History Mapping and Future Shaping
History Mapping and Future Shaping helps teams build a shared understanding of their past and align on a future vision. By visually mapping the team's journey and aspirations, participants develop a stronger sense of belonging and collective purpose.
Use this method when a team needs to reflect on its history, understand its current position, and collaboratively define its future goals, especially after a significant change or before embarking on a new strategic initiative.
Solves: Lack of shared understanding of team history, misaligned vision for the future, disconnect between past actions and future goals.
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Step 1: Prepare a timeline (physical or digital) with key dates and milestones. (30 minutes)
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Step 2: Have a leader or long-standing member walk the group through the timeline, encouraging discussion and personal stories. (30 minutes)
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Step 3: Add the BHAG to the end of the timeline and facilitate a discussion about the gap between the present and the future, identifying potential steps. (30 minutes)
- Pre-populate the timeline with key dates and milestones to save time during the session.
- Encourage personal stories to create a deeper connection among team members.
- Focus the discussion on both successes and challenges to create a balanced perspective.
- Focus the history mapping on a specific project or initiative.
- Use different colored sticky notes to categorize events (e.g., successes, failures, lessons learned).
- Incorporate images or other visual elements to make the timeline more engaging.