explore · Strategy, Systems Thinking · 45–90 min · 5-25 people · medium energy
Context Map
A wall map of the forces outside an organisation. Six flip-chart sheets form a grid with the organisation drawn at the centre top, surrounded by political factors, economic climate, trends, technology factors, customer needs and uncertainties. The group fills each area together and looks at where the pressure and the energy are.
When to use Context Map
Use when strategy work is starting and the group needs a shared picture of its environment before discussing what to do.
What it solves
Strategy discussions jump straight to internal plans, and the outside world only shows up as surprises later.
How to run Context Map, step by step
- Hang six flip-chart sheets in a two-by-three grid and draw the organisation at the centre top (5 min, before).
- Label the areas: political factors, economic climate, trends, technology factors, customer needs, uncertainties (5 min).
- Work through the areas one by one; people call out or post items and the facilitator records them (30-50 min).
- For trends, ask the group to qualify each one, for example by importance or speed (10 min).
- Step back and summarise: where is the most pressure, what surprised us, what do we need to watch? (10-15 min).
Materials needed
- Six flip-chart sheets
- Markers
- Sticky notes
- Dots for qualifying trends
Facilitator tips
- Do some homework beforehand so you can prompt with real examples.
- Notice where the energy goes, but steer internal topics back to external factors.
- Keep the map on the wall for the rest of the strategy work.
Common pitfalls
- The map fills with internal complaints instead of external forces.
- Spending all the time on one area and rushing the rest.
Variations
- Swap in categories that fit the sector, such as regulation or funding.
Running it online or hybrid
Build the six-panel grid on a shared board; let people add sticky notes in parallel before discussing each panel.
What it produces
A six-panel context map of external factors, with the trends the group judged most important marked.
Origin
Based on The Grove Consultants International's Leader's Guide and collected in Gamestorming by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo. — source
Build a session around Context Map
METODIC places Context Map inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.