Challenge plan tester

Overview

Using short and challenging statements to represent potential future trends, test your plans against them.

Benefits

This activity exposes your plans to external factors and current trends you may not have thought about. You can choose as many or as few challenges as you like, or skim through them to see which ones are most likely to impact you. A rapid but rewarding activity!

Preparation

• Prepare the first two columns of the activity sheet to help you focus on what you want to test. Print out enough for participants.

Materials

Per group:

• A summary of your current plans.
• Worksheet.
• Print outs of the Be prepared future trends, or other future challenges that you want to test against.

What you do

• In small groups, read the future challenges.
• If you have enough groups, divide the challenges between groups.
• Discuss each feature of the plans/strategy being tested.
• Discuss how your plans fare against future challenges.
• Write down any difficulties facing your plans.

Rate the likelihood of each difficulty occurring, using this scoring system:
5 = very likely, 4 = less likely, 3 = neutral, 2 = unlikely, 1 = very unlikely.

Rate the severity of the difficulty:
5 = critical, 4 = very severe, 3 = quite severe, 2 = not very severe, 1 = minor impact, 0 = no impact.

Total the two ratings.

• Work through this prioritised list, suggesting how the current plans might be refined to make them more robust.
• Summarise suggested changes, sharing your findings if you have broken into smaller groups
• Create an agreed action plan and assign owners to take each action forward.

Top tips for your group activities

• Be well prepared
• Consider changing your usual meeting environment
• Know what you want to come away with before you start
• Break the ice with a warm up
• Give people enough time to get into and do the activities
• Keep people engaged and motivated
• Encourage and proactively get input from everyone
• Think about how your going to capture the notes
• Use flip charts, coloured post its, coloured pens, paper, stickers
• If possible use a flexible and effective facilitator

Activity worksheet download