agenda, selecting an appropriate facilitation method, etc.)