Content Strategy Workshops

Situation

Boeing had a very active and robust intranet, with employees from anywhere in the world able to communicate their ideas to others. Teams could easily set up websites, blogs, vlogs, and podcasts in an effort to advance their initiatives. Much like what we see with media on the world wide web, product and service teams were constantly struggling to find ways to connect with their audience and get the attention they needed.

Approach

I built up a reputation as being the “story guy” that could help teams get attention. After several teams came to me for support, I decided to put all of the frameworks and exercises into a workshop format. I built job aids, lectures, and packaged up everything into a live format that took teams of 5-10 people through 2.5 days of identity, value proposition, and storytelling exercises. I intentionally kept the participant size small to keep the level of interaction high. I was obsessed with user feedback, and made changes to every workshop based on what I was hearing from my participants. Here’s a sampling of what I would take teams through.

There were four parts of workshops. The first three (Tribe, Impact, and Identity) challenged teams to work through existential questions about their business.

1. Tribe - For whom did they exist to serve? Why them?
2. Impact - What promises were they making to these people? How were these promises better than what their tribe could find elsewhere? What made this team better equipped to deliver than anyone else?
3. Identity - What did the team want their tribe to say about them? How (and why) would customers refer others to their business?

The final part, Message, is where we examined and applied storytelling concepts to their business. I’m a huge fan of the work of Seth Godin and Donald Miller in the realm of storytelling.

I essentially spent 2.5 days guiding teams through lectures and exercises, carefully documenting our conversations on canvases, models, and frameworks like what’s pictured here.

Here’s an example of a business model exercise I did with one of my freelance clients. This one was actually completed in an all-remote workshop that proved effective. Whether remote or in-person, the challenge for me was getting as many inputs from the teams and distilling their ideas and assumptions into simple concepts that persisted after the workshop.

Outcome

Teams loved the format and got results. Websites were getting built with ease. Learning pathways were finally being updated. And with each workshop I completed, it seemed like I’d get a referral to do three more. I ended up taking about 300 Boeing teammates through the workshops, hosting them all over the United States. I eventually helped the Boeing Leadership Development Program integrate modules from the workshop into their curriculum at the Boeing Leadership Center in St. Louis, MO.

Responsibilities

Learning Design, Workshop Planning, Facilitation, Project Management, Graphic Design

Technology Used

Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Microsoft PowerPoint, Miro

Disclaimer: The content shown on this page is for illustrative purposes only. This is not the copy and imagery used in my Boeing workshops. Everything shown here is created by (or licensed to) me.