Upon completion of the Data Gathering and Engagement work of Phase Two, the SPTF members will enter a dynamic and definitive period of making sense of the data, impressions and perceptions that have come to fruition. Phase Three is a powerful, two-stage process. Here, the members will review the data to identify strategic themes that point to dominant and pervasive trends.
Stage One of Phase Three takes place during an all-day long interactive and engaging workshop called The Sense Making Meeting; this will happen on November 15, 2012. In this workshop, the SPTF will employ activities that will distill the data into subject matter. Once these have been generally agreed upon, specific themes for the planning process can be defined.
The participants in the workshop will begin the day by listening to each others’ working group reports/presentations and will be encouraged to identify emerging and consistent strategic themes. After this through the exercise of creating a Planning Wall; members will edit out redundancies, organize ideas thematically and refine categories.
The SPTF members will agree upon a manageable number of strategic priorities and will then engage in Stage Two. Here, they will be instructed on how to develop concept papers on each feasible strategic priority from Stage One. Members will consolidate into smaller working groups to review the data and write three to five page Concept papers. These papers will present concrete evidence from the data gathering phase.
The aim of the Concept Paper is to provide a neutral overview of key elements related to the essential strategic theme. The Concept Papers will include facts, direct examples from internal and external stakeholder evidence, relevant background information, and pertinent trends in an understandable and direct manner. Once the Concept Papers are completed, they will be reviewed by all the SPTF members. Concept Papers will completed in a timely fashion, as they will inform Phase Four, the Vision Conference, scheduled for March 22, 2013.