Strategic Planning Workshop
Client: Metro Trains Melbourne
About the project
Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) is the operator of Melbourne’s metropolitan rail network, carrying 450,000 people a day, delivering more than 2,000 passenger services and running 226 trains across the network.
Its Corporate Affairs function provides communications, marketing, digital, government relations, stakeholder engagement and corporate social responsibility services to the business.
The Challenge
MTM engaged Whitelight Communications to facilitate its Corporate Affairs strategic planning workshop. The session aimed to create a common purpose; clarify team responsibility and encourage cross team collaboration; and ensure its annual work plan was aligned to the business’ key strategic focus areas.
Approach
Whitelight Communications worked collaboratively with the Executive Director for Corporate Affairs. We:
- Reviewed key strategic documents including the business plan and the previous year’s Corporate Affairs Plan
- Carried out one-on-one interviews with each of the function’s senior leaders to understand what opportunities, challenges and aspirations they saw for the function
- Developed the agenda and run sheet for the 7-hour session
- Facilitated the workshop, including exercises which aimed to consider personal and shared values, the strategic context for the function, alignment of corporate affairs activity to the business strategy and how the team would collectively measure success
- Developed a workshop outcomes summary
Outcomes
The outcomes of Whitelight Communications’ involvement in the workshop included:
- An engaged leadership team who were able to fully participate
- A first draft of the Corporate Affairs Work Plan for 2024
- Clearer responsibilities and opportunities for deeper collaboration within and external to the team
