Frequently Asked Questions

• Is my organization ready to try a participatory strategy?

  Maybe yes, maybe no. Here are four questions to reflect on when considering whether to change the strategic approach: 

  • Why are you considering changing your process? 

  • How will you hold yourself accountable? e.g. How will you remain committed in the face of internal inertia? Given historical events, how will you bring legitimacy to this process?

  • Are those with power ready and invested in sharing power? e.g. What is the dynamic between those with and without power? What emotions or biases come up when considering a loss of power?

  • How much time, energy, and resources do you have? e.g. How motivated are staff and volunteers to engage in strategy work? How will you keep them motivated to continue?  

  Learn more about why this pre-work and reflection matters.

• I’m not the final decision-maker. How do I convince decision-makers to consider this approach?

  Sarah Miller, CEO of Principa Advisory, talks about how to tackle vested power and complex governance situations in TAI’s panel discussion on participatory strategy. 

  “Be pragmatic. Understand where that person or that group's mindset is currently… There are some spaces where terms like ‘participatory strategy’ just don't make sense to use. That's okay; know your audience. You don't need to call it something for it to be something. Instead, understand the most critical shifts you want to see and figure out how to build that into the design of a strategy process.”

  If this is your organization’s first attempt, perhaps focus on one or two critical shifts, rather than achieving an ideal process. 

• How long do participatory strategic processes take?

  Including all the upfront preparation and final consolidation, the process could take anywhere from 9 to 18 months. This is an estimate based on known examples, but there is little data on the average or ideal length of a participatory strategic process. 

  The length of a participatory strategic process will vary depending on: 

  • Familiarity with participatory approaches. Organizations with little familiarity should plan on a longer process, as it might be a shift in the organization’s culture to become more participatory. 

  • Time horizon of the strategic plan. Processes that aim to establish a 10 year strategy or vision will take longer, as there are often more inputs, more negotiations, and more buy-in needed to create the final product.

  • Size of community or network, and depth of trust between those with and without formal power. Deep trust is a critical enabler, especially when there is a long history to reckon and reconcile with. 

  • Buy-in of current structures of power. A participatory strategic process is actually two processes in one: one is focused on defining future priorities, and the other is focused on changing the way we operate and interact. Learn more about this change process here. 

• What outcomes can I expect?

  Systems and structures work as they were designed. Participatory strategy is no different: expected outcomes are often a result of the implicit ideas, values, or principles that shape the design of the process. 

  Learn how to utilize design principles to articulate the big picture change goals of the process, to establish expected outcomes.  

• What are some common challenges?

  • Convincing those with power to change their ways of operating, and aligning on where on the spectrum of participation and power sharing the organization wants to be. 

  • Orchestrating and shepherding a change process that may include: shifting organizational culture; mourning, healing and reconciliation with historically excluded or marginalized communities; …

  • Sustaining the energy and participation of staff and volunteers throughout the process, especially when it takes over a year. 

  • Orchestrating logistics and preparing people for each phase of the process, especially when participants may come in and leave the process at different stages. 

  • Maintaining transparency through an array of communication channels, so that participants understand how their contributions were included (or not), why certain decisions were made, and how the end product resembles (or doesn’t) initial expectations.