What do you do if your strategic planning session is losing momentum and engagement?

Follow an Agile plan - develop the strategic plan over a number of short sessions and have the team socialize what they have developed in between. That engages the rest of the organization as well as maintains energy by keeping the sessions short and making planning more of a process than an event.

I believe we loose interest in any discussion when we know there is least participation expected in a session. The momentum will not be lost if the facilitator engages everyone in any activity . Any discussion must be a collaborative effort both from participant & presenter.

Ideally, the key is to set up strategic sessions so they don't get to the point that it's losing steam. Although you may have hours of work to do, it's often best to break it up into separate sessions. The break would allow you to talk one-on-one and get a better sense of what's going on behind the scenes rather than trying to guess by reading between the lines. If it's something simpler, it's possible that a change of scenery may be all that the team needs. Consider even moving the session outside, if possible.

Always have several ways to achieve an agenda item outcome. It gives you flexibility if you need to do something different to get participants re-energized, focused or unstuck. For example, you might plan for a brainstorming session to be a discussion where you write ideas on a board, but you notice participants are not engaging. Change the activity to small groups or a gallery walk to get participants up and moving, creating energy in the room. This art of facilitation is cultivated in practice and more practice.

Agenda gives us a structure to move forward with the subjected discussion. Agenda never keeps static or fixed. Questions or examples during the session keeps the discussion fluid and it must be flexible. In the interest of time & scheduled agenda ,discussions must not leave the main topic.

One other way to adjust the agenda is by assessing the need of the participants. Does the original agenda align with their needs? Were they looking for something else that has not been covered thus far? Can the session objectives be change to suit audience's needs? Poll at the beginning of meeting to understand the demographics and needs of audience is a good way to ensure positive outcome.

Instead of having a standard agenda, consider having an agenda of the questions that you want to have answered. It may even be useful to share it in advance, so they can start to think about what their answers would be.

You activate the participants by engaging them in the workshop, adding activities that equalize the voices, get them up and moving, and doing different activities in each step.

If some of the participants identify as introverts, it may also be useful to address them in advance of the strategic session and ask if it's okay to call on them for their perspective. Susan Cain's book, Quiet, recommends this, and I've been amazed by the thoughtful perspectives I hear from people who may not want to scream to be heard.

My experience facilitating strategy planning sessions is that in most instances participants lose momentum when they feel the session is so technical and full of jargons that they feel they are not competent enough to contribute. Simplifying the process by avoiding jargons and or technical terms, encouraging use real life examples like sports, and utlizing smaller groups usually increase engagement.

We perceive different opinions may create the perfect ground of inflecting disagreement but if we think straight its the different opinions/perspectives always gives us food for thought. We may be wrong or right but consciously must not stop listening to different opinions . Throughout this whole process we must considerate to each other with mutual respect.

In a facilitated workshop, engage the team to develop the vision. A great vision can be developed in a short time by asking the team to write a headline for a relevant periodical that they'd like to see in 20 years. That drives creativity and gains commitment.

Acknowledge and honor the contributions and key achievements made thus far in the workshop. Bring attention to the shift in energy and reveal the group's thoughts and feelings around it. It’s essential for the group to recognize what got in the way and impacted the collaboration and interactions. As a facilitator, I'd utilize these insights to make the necessary adjustments to the session flow accordingly.

Strategic goals, in principle, may be shared by attendees but they may not be in sync based on the time frames that each person is focused on seeing these achievements come to fruition. It’s possible to lose shared momentum in a session if groups of people have the same strategic aim but some want them “now”(within weeks), some want them “next”(within months) and some people want them in the “future”(one year or more). Talking in terms of time AND outcome can help point to a tension that keeps people invested and willing to debate/negotiate. Some questions, for example, are: 1. What can’t wait 4weeks and why? 2. What two things would you be willing to trade achieving in the next 12months if you could focus on one outcome Immediately ?

Being on the other side of the fence, I have witnessed that such meetings could create anxiety and stress among the participants. Now that I am a facilitator myself, I would adjust the pace of the sessions and incorporate interactive elements such as short group workshops, breakout sessions, or brainstorming activities. These can encourage participation and generate fresh ideas, making the session more dynamic. If the session is either moving too fast and overwhelming participants or too slow and causing disinterest, I would make adjustments accordingly. Finding the right balance can help maintain engagement and gain respect for the facilitator.