Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
In-house strategy teams are asked to answer the same kinds of questions as external advisers, often with less time, fewer people and closer exposure to internal politics. Without a disciplined method, requests drift in scope, analysis grows without reaching an answer and recommendations arrive as dense decks that leadership cannot act on. This Core Concept course gives internal teams the structured toolkit used in strategy consulting, from scoping a request to presenting a clear recommendation. Participants apply each tool to multi-sector cases and leave with a Strategy Engagement Pack for a live problem in their own organisation.
Course Objectives
- Scope internal strategy requests into engagement charters with a defined key question and decision owner
- Structure ambiguous business problems into MECE issue trees and testable hypotheses
- Plan and run lean analysis using driver trees, interviews, benchmarks and quick models
- Synthesise findings into an executive storyline using the Pyramid Principle and SCQA
- Manage engagement risks, stakeholder sensitivities and the handover to implementation
- Produce a Strategy Engagement Pack for a live problem in the participant's organisation
Target Audience
- Strategy and corporate planning professionals who run internal studies for leadership
- Transformation and performance office staff who scope and deliver improvement projects
- Business analysts and internal consultants supporting executive decision-making
- Managers moving from functional roles into strategy or executive-office support roles
- Project and programme professionals who lead cross-functional problem-solving teams
- Finance business partners who prepare recommendations for leadership teams
Course Outline
Day 1: The In-House Strategy Team and the Engagement Lifecycle
- Internal Engagement Lifecycle Based on ISO 20700 Guidelines
- Engagement Charter and Terms of Reference Drafting
- Problem Statement Worksheet and Key Question Definition
- Stakeholder Map and Decision-Maker Criteria Capture
- Team Capability Self-Assessment Against the CMC Competence Framework
Day 2: Structured Problem-Solving Frameworks
- MECE Principle and Issue Tree Construction
- Hypothesis-Driven Problem Solving and the Day-One Answer
- Driver Trees for Revenue, Cost and Productivity Problems
- Seven-Step Problem-Solving Process From Definition to Synthesis
- Issue Prioritisation Matrix and 80/20 Pareto Analysis
Day 3: Analysis, Evidence and Workplanning
- Analysis Plan and Workplan Linking Hypotheses, Sources and Owners
- Structured Expert and Stakeholder Interview Guide
- Rapid Benchmarking and Comparator Selection Templates
- Spreadsheet Quick Models: Sensitivity Tables and Order-of-Magnitude Estimates
- Option Generation and Evaluation Workshop Design
Day 4: Synthesis, Storylining and Engagement Risks
- Minto Pyramid Principle and the SCQA Storyline
- Ghost Deck Storyboarding and Action Titles
- Chart Selection and Exhibit Design for Executive Slides
- Engagement Risk Log: Scope Creep, Confirmation Bias and Political Sensitivity
- Implementation Roadmap and RACI Handover to Delivery Owners
Day 5: Case Work and the Strategy Engagement Pack
- Margin Erosion Case Study: From Issue Tree to Recommendation
- Shared Services Case Study: Testing Hypotheses Against Operating Data
- Strategy Engagement Pack Build for an Own Problem
- Executive Storyline Deck Drafting
- Steering Committee Readout and Peer Critique
Skills You Will Gain
- Problem Structuring
- Hypothesis Testing
- Analytical Workplanning
- Executive Storylining
- Slide and Exhibit Design
- Stakeholder Interviewing
- Engagement Management
- Evidence-Based Recommendation
Why Attend This Course
- Return with a Strategy Engagement Pack for a live problem, already critiqued by peers
- Spend less time on analysis that never reaches a decision by working from hypotheses first
- Present recommendations that executives can follow in one reading, with the answer first
- Compare in-house strategy practice with teams from other sectors and countries
Conclusion
Internal strategy teams earn influence by answering the right question quickly and presenting the answer clearly. This course moves from scoping requests and the engagement lifecycle, through the core problem-solving frameworks, to evidence gathering, synthesis and the risks that derail internal studies. The final day applies the full toolkit to a Strategy Engagement Pack that participants take back to their leadership, giving them a repeatable way of working for every strategic question their team is asked to resolve.