Applicable strategy workshop faciliation
Client: Applicable
Project: Strategy Workshop for Leadership Team | February 2026
What they needed: To step back and build a strategy for the next 3–5 years, reconnect with changing customer needs, set clear priorities and actions, and align as a leadership team around how they work together.
What we delivered: A two-day strategy off-site that combined outside-in market thinking with future thinking, defining a 12–24 month roadmap, making decisions, and translating strategic direction into agreed priorities, OKRs and ownership.
Result: Stronger leadership alignment, defined strategic priorities and a stronger more aligned leadership team.
Applicable - Strategy Workshop Faciliation
The Context
Applicable is an independent IT service provider founded about 25 years ago. The leadership team approached me because they needed to reset their strategy for growth, make some hard decisions about focus and priorities, increase revenue, and align around a clear sense of direction. In particular, to:
Create a shared understanding of the strategic direction and priorities.
Agree on a clear action plan for the next 12–24 months
Make choices about focus, investment and priorities
Explore how to articulate the strategy to the wider business and inspire and motivate the team.
Reconnect as a senior team and strengthen trust, collaboration, and accountability.
They needed an independent facilitator who could create structure, surface tensions constructively, and help the team move from discussion to decision.
Discovery & Design:
We began by gaining a deep understanding of the business so the design of the workshop could be tailored not only to achieve their objectives but to work for the audience. We conducted one-to-one interviews with leaders, analysed employee engagement feedback, and looked at internal documents and exisiting strategy.
Applicable - Strategy Workshop Facillitation
Delivery:
The two-day off-site was designed to move from big-picture alignment to a practical plan.
Day One began by reconnecting with why the business exists and who it serves. We explored partner and end-customer challenges and pressures, what is changing in their world, and what they most value about Applicable. This outside-in perspective brought the conversation back to the customers they serve.
We then shifted to look to the future, scanning market signals and exploring what the business will need to become over the next 3–5 years
From there, we looked at what the business needs to be truly excellent at to deliver that value: capabilities, product focus, sales priorities and resource allocation.
Day Two shifted from the wider picture to focusing on strategic pillars, OKRs and ownership, and clarified governance rhythm and decision-making. The aim was to ensure ambition translated into disciplined execution with clear roles and accountability.
We framed a narrative around this new strategy that could be communicated internally to motivate and inspire the team around a shared sense of direction and goals.
We also spent time on how the leadership team works together: decision clarity, roles, and creating a stronger rhythm for review and challenge.
Outcomes & Achievements
A sharpened articulation of purpose and value, connected to partner and end-user needs
Clarity on product direction and near-term priorities
Agreed 12–24 month strategic focus areas linked to measurable objectives
Greater transparency on revenue flows and commercial dependencies
Clear ownership across priorities rather than assumed responsibility
A more honest and aligned leadership team
Space to challenge assumptions and make clearer choices together
