Breaking the “Boring Planning Session” Stereotype

When the Illinois Community Health Workers Association (ILCHWA) needed to develop their strategic plan, they faced a common challenge: engaging over 80 stakeholders spread across the state, speaking multiple languages, without losing the energy and connection that makes in-person planning powerful. Traditional strategic planning conjures images of endless PowerPoints and sticky notes on walls, leading to disengagement and lackluster results.

We envisioned a different approach that would harness virtual tools’ power to create genuine connection and engagement while delivering concrete results. By combining innovative technology with our deep understanding of public health planning, we transformed what could have been a series of tedious virtual meetings into dynamic, participatory sessions that energized participants while driving real progress.

Virtual Tools, Real Engagement

Using a combination of Microsoft Teams and Lucid, we created an interactive virtual environment that eliminated traditional barriers to participation. Participants could share ideas through virtual sticky notes in their preferred language, see their colleagues’ thoughts appear in real-time, and collaborate in natural and engaging ways. The technology became invisible, letting the human connection shine through.

The bilingual capability of our virtual toolkit proved particularly valuable, allowing Spanish-speaking community health workers to participate fully. We translated key questions so that they could participate and leveraged AI translation so that all could be engaged. Through carefully designed activities and facilitation techniques, we ensured that everyone could contribute meaningfully, regardless of their location, language preference, or technology comfort level.

Making Strategic Planning Fun (Yes, Really!)

Our approach to strategic planning challenges the notion that important work can’t be enjoyable. Through carefully designed virtual activities, we created spaces where serious strategic thinking could coexist with genuine engagement and joy. Interactive word clouds captured shared aspirations while virtual gallery walks let participants explore ideas in ways that felt more like discovery than work.

Small group challenges in virtual breakout rooms built both energy and insight, creating connections across geographic boundaries that might never have formed in traditional planning sessions. These activities weren’t just fun for fun’s sake – they were strategically designed to surface insights and build consensus while maintaining high engagement levels.

From Virtual Engagement to Concrete Action

While the interactive elements of our sessions created energy and engagement, every activity tied directly to concrete strategic outcomes. Each virtual sticky note, every group discussion, and all shared insights fed into a structured process that moved ILCHWA steadily toward clear strategic priorities and actionable plans.

The result was a strategic plan balanced with an ambitious vision with practical implementation steps. By breaking down big-picture goals into 90-day action plans and clear success metrics, we ensured that the energy from our engaging sessions would translate into meaningful progress.

Bringing It All Together: The Power of the In-Person Retreat

The virtual engagement laid crucial groundwork, but the in-person strategic planning retreat provided an essential catalyst for turning insights into action. By doing the heavy lifting of information gathering and initial ideation virtually, we ensured that our time together in person could focus on the most valuable aspects of face-to-face interaction – relationship building, deep strategic discussions, and collaborative decision-making.

During the retreat, key members of ILCHWA’s leadership team and workforce development committee came together for intensive strategic work. The energy in the room was palpable – built on the foundation of trust and connection established through our virtual sessions, participants could dive deep into complex discussions about the future of community health work in Illinois. This focused time together allowed for the kind of nuanced conversations and spontaneous insights that emerge uniquely through in-person collaboration.

The Hybrid Advantage: Virtual Plus In-Person Impact

This combination of virtual preparation and in-person synthesis proved particularly powerful. The virtual sessions ensured broad participation and gathered diverse perspectives from across Illinois, while the retreat provided the focused time needed to make critical strategic decisions. By the time team members gathered for the retreat, they had already:

  • Processed key organizational insights through virtual sessions
  • Built relationships across virtual breakout rooms
  • Developed shared understanding of strategic priorities
  • Created initial frameworks for action

This preparation meant retreat participants could focus on higher-level strategic thinking and detailed implementation planning rather than starting from scratch. The result was a more productive and energizing in-person experience that accelerated ILCHWA’s progress toward their strategic goals.

Deliverables That Drive Action

The strategic planning process delivered more than just engaging sessions – it produced concrete tools for ongoing success. ILCHWA received a comprehensive strategic planning document that captured both their ambitious vision and the practical steps to achieve it. More importantly, they gained frameworks and templates for maintaining momentum long after our engagement ended.

Our deliverables focused on enabling action rather than sitting on shelves. From quarterly review templates to progress tracking tools, each element was designed to support ILCHWA’s ongoing strategic management. These weren’t just documents – they were practical tools for turning strategic vision into reality.

Looking Forward with Confidence

Today, ILCHWA has both a clear strategic direction and the tools to maintain momentum toward their goals. Their experience demonstrates that virtual strategic planning can be both highly effective and genuinely enjoyable when the right tools meet thoughtful facilitation.

More importantly, they’ve experienced how strategic planning can unite and energize their community while driving meaningful progress. Their success shows that bringing joy to strategic planning isn’t just possible – it’s a powerful catalyst for creating lasting organizational change.

Ready to bring joy and effectiveness to your strategic planning process? Let’s talk about how we can help.