Target audience
Middle and top managers within the organisation
The ideal group size for this course is 15–21 participants.
Competences
Analytical thinking
- quickly sort relevant facts from irrelevant ones
- extract the essence from complex problems
- use personal and team business knowledge to solve issues
Communication & influencing
- simple, concise, consistent communication
- invite debate using rational arguments
- presentation skills in front of an audience
Creativity
- the cases require originality, innovation, as well as individual and team creativity
- in a safe environment, ideas are circulated that stimulate change for the better
Strategic vision
- anticipate internal and external factors that impact the business
- address complex problems with multiple implications
Conceptual thinking
- the REACH model stimulates the way that connections are made between ideas generated by logical, sequential, analytical thinking + ideas generated by creativity, intuition and emotions
Resource management
- the large volume of information, the limited time and the dissipated available resources create the premises for significant challenges throughout the workshop
- the participants are challenged to organise themselves and to act precisely and efficiently
Teamwork
- opinions, views, information and personal perspectives are shared
- individual roles and responsibilities are assigned, contributing to the team’s success
- cooperation and mutual trust are promoted as the preferred working model
Duration
In-class
3 days
Delivery
Due to its high degree of complexity, this program is delivered by two trainers.
About this workshop
The REACH: Strategic Thinking program is an intensive, immersive business experience in which participants learn strategic thinking by doing it.
Working in teams on complex, real-world business cases accredited by INSEAD, managers are challenged to navigate large amounts of information, competing priorities, uncertainty and time pressure — much like they would when facing a strategic decision in their own organisation.
Rather than being given frameworks and ready-made answers, participants must make sense of complexity, identify the facts that truly matter, build a coherent strategic response and defend their decisions.
The experience culminates in a board-level presentation, where teams present their strategy and implementation plan to the facilitators and a Visiting Executive from their own organisation.
The result is an experience that goes far beyond learning about strategy: participants experience the tension, collaboration, judgement and decision-making that strategic thinking requires in practice.
The model was created by Robert McNamara, former President of Ford Corporation, United States Secretary of Defense and President of the World Bank.
During the program, participants are encouraged to:
- structure the information in an explicit way
- work together, bring to fruition the knowledge of all team members and reach consensus
- develop creative strategies
- establish viable action plans
- identify the best ways of implementation, using the most suitable key performance indicators
The REACH Model: Six successive steps
1. Analysing the situation
Used to identify, separate, sort and clarify the elements that constitute the working state of the business at a given time. It is the radiography of the current situation, the essence of the strengths and weaknesses in relation to the environment and competition. The analysis of the situation emphasises significant pieces of information and reveals the initial cause.
2. Establishing objectives
This is the projection of the current situation over time. Where do you want to go, what needs to be achieved and what are the key elements for establishing a SMART objective?
3. Determining strategies
When the path to achieving the objectives is not clear, when there are too many options, this step helps to choose how to act to achieve the proposed goal. Participants identify the levers they can use and the ways to select successful strategies.
4. Action planning
Participants discover the details that make up a successful plan: who executes, with what resources, within what time frames, and so on.
5. Implementation/ Execution
Putting the action plan into practice, or the stage where things really happen.
6. Tracking performance indicators
This is the time to measure and track the results of the implementation. Is everything going according to schedule? What happens in unforeseen situations?
The REACH Workshop: Intensive & immersive
The workshop unfolds over three days and combines in a very efficient way the theoretical elements provided by the two trainers with practical exercises, real and relevant case studies in the context of understanding the working methodology, as well as feedback on the solutions found by the participants. Considering the complexity and intensity of the learning process, the REACH workshop is structured in three phases.
Preliminary phase
Selection of participants based on organisational priorities and individual development needs. Working groups are formed based on expertise and personality criteria.
Assimilation of the first case study. To save time, participants receive a case study approximately 20 days before the seminar, which they must read and understand in depth.
Working phase
Theoretical models for the six steps are intertwined with the different phases of the case studies. Intensive individual and team study sessions take place, as well as team presentations and discussions on the chosen solutions. Feedback is given and received.
Final evaluation phase &
Visiting Executive
The final team presentation takes place in front of a board of directors. Both the form and the content of the proposed solutions are analysed. A top manager from the company, a “visiting executive”, is invited to assist and evaluate the performances of the three groups together with the trainers. Diplomas and prizes are awarded to the winners.
At the end of the program, in agreement with the organisation’s management, for a quick and correct assimilation, but also for the implementation of the methodology, individual or collective themes can be established, followed by a follow-up with the support and guidance of the trainers.
Clients who opted for the REACH workshop
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