Product strategy workshop series.
Understanding and mapping priorities across multiple departments
Project summary
As a Workshop Design and Facilitator, I led a cross-departmental strategy workshop series to align product priorities across multiple service areas. In just one week, I designed a structured, scalable process that surfaced actionable insights through collaborative activities, thematic analysis, and AI-assisted synthesis—shaping the next year’s product and marketing roadmap with clarity and speed.
Challenge.
An organisation with multiple service areas needed to align on business cases and user needs to define the product roadmap for the following year. Each department used a different platform configuration making it essential to map priorities across teams.
Service areas:
- Events & Conferences: Hybrid, virtual, and in-person event engagement
- Labs & Workshops: Decision-making sessions with activity flows
- Learning: Personalised learning paths, coaching, and course libraries
- Transformation: Large-scale gamified programs incorporating all platform features
My role
Workshop Designer, Facilitator
Project duration
1 week
Leadership Highlight
Designed and delivered a strategic workshop experience that aligned product and marketing priorities across four complex service areas in one week.
Solution.
I designed and facilitated a structured, repeatable workshop series using digital tools to gather insights across departments. Over four sessions, participants engaged in guided activities to document challenges, needs, and priorities. Each section encouraged discussion and concluded with prioritisation exercises.
Success metrics
- An engaging, collaborative workshop experience
- A clear, structured process for participants
- Completion of all activities within the 90-minute timeframe
- Easy-to-analyse data outputs
- Actionable insights for stakeholders to shape the roadmap
Design.
Key questions:
- What does best-in-class look like?
- Who does this?
- Why are you better or different?
- What are you being asked to do by your clients?
- What features are relevant to your service area?
- What is missing from the product to be able to scale?
Workshop tools a preparation
Participants received invitations and a brief homework assignment outlining the workshop’s purpose and questions in advance, allowing time for reflection. During the session, I used digital facilitation tools to guide the process, keeping engagement focused and structured.
Leadership Highlight
Created a structured pre-work process and tool setup to maximise engagement, reduce ambiguity, and improve the quality of workshop inputs.
Facilitation.
I began each session by outlining goals, establishing a clear flow, and ensuring participants understood expectations. Using a facilitation feature, I controlled when activities opened ensuring smooth navigation for users. After input collection, I led discussions to elaborate on responses, encouraging balanced participation.
Challenges and adjustments
In the first session, discussions often drifted off-topic. To address this, I refined my introductions for each question, reinforcing the workshop’s structure. This kept later sessions more focused and productive.
Leadership Highlight
Adapted facilitation strategy in real time—refining workshop structure after the first session to improve focus, participation, and consistency.
Analysis.
Thematic Analysis
I consolidated inputs across workshops using a white-boarding tool, clustering responses into key themes. A Venn diagram illustrated overlaps between service areas, highlighting universal needs.
Leadership Highlight
Synthesised cross-functional insights into themes using collaborative white-boarding, helping stakeholders visualise shared priorities across departments.
Key Insights:
- Storytelling & visual flow: Enhancing wayfinding and brand experience
- All in one place: A unified space integrating all platform features and data
- Community focussed: Fostering a sense of belonging and participation
Sentiment analysis
Using AI tools, I conducted a high-level sentiment analysis of workshop data, ensuring accuracy through manual review. This allowed for rapid synthesis and delivery of stakeholder insights.
Leadership Highlight
Leveraged AI tools to accelerate analysis—balancing speed with accuracy through manual validation to ensure reliable strategic recommendations.
Outcome
Findings were presented in a report-out session, sparking further discussion. The data is now actively shaping the 2025 marketing and product strategy.
Leadership Highlight
Delivered clear, actionable findings that are now actively shaping the 2025 roadmap—bridging stakeholder voices with strategic planning.
Key Contributions
- Designed and facilitated a multi-session strategy workshop across four service areas
- Created structured activities and tools to streamline engagement and input quality
- Used real-time facilitation skills to improve focus and consistency
- Synthesised insights through collaborative and AI-assisted analysis
- Delivered strategic output that informed the 2025 roadmap
