Ambition and consequence workshops

How high do we set our goal? What should we do to actually realise our ambitions? Is this realistic? Ambition and consequence workshops help determine strategy where vision and ambition levels of all participant involved are streamlined. Ambition and consequence workshops can be implemented by businesses, governmental institutions and NGOs.

In order to cooperate in an organisation in a streamlined, pleasant and professional manner, it is vital for all participants to have the same vision and to be well tuned to each other’s levels of ambition. This can be achieved by means of strategy determining workshops. Depending on the needs, this involves two or three meetings: one (optional) introductory workshop in which the concept of Sustainability or Corporate Social Responsibility is explained in more details; one workshop in which the ambitions of the organisation are examined; one workshop in which the consequences of these ambitions (in terms of time allotments, money, developing activities) are analysed and discussed in detail.

1. Introductory workshop (optional)
   During the first workshop the concept of corporate social responsibility is crystallised. Participants acquire a clear picture of what is corporate social responsibility and what practicing CSR entails for their organisation. This provides an insight into what value corporate social responsibility can give the organisation. The aim of the workshop is that all participants will understand what CSR entails and that they are convinced that it must become a part of the company’s strategic policy. This workshop can be skipped if all the participants have the same knowledge level and are all convinced in advance of the usefulness of a CSR strategy.
   
   

2. Ambition workshop
   At an early phase of this workshop it is important to form a picture of what the organisation would like and can achieve with regard to CSR issues. The second workshop therefore has the aim of jointly establishing an ambition level that is as concrete as possible. It is very important that the ambition level selected by the various parties will be supported at a managerial and an operational level. This foundation is an important condition for successful implementation of the policy. Following the completion of the workshop the ambitions that are established by the participants are communicated back to each organisation.
   
   

3. Consequence workshop
   The best type of foundation that can be created for CSR is if all the parties are aware of the consequences of the determined ambitions and endorse them (time allotments, money, work methods, division of tasks and responsibilities, etc.) The third workshop is therefore devoted to determining the consequences of the declared ambitions. In practice we know that based on this exercise the ambitions sometimes need to be adjusted to a more realistic level. Based on the results of the third workshop concrete actions could be developed for anchoring CSR in the organisation.