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Advanced Strategic Planning Workshop Report 26 – 28 July, 2015 Risalat Consultants International Yomna ElFaramawy 7/28/2015
Advanced Strategic Planning Workshop
Report
26 – 28 July, 2015
Risalat Consultants International
Yomna ElFaramawy
7/28/2015
1 Training Report – Advanced Strategic Planning Workshop Dubai 26-28 July, 15
Introduction
This report will summarize the three day workshop on Advanced Strategic Planning which took place in
the Grand Excelsior Hotel in Bur Dubai, Dubai, UAE on the 26th, 27th and 28th of July, 2015.
The event was organized as a result of an open bidding process announced by Afghan Red Crescent
Society (ARCS) for conducting of a three day training workshop on the subject, which was awarded to
Risalat Consultants International FZE.
Training Audience
The attendees of the workshop were cross-functional members of the senior staff at the ARCS. A total of
16 delegates were present throughout the three days of the workshop. The following table shows their
names and job functions within the organization.
No. Name Job title
1 Mr. Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai Board member
2 Mr. Habibullah Habib Board member
3 Mr. Mohammad Naim Dindar Secretary General
4 Mr. Mohammad Nabi Burhan President Advisor
5 Mr. Mohammad Taib Yosufzai Organization Development Director
6 Mr. Abdul Rahman Kalanatry DM Director
7 Mr. M. Salim Bahramand Health Director
8 Mr. Mohammad Dauod Latif VM Director
9 Mr. S. Ghulam Ahmad Mujahid Legal base Director
10 Ms. Sarah Afzali Gender Manager
11 Mr. Abdul Hadi Saleh PMER manager
12 Mr. Sayed Mushfiq Hussaini FD manager
13 Mr. Sayed Falahudin SG office manager
14 Mr. Abdul Jalil Basiri DM assistant
15 Mr. Mohammad Zabi Amini ICRC Coop Senior officer
16 Mr. Mohammad Yasin Hussaini IFRC OD manager
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Training Delivery
The training was a three day event which was conducted from the 26th to the 28th of July, 2015.
A pre-workshop survey was received from the workshop attendees, which was supposed to give
information about the attendees’ experience and place in the organization, as well as their expectations and prior knowledge regarding the topics to be covered in the workshop. However, not all of the forms
were returned back with the required information.
The session started with short pre-test where the participants had to answer questions about the content
of the workshop. This exercise was performed to understand what the attendees already know to
compare it to the results of a post-test with the same questions.
In line with this, there was a post-test conducted at the end of the training which contained the same
questions but ask about similar concepts asked in the pre-test. The purpose is to gauge the improvements
made by the trainees after attending the session.
Also, a daily feedback form and daily oral feedback sessions were held and all the comments were taken
into account for the remainder of the workshop.
Also, on the last day, the participants were divided in to groups which were asked to prepare a Strategic
Plan to be presented and discussed with the whole class.
Main Topics Covered in the Workshop
The topics covered in the workshop matched the course outline provided to ARCS by Risalat prior to the
workshop. Those topics were introduced in forms of presentations, videos, discussions, case studies,
examples and games.
The training topics included, but were not limited to:
- Introduction to Planning, Strategy and Strategic Planning
- Challenges facing NGOs during the planning process
- Framework for Strategic Planning in details
- Steps for the development of the Strategic Plan
- The Strategic Planning Pyramid & the Strategic Timelines
- The 7 steps to make it work
- Risk Management, including the definition, the process and types of risk management
- Strategic Planning vs. Strategic Thinking
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- Strategic Planning vs. Tactical Planning
- Internal and external analysis tools:
o SWOT analysis + case study
o PESTLE analysis + case study
o Porter’s Five Competitive Forces
o Competitive Advantage & unique selling point (The Golden Circle)
- Implementing process of the Strategic Plan & tools
o Tips for the implementation of the Strategic Plan
- Monitoring & changing the Strategic Plan
o Plan reviews and reports
- Tools for Monitoring the Strategic Plan:
o Balanced Scorecard
o Balanced Scorecard + SWOT
- Creative Thinking
o Brainstorming as a tool
- Creative vs. Analytical Thinking
- Leadership & Strategy
o How to make the Strategy work
- Effects of Social Media on the Strategic Plan
- Effects of Organizational Structure & Team Accountability on the Strategic Plan
Workshop Impact
It’s obvious that real impact of a learning program can be seen and felt in the long run, but there can be immediate changes which one can see after completion of the course. The pre and posttests administered
before and after the sessions are aimed at drawing an image of the situation before taking the training
and after the trainees attended the training, in terms of their understanding of some of the topics covered
in the training program.
The graph below shows a comparison of the correct responses given to the same questions before and
after the session:
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Workshop Evaluation
It is a norm at Risalat to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the training programs in order to analyze
the problems the trainees may be facing or the issues there may be causing hindrances in the successful
execution of the workshop. It also helps improve the quality of future programs and deliver workshops
that meet higher quality standards.
We believe in continuous improvement of our programs and an evaluation which benefits not only future
program, but also current program. For this purpose a daily evaluation was conducted in order to identify
any issues the trainees may be having which need to be resolved for the next days.
A summary of the responses for the end of the program comprehensive evaluation is provided below:
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Pre-test results
Post test results
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Some Workshop Photos
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