Our small team created a shared strategic vision–and you can, too!

Published on Apr 14, 2025

The DataMade team. From the left: Xavier Medrano, Monkruman St. Jules, Hayley Owens, Hannah Cushman Garland, and Derek Eder

In April 2025, the DataMade team gathered in Chicago to discuss and define strategies for the first year in a new era for our company. In two days, partners, mid-level staff, and junior staff collectively created and prioritized a list of specific goals and planned how we’d pursue them in the next year. For other teams interested in setting and executing strategic work in a way that’s inclusive of all experience levels, here’s what worked for us:

Do some pre-work

Give your team (and yourself!) time and space to think and prepare something tangible ahead of time. We asked everyone, regardless of seniority, to write a short memo proposing an initiative related to one of three focus areas identified by partners (diversifying our client base, shoring up our online presence, and experimenting with a new technology or practice). This pre-work ensured everyone showed up feeling invested and empowered to share.

Start with individual contributions

Give each team member the opportunity to share ideas before diving into group discussion so that dominant (often, more senior) voices don’t set the agenda too early. We began our retreat with memo presentations to break the ice, build confidence, and express enthusiasm for each other’s ideas, which set the stage for more inclusive and productive group work.

Hold space for big ideas

Resist the urge to demand implementation details too soon. We reserved time on day two to create action plans, which helped us to be more creative and ambitious in our initial conversations and gave us a way to check those planning impulses on day one.

Balance structure with flexibility

Use established approaches to the extent they’re helpful to your process. We used the SMARTIE goal framework to push us to be more specific in our goal setting, without letting perfect phrasing and formatting derail generative conversations.

Make strategy a team sport

Strategy tends to fall on team leaders. Set priorities together and delegate specific tasks to staff to maintain (and even deepen) buy in and get more done! We plotted our goals together on an effort/impact matrix to determine which to prioritize first. Then, we identified next steps for our highest priority goals and made sure everyone had at least one task to accomplish in the next month.

Build regular check-ins

Schedule regular follow-ups with the whole team. We plan to check in monthly to assess progress, then define and assign new work. We think this cadence will give us enough time to make progress without being so long that we put strategic work on the back burner, while the shared space will keep us both accountable and bought in.

---

This approach didn’t just give us a roadmap–it created a vision for DataMade’s future informed and shared by everyone on the team. Staff brought fresh perspectives and a ton of energy, partners provided big picture context, and talking across roles and tenures kept conversations grounded in everyone’s practical realities, not just those of the most senior staff.

Sample agenda

Planning a collaborative strategy retreat for your team? Fork our agenda, and let us know how it goes!

Day 1: Idea generation

• Memo presentations and discussion
• Lunch
• Begin goal setting
• Dinner (We recommend deep dish pizza!)

DataMade digs into deep dish pizza at Pequod's.

Day 2: Goal setting and action plans

• Finish goal setting
• Lunch
• Prioritize goals
• Develop action plan/s

Acknowledgements

DataMade sends our hearty thanks to our hosts, The Robert R. McCormick Foundation, who graciously lent us (scenic!) meeting space in their downtown Chicago office.