How to Run an Amazing Strategy Workshop (Free Miro Template)

Quick Overview

The video provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to run an amazing Strategy Workshop using a free Miro template called "Strategy Signal," detailing exercises for defining goals, creating a roadmap, generating concepts, and finalizing decisions through structured activities like solo ideation, heat mapping, and decider sign-off.

Key Points: The Strategy Workshop utilizes a custom framework called "Strategy Signal," which is flexible for one-day or two-day sessions and is documented in a published book. Day 1 focuses on defining a long-term goal (12-24 months) via a 'Work Alone Together' exercise (15 min) followed by a 'Straw Poll vote' (5 min) to select the best goal concept. The roadmap planning stage involves placing concepts onto a timeline (Next 30 Days, 30-90 Days, 6-9 Months, 9-12 Months, 12+ Months) after assigning owners and check-in dates. Day 2 begins with 'Lightning Demos' (25 min) where participants share inspiring solutions from other industries, followed by 'Concept Creation' where detailed solutions are drafted based on the chosen goal. The process emphasizes structured, time-boxed activities like 'Heat Map' voting (10 min) to prioritize concepts based on team interest, and 'Decider Sign-Off' (5 min) for final commitment. A key guideline is to 'work alone together' during ideation phases to ensure individual focus and prevent groupthink, with words being the most important part of each concept.

Context: The video is a tutorial presented by Jonathan Courtney, CEO of AJ&Smart, demonstrating how to structure and facilitate an effective strategy workshop designed to align teams on long-term goals and create actionable roadmaps. The process is modular, allowing adaptation for different timeframes (one-day vs. two-day workshops), and relies heavily on structured exercises using a digital whiteboard like Miro, for which a template is offered.

Detailed Analysis

The video provides a comprehensive tutorial on executing a Strategy Workshop using the 'Strategy Signal' framework, which is designed to establish clear, actionable roadmaps for achieving long-term goals (12-24 months). The workshop structure is flexible, accommodating one-day or two-day sessions. Jonathan Courtney emphasizes that the primary goal is to define a North Star and a strategic action plan, not to immediately jump into granular details or debate solutions. The process is broken down into key phases: Day 1 focuses on goal setting and concept generation, while Day 2 focuses on concept refinement and roadmap creation. Key exercises include 'Work Alone Together' for initial ideation (30 min for concept creation, 15 min for goal setting), followed by a 'Straw Poll vote' (5 min) to democratically select foundational ideas, and a 'Heat Map' activity (10 min) to visually prioritize concepts based on team interest without deep discussion. Crucially, the workshop establishes clear rules: anonymity during voting, self-explanation of concepts, time-boxing all activities, and prioritizing progress over perfection ('Move first, polish later'). Once concepts are chosen by the Decider (Step 4), they move to the Roadmap planning stage (Day 2), where concepts are placed on a timeline (Next 30 Days, 30-90 Days, 6-9 Months, 9-12 Months, 12+ Months), assigned owners, and given initial check-in dates (Step 3: Owners & Dates). The final step is a 'Decider Sign-Off' (5 min) to ensure alignment before proceeding.