Day 2 of Training

Day #2 of Planning is a tough one, but likely the most important one. This is the day where participants go through the five steps, 21 activities that make up IAP2’s planning protocol – a tool to help plan and design engagement programs. One of this morning’s conversations was around the decision maker: who really decides? Some participants spoke of stakeholders who believe they are in fact the decision maker. What ensued was an interesting conversation about decision makers and stakeholders and the process by which decision makers decide.

What I hadn’t planned on saying, but came to me was this: the decision maker has the 2 As – authority (to make the decision), and accountability (responsibility for the decision). If the individual, group or board, does not have the 2As then they are a stakeholder (literally, with a stake in the decision) and are not the decision maker.

As part of the planning protocol, a big part of the morning focussed on active listening and the need to engage early and often on process before content. This is a favourite TedTalk of ours  for Tuesday afternoons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSohjlYQI2A