info@co-actors.com
Getting on the same page: a strategic session for 17 global company leaders
Aligned departmental efforts and developed
a three-year action plan
a three-year action plan
About company
«Flowwow» is an online gifting platform that enables fast and convenient gift ordering from local stores in over 1,200 cities across Russia and abroad.
CMO of Flowwow, Oleg Egorov, reached out with a request to organize an offsite session for the marketing leadership team in Istanbul.
We wanted to discuss the company's ambitious goals for the next three years, develop a clear plan to achieve them, and identify ways to mitigate potential risks. Additionally, it was important to strengthen collaboration among marketing department leaders, as the company operates in a distributed format, and not everyone is well-acquainted or regularly interacts with each other.
REQUEST
Unite the marketing team around one big goal and define the first steps to achieve it in each area.
TASK
Conduct a strategic session for 17 company leaders in an offline format.
Session in numbers
17 participants
CEO, CMO, team leaders
3 days
25 hours of offline communication
9 sticker blocks
Conference room at the hotel fully covered with ideas
25 hours of preparation
8 interviews, 5 organizational meetings, 1 survey
About the Facilitator
Александра Баптизманская
Certified ICAgile Trainer, Agile Coach, Gestalt Therapist, Facilitator, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Co-Actors.
She focuses on the psychological aspects of working with people and teams. Alexandra leads the certification training for facilitation ICP-ATF and regularly speaks at conferences. She is one of the authors of the channel "Unashamed Facilitation."
How We Prepared for the Session
We discussed the request with the client
We conducted 8 interviews and 1 survey with the participants
We held 5 organizational meetings for preparation
We wrote down the action plan
In the final group, there were 17 people. Three days of sessions for 17 people is a real challenge for a facilitator, so I brought in my colleague Yana Obach to help. Yana now lives in Istanbul, so she not only provided invaluable assistance during the session but also gave participants tips on things to do in Istanbul.
Facilitators of the session
Alexandra Baptizmanskaya and Yana Obach
Final format of the session
Day 1: People and Gathering Information
Despite the fact that all the marketing leaders at Flowwow work in the same department, not all of them regularly interact with each other or are well-acquainted. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the company is distributed. Therefore, all participants had a request to get to know each other better, understand who is responsible for what, and identify areas of intersection between departments.
The central activity was the "House" exercise. Participants were asked to imagine that the marketing department is a house, and they (the leaders and their teams) represent different parts of this house: walls, foundation, roof, windows, front door. We built this Flowwow marketing house and deeply analyzed how the interaction within it is structured. Insights from this exercise became the foundation for the first changes that the participants agreed upon during the session.
In the afternoon, we worked with a timeline. We visualized the timeline of the past year and a half and marked the achievements we are proud of, which have contributed to the growth of the company to its current state.
The central activity was the "House" exercise. Participants were asked to imagine that the marketing department is a house, and they (the leaders and their teams) represent different parts of this house: walls, foundation, roof, windows, front door. We built this Flowwow marketing house and deeply analyzed how the interaction within it is structured. Insights from this exercise became the foundation for the first changes that the participants agreed upon during the session.
In the afternoon, we worked with a timeline. We visualized the timeline of the past year and a half and marked the achievements we are proud of, which have contributed to the growth of the company to its current state.
Day 2: Vision of the Future and How to Get There
On the second day, we journeyed into the bright future. There were presentations on the future from the company's CEO, Slava Bogdan, CMO Oleg Egorov, and brand manager Renata Mikhaylova.
Based on these presentations, we synchronized our vision for the brand's development in both the Russian and global markets, as well as created a list of questions and topics that were relevant to discuss and resolve while we were all gathered together.
In an Open Space format, participants worked in mini-groups, tackling each topic from problem identification to concrete action steps.
Based on these presentations, we synchronized our vision for the brand's development in both the Russian and global markets, as well as created a list of questions and topics that were relevant to discuss and resolve while we were all gathered together.
In an Open Space format, participants worked in mini-groups, tackling each topic from problem identification to concrete action steps.
Day 3: Plan and Wrap-Up
At the end of the second day, the participants expressed a desire to dedicate time to discussing risks, and we did so at the beginning of the third day.
We listed various competitive, legal, economic, reputational, and technical risks and worked through them using the ROAM framework:
Resolved — through discussion, we realized this is not a risk at all;
Owned — these risks don't require action now, but they need to be monitored;
Accepted — a reality, we accept and live with them;
Mitigated — for these risks, we need to create a plan.
After that, we finalized the plans, agreed on a date for a follow-up on these plans, and wrapped up the session.
We listed various competitive, legal, economic, reputational, and technical risks and worked through them using the ROAM framework:
Resolved — through discussion, we realized this is not a risk at all;
Owned — these risks don't require action now, but they need to be monitored;
Accepted — a reality, we accept and live with them;
Mitigated — for these risks, we need to create a plan.
After that, we finalized the plans, agreed on a date for a follow-up on these plans, and wrapped up the session.
"In the feedback at the end, many participants highlighted two things:
- How important it was for them to spend three days together in offline discussions without laptops;
- That thanks to the detailed action plan, they now clearly know what to do next
- (and thank God, this session didn’t just end with discussions)."
Alexandra Baptizmanskaya
Facilitator
Session Results
- Strengthened horizontal connections, increased mutual understanding and trust among the 17 employees;
- Formed a clear vision of the company's goals for the next 3 years;
- Created a list of hypotheses to explore for the next six months;
- Developed a detailed 32-point action plan to achieve the set goals;
- Defined the areas of responsibility for leaders and their teams.
Client's Impressions
Many thanks to Sasha for the high-quality organization and facilitation of the strategic session. The idea of holding such a session had been brewing for a while. Initially, I wanted to organize it myself without involving a facilitator. However, after watching a few videos on YouTube and reading the book "Strategic Session" by Lisa Kay, I reached out to our CEO for advice. After a brief discussion, he approved the involvement of a facilitator. Furthermore, Slava provided me with the contact of a coach who recommended Sasha.
Sasha and her team at Co Actors are great professionals. If you’ve never conducted such sessions, it’s worth trying, especially if your company is rapidly growing and operating in a competitive market.
Sasha and her team at Co Actors are great professionals. If you’ve never conducted such sessions, it’s worth trying, especially if your company is rapidly growing and operating in a competitive market.
This was the first strategic session for the marketing team at Flowwow.
I believe we have one of the strongest marketing teams in Russia, so I had some concerns about whether the facilitator would be able to handle it.
The team is very smart and fast, and the number of notes on the walls and sticky notes grew exponentially.
It was almost chaotic. But Sasha and Yana managed to structure everything clearly and professionally.
Another great feature was the post-call follow-up a month later. It's really useful as it helps keep the agreements relevant.
Thank you!
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