What are the best practices for developing scenario planning skills in a coachee?

Scenario planning is a powerful tool for strategic innovation, especially in uncertain and complex environments. It involves creating and exploring multiple plausible futures and their implications for your goals, actions, and decisions. As an executive coach, you can help your coachee develop this skill and apply it to their own context. Here are some best practices to follow.

1 Understand the purpose

Before you introduce scenario planning to your coachee, make sure you clarify the purpose and scope of the exercise. Scenario planning is not about predicting the future, but rather expanding the range of possibilities and preparing for different outcomes. It is also not a one-time activity, but a continuous process of learning and adaptation. Explain to your coachee how scenario planning can help them identify opportunities, challenges, and risks, as well as test and refine their assumptions, strategies, and actions.

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Jon Segovia de Celaya

Ayudando a Desarrollar Talento en Equipos y Personas/ #TedxSpeaker / Autor:”Sueña, Planea y Conquista”
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Before even talking about the purpose, after an introduction and definition of the framework of the coaching process, I believe that a diagnosis of the coachee must be made. Listen to his opinion and that of those around him. Since quiz

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2 Define the focal question

The focal question is the central issue or problem that your coachee wants to address with scenario planning. It should be specific, relevant, and meaningful for their situation. For example, it could be: How will the pandemic affect our customer segments and value proposition in the next three years? Or: How can we leverage digital transformation to create a competitive advantage in our industry? Help your coachee craft a clear and concise focal question that guides the scenario planning process.

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Amitabh Kumar, ICF-PCC, EMCC-SP

Executive, Leadership & Culture Coach • Facilitator • Consultant • Languages
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During the coaching process, I help the coachee articulate a clear and focused question that will guide the scenario planning process. The question should address a key challenge or decision the individual or organization is likely to face in the future. I collaboratively work with the coachee to formulate a well-defined focal question that encapsulates the essence of the strategic challenge they aim to address through scenario planning. Exploring What, Why, How, When, Where, Who - around any situation helps them get clarity.

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3 Gather and analyze data

To create credible and diverse scenarios, you need to gather and analyze data from various sources and perspectives. This includes internal and external factors, such as market trends, customer needs, competitor actions, technological developments, social changes, and environmental issues. You also need to consider the drivers of change, which are the forces that influence the future and create uncertainty and complexity. Help your coachee collect and evaluate relevant data, as well as identify the key drivers of change for their focal question.

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Jerry D. Smith Jr., Psy.D.

Clinical Psychologist & Behavioral Health Consultant | Treatment, Building Trust, Conflict Resolution
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In helping people plan, I've found that careful information analysis is essential. We review historical data to inform future predictions and examine varied sources to ensure a comprehensive perspective. Prioritizing critical data over quantity simplifies our analysis, enabling us to swiftly identify main points and formulate detailed future plans. This approach consistently aids in expediting intelligent decision-making and strategic foresight.

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4 Generate and select scenarios

Based on the data and drivers of change, you can generate multiple scenarios that describe different possible futures. Each scenario should have a descriptive name, a narrative, and a visual representation. The scenarios should be plausible, consistent, challenging, and diverse. They should also cover a range of uncertainties and outcomes, from optimistic to pessimistic, from expected to surprising. Help your coachee create and select four to six scenarios that capture the most important variations and implications for their focal question.

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Amitabh Kumar, ICF-PCC, EMCC-SP

Executive, Leadership & Culture Coach • Facilitator • Consultant • Languages
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A coach must facilitate the coachee's ability to generate plausible scenarios based on the identified uncertainties. Encourage creativity and challenge for diverse thinking during scenario development. Encourage coachee with scenario-building exercises, involving brainstorming sessions and workshops to create a range of scenarios. Collaboratively assess and select a manageable number of scenarios that cover a spectrum of possible futures.

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5 Explore and evaluate scenarios

Once you have the scenarios, you can explore and evaluate them with your coachee. This involves asking questions such as: What are the main opportunities and threats in each scenario? How would our goals, strategies, and actions change in each scenario? How prepared and resilient are we for each scenario? What are the common elements and differences among the scenarios? How likely and desirable are each scenario? Help your coachee think critically and creatively about each scenario, as well as compare and contrast them.

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6 Apply and update scenarios

The final step is to apply and update the scenarios to inform your coachee's decisions and actions. This involves identifying the signals and indicators that suggest which scenario is unfolding, as well as the actions and responses that are appropriate for each scenario. It also involves monitoring and updating the scenarios as new data and events emerge, as well as revisiting and revising the focal question as needed. Help your coachee use the scenarios as a learning and adaptation tool, not as a fixed plan or prediction.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are the best practices for developing scenario planning skills in a coachee?

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2

3

4

5

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1 Understand the purpose

2 Define the focal question

3 Gather and analyze data

4 Generate and select scenarios

5 Explore and evaluate scenarios

6 Apply and update scenarios

7 Here’s what else to consider

Executive Coaching

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What are the best practices for developing scenario planning skills in a coachee?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Understand the purpose

2 Define the focal question

3 Gather and analyze data

4 Generate and select scenarios

5 Explore and evaluate scenarios

6 Apply and update scenarios

7 Here’s what else to consider

Executive Coaching

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

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