facilitating a planning workshop

7/24/2019 Facilitating a Planning Workshop

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Facilitating a Planning Workshop

What is covered in this guide

1. What do you use planning workshops for

2. Important things to know about facilitating planning

3. ow to facilitate a planning process

!eeting to prepare to plan

Planning workshop

"his guide provides suggestions and advice on how to facilitate a planning process. It is based on the

introductory guide to Planning that outlines a systematic approach to planning and eight basic planning

steps.

"his section is part of the planning guide which is broken into four sections. #ection 1 is an introduction to

planning. "he approach used in these guidelines is based on the $ogical Framework %pproach e&plained

in Planning #ection 2. #ection 3 provides more detailed guidelines on how to use each of the planning

steps.

1. What do you use planning workshops for

Planning workshops are a very important tool to use to make sure that your organi'ation is clear aboutwhat you should be doing to achieve your ob(ectives. It helps to get all your members and other

stakeholders on board and to develop concrete plans for your work. % good planning process will help you

to clarify the following)

*our goal + the long term change you want to see ,sometimes called vision-

*our purpose + the contribution your organi'ation commits itself to make to achieving that change

,sometimes called mission-

*our specific ob(ectives + the things you have to achieve ,results- to make sure you reach your

purpose ,these ob(ectives can be longterm and shortterm-

#trategies to achieve your ob(ectives + choosing the best approach to reach each ob(ective

Implementation plans + the actual tasks ,activities- you will have to do to make sure each

ob(ective is achieved/ who will do them/ by when and what resources will be needed.

0valuation mechanisms + the ways you will measure what you have achieved or failed to

achieve/ and what the reasons are.
http://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/building/webplan4.html#workshopshttp://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/building/webplan4.html#facilitatinghttp://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/building/webplan4.html#basic%20planninghttp://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/building/webplan4.html#facilitatinghttp://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/building/webplan4.html#basic%20planninghttp://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/building/webplan4.html#workshops


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If you do not have the information you need for the situation and needs analysis/ you may need to

have a phase in which you collect this information.

If you will need a lot of time to work through comple& issues in the situation and needs analysis/

choice of goal and purpose and the development of clear ob(ectives/ you may want to take abreak at this point in the process before going on to #tep 5. "his will give people a chance to

think through the issues before going on to decide strategies for achieving the ob(ectives.

If you do not need everyone to be involved in planning implementation/ you may want to give this

task to specific people who can then report on their the activity plans they have drafted at a laterstage.

3. ow to facilitate a basic planning process

"his section provides brief guidelines on the two basic phases of a planning process. *ou can adapt it if

you need to break the process into more phases)

Phase 1 ) Preparing to plan

Phase 2 ) Planning

First phase) #tep 1 of the planning process Preparing to plan

:rganise a meeting to plan the workshop. Include key people who should be part of the decision about

how and when to conduct the planning. It should also include people who need to do practical tasks to

make the planning work smoothly. "his should include administrators who must send out notices of the

planning/ contact people and take notes. "he following are some issues this meeting could cover)

1. Purpose:What do we need to plan; In this discussion you need to make sure everyone is clear what

your plan is for + whether it is a campaign/ a public meeting/ a training programme or a development

strategy for the community.

1. "ime needed and steps you will follow) In this discussion you need to decide how much time youwill need/ whether and how you will break the process into different phases and what issues youwill need to address in each step and in how much detail. It is important to agree on the approachto planning you will use and the steps you will follow in the process the guide on Planning canhelp you think about this. %gain/ if what you must plan is simple and already fairly clear/ you donot need to give too much time to the planning and may be able to cover some of the steps fairly9uickly with a brief input and a short discussion. For e&ample/ if you are planning an event/ like apublic meeting/ you may be able to move 9uickly through steps 1 to 5 above and spend thema(ority of the time on the implementation plan where you decide on your activity plans.


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#hould we break the planning process up into more phases;

ow much time and other resources will we need for the whole planning process;

2. Information: "his discussion is to help you work out what information you will need before theplanning process starts. "he following 9uestions can help you lead this discussion)

What information about the situation and needs of our target community will we need in order to

plan effectively;

ow important is it that we have accurate information on the situation and needs;

What of this information do we already have and what will we still need to get;

3. Participants: "his discussion is about who needs to be included in the planning. It is important toinclude all those who need to understand the plan and who must be committed to carrying it outeffectively. "he following 9uestions can help you decide)

Who will be affected by our plan or who can affect whether it is successful or not; Who are our

key stakeholders don=t forget the staff of your own organisation;

Who needs to understand the plan and who do we need to implement it effectively;

Who would make a useful input to the planning;

ow important and>or influential is each main stakeholder group; Whose needs/ interests and

concerns should be prioritised in the planning process;

ow useful or essential would their involvement be at each step in the planning process;

What kind of involvement will be ade9uate for each key stakeholder in each step of the process;

. Practical tasks to prepare for the planning process: In this discussion/ you will decide whatneeds to be done/ by whom and how in order to prepare for a smooth and effective planningprocess. "he following issues are likely to need discussion)

4o we need a planning committee to coordinate the planning and deal with any problems; Who

should be on it; What will their tasks be;

Who will get the information we still need before the planning process; From where/ how and

from whom can we get it;


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4o we need people to prepare inputs to help ensure useful discussion; What inputs do we need;

Who must do them and by when should they be prepared;

Who will be the scribe to keep and circulate a record of our discussions; ow soon must the

record be circulated; !ake sure this is someone reliable/ otherwise you may lose a lot of thevaluable discussion and decisions + the scribe is a key person.

What must we do to get the commitment to the planning process we need from each key

stakeholder; Who will do it;

ow should each stakeholder be prepared/ so that they can participate effectively; What

information will they need beforehand; Who will circulate this information and all the informationabout the time/ date/ venue and programme of the planning sessions;

What other tasks need to be done/ by whom and by when organising venues/ food/ transport

etc;

What other resources will we need flip charts/ overhead pro(ectors/ kokis/ pens and paper/

presstick/ admin support for contacting people and circulating records of discussions etc;

5. ?ow you are ready to draw up a plan for the planning process. "his should indicate what must bedone/ by whom and by when. :ne person should have the responsibility for convening theplanning committee and checking on progress.

Second phase: Planning - using steps 2 to 8 of the planning process

"his section provides ideas on dealing with each of the basic planning steps from #tep 2 to #tep 8. It also

provides an agenda items a to g and 9uestions you can use to lead the discussions in each step. "hese

basic planning steps are useful in any kind of planning/ but you will need to deal with each step in more or

less detail depending on what you are planning and how comple& it is. "he following workshop outline can

be broken into further phases if you think that is necessary. "he agenda outline is based on the basic

planning steps and guidelines on using them in the guide on Planning.

a. Introduction and outline of the programme

In this session you should make sure everyone introduces himself or herself if there are people who do

not already know one another. :utline the programme. "ell participants what the purpose of the planning

process is as agreed at the preparation meeting. 0&plain the programme based on the different planning

steps you will follow as agreed at the planning meeting. @ive people an outline of the timing you will need

to stick to if you are going to be able to complete the process. Aespond to any 9uestions or suggestions.

Finally get agreement from everyone on how you will work together to achieve the purpose within the

timeframe.

b. "he situation and needs Planning #tep 2

In this step/ you need to help the participants to analyse the information that has been collected or

developed on the basis of e&perience. "he purpose is to develop a common and detailed understanding

of the situation so that you can plan the most effective intervention to change it. "his will ensure that what

you do and how you do it will the most strategic approach to achieving your goals. "he key role of the

facilitator here is to push participants to)


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Identify their individual assumptions about the situation you wish to change but also about the

internal situation and capacity of your organisationB

%nalyse the information you have for how reliable it is and what it tells you about the most

effective action that should be takenB

Challenge and e&amine assumptions and develop a common agreement on what the issues areand how they should affect what you do and how you do itB and

Aeach agreements that will lay a solid basis for the rest of your planning.

For e&ample/ if you are going to run a campaign/ you need to understand the situation or problem you

want to change and how it affects your target group so that you can target your campaign in the right way.

*ou need to analyse how your target groups sees and understands the issues so that you can make sure

your message and the way you run your campaign is relevant and appropriate to your target group. #ee

the guide on Aunning a Campaign for ideas on how to analyse the situation and needs before planning a

campaign.

*ou can use the following 9uestions/ or 9uestions like them/ to facilitate the analysis)

What are the ma(or problems faced by our target community;

Which of these is the key or central problem or issue;

What are the causes and effects of this problem;

Can we realistically hope to make a significant contribution to addressing this problem;

ow does this problem or issue affect our primary stakeholders; ow do they see it; What are

their concerns and interests in relation to the problem or issue;

What key stakeholders stand to gain or lose from our taking up this problem or issue; ow can

we increase our allies and decrease the impact of potential opponents;

What e&perience have we had so far that is relevant to this problem or issue and what can we

learn from it;

What can our organisation realistically e&pect to achieve; What resources and capacity are

available to us inside and outside our organisation; What does this mean for our planning;

"his is often a rather messy discussion to facilitate. "he following is a suggested approach)

1. #omeone presents information that has been collected preferably with the target community asplanned in the preparation meeting about the situation.

2. @ive each person two or three small pieces of paper and ask them to write I? $%A@0 $0""0A#what the problems or issues are. %sk people to write only key words. %lso ask them not to statethe problem as the absence of a solution there is no crDche but to describe the problem as itaffects the target group children of working parents are left with grandparents or neighbours.


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3. #tick all the papers up on the wall so that everyone can read them. If you have too many/ andthey are too detailed/ group ones that are similar and agree on a general name for this group.

. %sk the participants to look at them and decide what the key issue or problem that you need tochange is.

5. When the key problem or issue you need to address is agreed/ put it in a space in the middle.

6. %sk everyone to look at the remaining problems and issues and decide which are causes of thekey issue or problem you have identified and which are effects of it. "his discussion allows you tohelp participants work out how the issues are linked. It also helps you start to see how you cantarget causes so that you can change the effects they have on your target community.

7. Place all those problems that are identified as causes of the key problem or issue above it. Putthem in order/ in terms of what causes what. Place all those problems that are identified aseffects below the problem. Put them in order in terms of what effect leads to what other effect."he following is an e&ample of how the issues could be grouped on the wall)

E

8. %sk participants to check the analysis in pairs or threes. ere people should look at whether theythink the causes are ade9uate and accurate and whether the effects are ade9uate and accurate.

%sk for proposals on any additions or changes and make the changes that are agreed. When youhave agreed on the things that cause the key issue or problem and the effects this has and putthem all in order/ you have analysed the problem. "he e&ample above shows how you mightanalyse the problem of pensioners not getting their pension payments. It shows you what thecauses of the problem are believed to be and what effects the problems has. "his prepares you towork out what intervention will be the most effective. It also helps you work out what you canrealistically hope to change and what you cannot. *ou will use this analysis to decide on yourpurpose and goal/ your ob(ectives and strategies for achieving them.

. Gse the other 9uestions above to look at your problem analysis and decide what this means forwhat you do and how you do it. 4on=t forget to analyse and discuss what your organisation and itsallies or partners are realistically capable of achieving.

b. Purpose and goal

*ou now need to help the group use the analysis to decide on a goal and purpose that are)

Aelevant to the key problem or issue you have identified and its causesB

Aealistic in terms of what you are capable of doingB and

%ppropriate in terms of the needs you have analysed.

%s a facilitator/ you need to show people why it is useful to set a goal and a purpose and what the

difference is between them. Gse the following to e&plain these terms)

% goalis the longterm situation you believe should be achieved in the lives of your target group.

Gsually this is not something your organisation and actions alone can bring about/ but it needs tobe something you can make a significant contribution to achieving through your efforts. "his goalshould be worded to describe the situation you would like to see/ not the actions you will take to


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achieve it. "his helps everyone to see what longterm impact you hope to be part of bringingabout to improve the lives of your target group.

"he purposedescribes the situation that you intend to bring about from your activities. It is a

positive situation you are committing yourselves to brining about through your efforts. "he goalhelps you ensure that the purpose is relevant to the large longterm change that is needed. "he

purpose helps you later work out what action will be re9uired to achieve it. It helps you test yourthinking by asking whether/ if you do everything you plan/ it will be enough to achieve thepurpose. %gain/ you should not describe the action you will take but the change you intend toproduce in the lives of your target group.

*ou can use the situation and needs analysis to choose the goal and purpose)

%sk participants to look at the problem analysis and change the wording of the key problem or issue from

negative to positive. Instead of e&pressing the key problem or issue/ it should now e&press the positive

situation you wish to see e&ist for e&ample/ from HPensioners can=t access pensionsH to H%ll legitimate

pensioners access their pensions without ma(or waiting periods within 1km of their homesH. "his should

begin to show you what your goal or purpose could be.

4o the same for the causes. :nce this is complete/ you should be able to see what needs to be achieved

in order to change the negative situation the problem or issue into the positive situation you aim to bring

about purpose or the situation you aim to contribute to bringing about goal.

If the positive situation you have described by rewording the key problem or issue is something you

believe you can realistically achieve and also believe is important and relevant to the lives of your target

group/ this could be used as your purpose. If it is too unrealistic for you to achieve alone/ this could be

used as your goal. % good test is to look at whether you can realistically achieve what will be re9uired to

reverse all the ma(or causes of the problem. If you can only address some of them/ it is unrealistic to

commit yourselves to the purpose of reversing the key problem or issue. "his may have to become your

goal. *our purpose would then be to achieve one or more of the positive situations that are the reverse of

the key causes of that key problem or issue. Juestions that could help you lead this discussion are the

following)

Goal:What is the future situation we will contribute to bringing about; What is the most relevant

goal; What is the most clear and concrete way of stating this goal;

Purpose: What can we commit ourselves to achieving that will make the most significant and

useful contribution to achieving the goal we have agreed on; What can we realistically achievewith our resources and capacity; What is the most relevant but also most realistic purpose;

What else/ that is outside our control/ will need to happen for us to achieve our goal and

purpose; ow important are these things to our success. Can we influence them/ and if so howyou will need to include this in your later planning; If we can=t influence them/ does this mean

our goal and purpose are unrealistic;

c. Clear :b(ectives

"he facilitator of this session must help the participants decide on ob(ectives for achieving the purpose.

:b(ectives are the key results you must achieve to achieve your purpose. :b(ectives need to be worded

to describe the results you need to achieve in order to achieve your purpose. "hey should not describe

your actions or activities. "he facilitator must ensure that the ob(ectives are)


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Clear + so that anyone would understand them in the same wayB

#pecific + about who should benefit and howB

!easurable + as far as possible telling us how many or how much will be achievedB

%chievable + by you within the time availableB

Aealistic in terms of your resources and capacitiesB and

"ime bound + indicating by when you will achieve them.

In this discussion you will use your needs analysis and your agreed goal and purpose to help the

participants to decide on ob(ectives)

1. Write up the agreed goal and purpose clearly in large letters. @ive a brief input on what effectiveob(ectives are.

2. Gse the problem and needs analysis to help the group work through the following 9uestions)

What specific results are needed to achieve our purpose; "he needs analysis included an

analysis of the causes and effects of the problem + do the causes we identified give us an idea ofwhat must results we must achieve in order to achieve our purpose; What ob(ectives will we haveto achieve to achieve the purpose;

ow can we make each ob(ectives more specific by stating by when they should be achieved/

who should benefit/ how many or much must be achieved and how well;

Can we realistically achieve these results; If not/ can we improve our capacity to achieve them

by/ for e&ample/ building alliances and improving our organisational capacity; 4o we need to setob(ectives to take account of these things; If you can=t improve your capacity to achieve theresults that are necessary to achieve the purpose/ you will need to go back and make thepurpose more realistic.

What else/ that is outside of our control/ will need to e&ist for us to achieve our ob(ectives

effectively; ow likely are they to happen; Can we do anything to influence the situation so thatthese conditions e&ist; *ou will need to include these things as either ob(ectives or as part ofyour plans for implementing your strategy. If they are important and unlikely to e&ist/ but we can=tinfluence them/ are our ob(ectives realistic;

3. Write up each agreed ob(ective clearly on a separate sheet of flip chart paper and stick thembelow the goal and purpose. *ou should ideally not have more than 5 ob(ectives.

d. #trategies for achieving the ob(ectives

In this session/ the facilitator needs to help participants to identify all the possible ways you can achieve

each ob(ective and choose the most effective. It is often useful to ask people to think of as many different

and creative ways as possible before making a decision. "his means you do not (ust do things the way

you always do/ but give yourselves the chance to find better ways of doing them. *ou will not need to do

this if it is absolutely clear that you already know the best way of achieving one or all of your ob(ectives.

"his process takes time/ but it can be very valuable and help you improve what you achieve.


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1. $ead a discussion to agree criteria for choosing the most effective strategy. For e&ample/ youcould use the following)

Is it relevant to the ob(ective and our purpose;

Is it realistic in terms of our capacity and resources;

Will it make the most effective use of our resources and capacity;

Could it be done in a simpler way;

Would it get the support we need from potential allies and partners;

2. %sk people to work in pairs or threes to think up different and creative ways of achieving the firstob(ective.

3. %sk each group of two or three to choose a ma&imum of two of the best options they have comeup with.

. @o round the room taking one option from each group and writing it up on flip chart paper. 4o notlet anyone comment at this point. @o round again and take one more suggestion from any groupthat wants to add one. %llow 9uestions for clarity only at this point. 4on=t let people begin toevaluate the options yet.

5. 0liminate duplication by grouping options that are essentially the same by finding wording thatthose who made the suggestions agree to.

6. !ake a grid with a short version of each option written down the left hand side. Write the criteriaalong the top)

:ption 1 Aelevance Aealistic Aesources #imple #upport

:ption 2 3 1

:ption 3

7. $ead a discussion in which each option is evaluated using the criteria. *ou could use a scale of 1to 3 where 1 indicates HlowH/ 2 indicates HaverageH and 3 indicates HhighH. #o/ if you evaluate yourfirst option as being highly relevant to the situation/ you would put a 3 in that column. *ou mightalso evaluate it as not being realistic at all. *ou would then give it a 1 in that column/ as in thee&ample above/ and so on. If the group is small/ you could do this in one big group.


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e. Implementation plans

In this session/ the facilitator needs to help participants make decisions on what activities will be needed

to achieve each ob(ective using the strategy agreed. Implementation plans or activity plans/ as they are

often called/ need to be specific about)

What must be done

Who must do it

ow it will be done


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realistically hope to achieve and by when. "argets are agreements about Hhow manyH/ HhowmuchH and Hhow wellH we intend to achieve. *ou can use the information you gathered for thesituation and needs analysis to set targets. For e&ample/ HWaiting time at pension pay points isreduced to a ma&imum of two hours within five monthsH is a target. Indicators tell us what criteriawe will use to evaluate whether we have successfully achieved what we intended. $ikeob(ectives/ they should be)

Clear + so that anyone would understand them in the same wayB

#pecific + about who should benefit and howB

!easurable + as far as possible telling us how many or how much will be achievedB

%chievable + by you within the time availableB

Aealistic in terms of your resources and capacitiesB and

"ime bound + indicating by when you will achieve them.

2. $ead a discussion in which participants agree targets and indicators for the goal/ purpose/ob(ectives and activities.

3. When you have completed the process/ ask everyone to check whether the decisions made arerealistic. !ake amendments and get a final commitment from everyone. Aemember/ it isimportant for everyone who will have to achieve a target or indicator to agree that it is appropriateand realistic.

g. #ummary

!ake sure it is clear who is responsible for writing up a summary of all your planning decisions and

circulating it to everyone present. %gree who will coordinate implementation and monitor progress. Finally/

you should agree dates on which you will assess progress and review the plan on the basis of

e&perience. Finally/ end the meeting with a celebration of the completion of an effective plan and the

beginning of its implementation

facilitating a planning workshop

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