Actions

The aim of this discussion is to support participants to consider priority Actions more objectively, by considering how well they help achieve Outcomes. By focusing on different Outcomes, participants can consider the different Actions from different points of view and come to a more considered opinion on priority Actions.

The time available is fairly substantial, but the process of cross-checking the actions against the outcome needs to be repeated 5-6 times. There is a balance between going slowly through the actions the first time to ensure clear understanding, but also to push on to the second outcome, as the benefits of some actions becomes clearer after being considered alongside other actions. It is useful to finish with a recap of the actions assigned to each outcome, as this allows for re-prioritisation at the point the group has greater familiarity with the actions.

The facilitator should open the discussion, but for each outcome ask a different person to kick off the discussion. Actively prompt people who haven’t spoken much to give their view. Subsequently, actively check for consensus; don’t let individuals state an answer that is then presumed to be on behalf of the group – always ask if people agree or disagree, or have any other views.

The Action Scoring handout is available in the course Resources section.

Time

Activity

Resources

1.50

(45m)

(+15m)

Actions

 Plenary presentation:

  • Present and explain actions and show how they relate to the different visions.

Small group discussion:

a) Do participants understand the actions? Anything unclear? (open question)

b) Scoring: Ask participants to write down the top 5 consensus outcomes in the columns of their scoring sheet. Facilitator uses large group sheet, with an additional column to write the total in. The rows are prepopulated with a list of actions.

c) For each outcome column (around 8m average, total 40m):

  1. Individually identify top actions (2-3) that would best achieve that outcome – can include previously identified actions. Mark corresponding cells with a tick.
  2. Do people wish to suggest any further actions not listed on the sheet that would help achieve that outcome? Add these to the group sheet.
  3. Facilitator to go through row by row, making a tally of the ticks from the whole group in each cell. Add up a total from across the row.
  4. Group to discuss the 3 top scoring actions, how well do they perform against the other top 5 priority outcomes? Is there good representation across the 5 outcomes?
  5. If there are outcomes that are not well achieved by the top 3 actions, look at the next best performing actions, are there actions that perform particularly well for the outcomes that are not achieved well by the top 3? Can more actions be added to ensure that all outcomes are achieved?

d) Identify the 5 actions that contribute most overall to the top outcomes, and any further actions that the group finds particularly important to add regardless of their scores (facilitator to test for consensus, do not just add further actions based on individual preference).

e) If there is time left, consider where (on the map) these actions could be implemented.
  • Slide deck
  • Action scoring handout
  • Large action scoring group sheet
  • Maps