How can a strategic planning session be made "fun"?

Help! I have 1 month for my small healthcare business to do our 3 year strategic planning session. We have about 30 people, and like all to participate. We're a fun-loving group, but a bunch of smart people, though not necessarily business minded. Any ideas or resources to make it more interactive? Get all involved? Have the best results of a plan at the end of the day? Make everyone feel as though they've contributed?


Resources?|||They have these huge Post-It Note easel pads- put one in as many rooms, offices, etc. Have people start the process by jotting things down when they thing of it, say during the week before the brain session. Give everyone a pair of those fake noses and glasses and kick off the week by having people consider "looking at things" from a different viewpoint. Then have rooms set up by ideas- everyone running around putting their easel sheet up would be sheer bedlam- and a real hoot. Take experts from every part of your business- start them in areas they know nothing about. Tell everyone no idea is a bad idea because it can work with a little "out of the box" thinking. Have "brain" food in every room- M%26amp;Ms in one, Cheetos, you name it. The treat is for everyone have have fun. Do this on a day where you can close down- or schedule a picnic for family and friends to arrive after say a 4 hour work session.


The hard part is to continue this "brain storming" if none of the ideas are put into action. So the ideas have to be implemented by the department involved- at least one. And the requirement is that it has to be implementable and trackable. And, someone has to volunteer to write the thing after all the work. Tedious but necessary.


And then you have to keep the ball rolling- so once a month a rep from each department meets and does the same thing- maybe take one of the ideas from your first session and have everyone talk about it and why it didn't fly the first time. Don't expect a ton of do-able ideas right out of the box. But what's good is to keep the conversation going.


Some of the computer companies used to take every Friday afternoon- and just yak. Sounds expensive- but it's a great team builder.


And keep the fun going. Have a popsicle meeting. Do a pictionary contest. Shake things up. Don't be dull.|||Do a DISC profile in advance.





Determine who is business minded and will have inherent talents to participate.





Let's say 6 qualify... assign each of these people to a group of 4 non participants and let them solicit ideas through a series of phone calls and emails (2 or 3 total touches)





Bring the 6 employees to the strategic planning session and work away, put the other 24 to work on something else.|||One idea is to have your leader act as moderator and break your group of 30 into small groups of six people to brainstorm ideas early on. It's fun to elect a leader and a scribe and then just let goofy ideas fly by with good ones too.





The ideas that are common to more than one group must need some more consideration and there will be some brilliant ideas too. Certainly your people have been thinking about it in advance.





So ... If I was moderator, I'd ask each small group to come up with 10 topics that we feel are important --- and one goofy idea! Like if you have internet, mebbe suggest your business buy a tv studio too .. hehe.