Reflecting is an important step in groups and individuals. Reflecting allows us to explore issues, projects, or strategy on a deeper level. In this busy world it is hard to slow down, but sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.
In 2019, I had the privilege of facilitating a strategic planning process for the Florida State Agricultural Response Team, a multiagency coordination team with multiple stakeholders working to provide emergency response to agriculture and livestock. This group had a long history, new and existing members, a shift in funding sources, and new leadership.
We embarked on using the Historical Scan Analysis with the group of 25 stakeholders. We mapped out milestones and events in three categories over time: the organization, the state, and the county. The timeline was set up into ranges with a column for the future. The team worked together to identify critical milestones and events, trends, highs, lows, and cleared up stories. In the end they came up with a beautiful timeline that can now be used for reference with new members and leadership. The energy and mutual understanding generated around this process helped the group to start creating action towards planning their strategy. It was a perfect way to start the strategic planning process. The Historical Scan Analysis was developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs and is part of their Technology of Participation, which is a suite of tools that can be used with groups to help them think better together. For more information about these tools and how your group can benefit from them, schedule a one-on-one free discovery session to learn more. https://www.rootedinprocess.com/contact/